לְהָבִין מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב בִּפְרִי עֵץ חַיִּים דְּבַזְּמַן הַזֶּה, עִיקַּר הַבֵּירוּר עַל יְדֵי הַתְּפִלָּה דַּוְקָא

In this essay, we will come to understand what is stated in Pri Etz Ḥayyim , that nowadays refinement is primarily achieved specifically through prayer, The author of the Tanya is referring to a statement that appears at the beginning of Pri Etz Ḥayyim. It states there that nowadays, in this exile and particularly in recent generations, refinement is achieved mainly through prayer. Pri Etz Ḥayyim, one of the central writings of the Arizal, is the foundational kabbalistic work on how to serve God, not in theory but in practice: what one should do, what intentions one should have when doing it, and how one should go about it. The text and order of prayer is, as a whole, the greatest and most systematic expression of the soul in its service of God. Pri Etz Ḥayyim thus starts with a kind of preface to the topic of prayer that focuses on the importance and necessity of serving God through prayer, because it is the primary way to achieve refinement. What constitutes the work of refinement? As explained in the writings of the Arizal and hasidic teachings, our world is constructed on the fragments of a primeval world, one that was not physical but rather was like a spiritual stage that preceded the reality of our world. The shattering of that world was not the result of an external catastrophe but due to an internal breakage of vessels and entities that were unable to contain the light within them. That great light, which transcends all boundaries and vessels, is now scattered, its shards hidden throughout this world, within objects, deeds, and circumstances. Our task in life is to search for those shards and extract them from all those places. Sometimes one also senses a sanctified form of love, wisdom, or pleasure that is nothing other than a spark from that great light, whose discovery in its entirety is the entire purpose of our existence. What, then, is this "nowadays" to which the author of the Tanya refers? The general assumption is that there are different phases in the service of God. Just as each person's life can be divided into different periods, in which he possesses various skills, life circumstances, and diverse roles, so too time in general is split into different periods, each of which has a different emphasis in the service of God. These periods are stages in the rectification of the world, in the revelation and development of the dimension of holiness within the world's materiality. In our times, the primary service and refinement is through prayer. In general, "nowadays" refers to the time of exile, in contrast to the era when the Temple was standing. During the period of the Temple, the realm of holiness in the Land of Israel was more or less in order: It was clear exactly where the place of holiness was and what path one should follow to ascend to loftier levels of holiness. Everyone was well aware of what was holy and what was impure, what was prohibited and what was permitted. The main work of refinement was achieved through the very existence of holiness. All that was required was to maintain a state of holiness and devotion through Torah study and the fulfillment of mitzvot, to be part of the edifice of holiness, so that it would shine even brighter, and the sparks scattered throughout the world would be collected automatically and become incorporated within the realm of holiness. During the exile, by contrast, when the side of holiness is not self-evident, one must descend to the place where the sparks are found in order to elevate them. This is achieved through the exile of the Jewish people among the nations, and from the spiritual perspective, through the service of prayer. It is specifically through prayer that the divine light flows directly into this world in order to transform it and change man within it. It is precisely prayer that elevates this world from below to above as a preparation and a petition for the divine light to flow forth into the worlds from above. Furthermore, more effort is required nowadays for prayer than was the case in the past. Today, during the exile, when a person's thoughts throughout the day are remote from God, he has to work long and hard in order to achieve a state of closeness in prayer. This service, with its challenges, is the work of refinement.

אַף שֶׁתַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה לְמַעְלָה מֵהַתְּפִלָּה

even though Torah study is superior to prayer. Apart from the virtue of Torah study itself, that "Torah study is equal to them all" (Pe'a 1:1), that it is equal to all the other mitzvot together, there is also an apparent superiority to Torah study over prayer. The Torah provides the blueprint for the proper state of the world and man, as well as instructions on how to develop and maintain this order. When one studies the Torah, he achieves the necessary refinement through the very act of studying. If that is the case, how can we understand the author of the Tanya's assertion that the primary way of achieving that refinement is specifically through prayer?

הָעִנְיָן הוּא שֶׁעַל יְדֵי תּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹת מוֹסִיפִין אוֹר בַּאֲצִילוּת כו׳

The explanation of the matter is that through Torah study and mitzvot we increase light in the world of Atzilut …, There are actually four worlds, or levels, in creation: Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya. The world of Atzilut is the loftiest of the four worlds, while ours is the lowest and is found in Asiya. Atzilut is not even a world at all, but it constitutes the Divine as it relates to the worlds. When a person studies Torah and performs mitzvot, he is not operating only in our world, in our reality, but primarily above, at the root of all worlds, the world of Atzilut. This Torah that he studies, which increases the divine light in the world of Atzilut, is the Torah of God, the innermost will and wisdom of the Almighty as they exist in their purest state before they manifest in the worlds below. By studying Torah and performing mitzvot down here, one draws forth a new light that had not previously existed even in the world of Atzilut. This is why the author of the Tanya states that "we increase light in Atzilut," because this illumination is an addition to what already exists in the worlds. It is like a new intervention on the part of God Himself in the construction and operation of the world. Although we say that God "continually renews the work of creation in His goodness" (in the Yotzer Or blessing), that renewal is entirely within the framework of the original creation, the same framework of what is, was, and will be, which is perpetually renewed and pulsates afresh at all times. The increase of light through Torah study and mitzvot, by contrast, is always an addition. It is an increase also in the sense that it does not mix with the light of creation that belongs to the world, but rather it remains in its pure state, as the light of God. This light, even when it descends to the worlds in the garb of Torah and mitzvot, is still of Atzilut. Like the world of Atzilut, which is purely divine, without any of the shattered vessels that could not contain the light, the existence of Torah and mitzvot, even in this world, is similarly divine, belonging to the reality of Atzilut. They are unadulterated divine wisdom and divine will, unchanged, as they exist on high.

פֵּירוּשׁ, אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּכֵלִים דַּאֲצִילוּת

meaning that the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, is drawn into the vessels of Atzilut . The increase of light originates in the light of Ein Sof, but in order for it to be received, in order for it to have any substance, it must be contained in vessels. A light without a vessel has no meaning. For it to be an "increase," it must relate to that to which it is increasing, and this can be achieved only by its being received in vessels, in this case the vessels of Atzilut.

עַל יְדֵי תַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה בִּפְנִימִית, דְּהַיְינוּ הַמְשָׁכוֹת הַמּוֹחִין, וּבְקִיּוּם הַמִּצְוֹת בְּחִיצוֹנִית הַכֵּלִים שֶׁהֵם בְּחִינַת נֶצַח הוֹד יְסוֹד, שֶׁבְּי׳ סְפִירוֹת זְעֵיר אַנְפִּין שֶׁבַּאֲצִילוּת

Through Torah study, the light is drawn into the inner dimension of the vessels, or sefirot, of Atzilut, which constitutes the flow of the intellect, and through the fulfillment of the mitzvot, it is drawn into the external dimension of the vessels of Atzilut, which are Netzaḥ , Hod , and Yesod among the ten sefirot of Zeir Anpin in Atzilut , There is a parallel between the human soul and its faculties and the structure of the sefirot in the world of Atzilut. Just as there is a difference between Torah study and the fulfillment of mitzvot for man, since Torah study is performed with the mind and the observance of mitzvot is done through action, the same applies to the flow of the light into the vessels, or sefirot, of Atzilut as a result of the Torah study and mitzva performance. The author of the Tanya thus makes a distinction between the effects of Torah study and mitzva performance on high: The former draws light into the cognitive sefirot of Atzilut, while the latter draws light into the sefirot of Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod of Atzilut, which are among the emotive sefirot. Torah study employs the mind because the Torah is the divine wisdom. By studying the Torah below, the inner aspect of the divine light called moḥin, or intellect, flows from above into the internal dimension of the vessels or sefirot of Atzilut, which are the cognitive sefirot, Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, or Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge. In man, this light, that of the intellect and cognitive awareness, is internal with respect to the emotions and practical application that are an expression of those emotions. The intellect constitutes a person's basic awareness of a thing, which is the way the soul relates to the thing internally. This is in contrast to the emotive attributes, where a person's relationship to the thing is expressed externally: how one feels about the thing, whether one loves or fears it, and so on. These feelings constitute a more external relationship. When a person performs a mitzva, utilizes these external faculties. Similarly, in Atzilut, the cognitive sefirot, or vessels, represent the internal intellect, the light, and the emotive sefirot are the external dimension of the vessels through which the intellect operates, just as awareness and thoughts fuel emotions and actions. Thus, when a mitzva is performed below, the divine light is drawn into the external sefirot of Atzilut, which are the sefirot of Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod. These attributes turn outward from Atzilut to the created worlds in order to influence and operate within them. In the same vein, the created worlds are like an action with respect to the world of Atzilut, which is their soul. All this occurs within the ten sefirot of the partzuf, or array of sefirot, known as Zeir Anpin of Atzilut. God relates to the worlds through this partzuf, Zeir Anpin, which literally means the "small countenance," since the worlds are in a state of smallness in relation to God.

רַק שֶׁמִּתְלַבְּשִׁים בִּבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה, בַּתּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹת הַגַּשְׁמִיִּים שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה

only these flows of divine light are enclothed in the worlds of Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya , in the physical Torah and mitzvot of this world. The increase of the light of Ein Sof into the vessels of Atzilut flow forth into the other worlds. But it arrives in the worlds enclothed in the garments that are particular to these worlds, each world with its own distinctive garment. In this world, which is part of the realm of Asiya, it is enclothed in the garments of the physical Torah and mitzvot. Granted, the light of Ein Sof is also enclothed in the garment of Torah that is within Atzilut. But in Atzilut this garment is one with the light itself, because "He and His attributes are one." In the world of Atzilut, the garment of Torah does not conceal the light. It only reveals it and is completely unified with the essence of the light, which is revelation and bestowal. Likewise, the garments of the mitzvot in Atzilut are "the limbs of the King," God Himself. In essence, the garments in Atzilut, the vessels and the sefirot that contain the light, are one with the essence of the divine light. This is not the case in the other worlds, in which the revelation of the Torah and mitzvot is not a pure expression of the divine light, but rather there is always a gap between the Torah itself and the world. In this world of ours, the Torah is not a part of the world, but is something additional, something that came later, totally different at its essence. This world is a world in which broken vessels and sparks of light and holiness have scattered and hidden. The Torah and mitzvot, by contrast, constitute rectification at their essence, given to this world in order to refine and rectify it. When a person studies Torah with his physical intellect, a study that includes worldly concepts, and when he performs the mitzvot in practice with material objects, he draws the Torah and the light of Ein Sof that is enclothed in the Torah into this world. In truth, the Torah and mitzvot could not exist in this world without this physical garb. Just as the soul cannot descend and operate in this world without a body, the light of Ein Sof cannot descend to this world without the physical garments of the Torah and mitzvot.

אֲבָל הַתְּפִלָּה הִיא הַמְשָׁכַת אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא לִבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה דַּוְקָא

By contrast, prayer is specifically the drawing forth of the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, directly into the worlds of Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya , When one studies Torah or performs mitzvot, the intention is to draw forth light specifically into Atzilut, since the light is merely enclothed in the garments of this world but cannot be directly drawn into the world through Torah study or mitzvot. This is not the case with regard to prayer, in which the intention is to draw the light specifically into the affairs of this world.

לֹא בְּדֶרֶךְ הִתְלַבְּשׁוּת בִּלְבָד רַק הָאֹור מַמָּשׁ, לְשַׁנּוֹת הַנִּבְרָאִים מִכְּמוֹת שֶׁהֵם, שֶׁיִּתְרַפֵּא הַחוֹלֶה וְיֵרֵד הַגֶּשֶׁם מִשָּׁמַיִם לָאָרֶץ וְיוֹלִידָהּ וְיַצְמִיחָהּ

not by means of mere enclothing, but the actual light descends to these worlds to change created beings from their current state, so that the sick will be healed and rain will fall from the sky to the earth so that it may germinate and sprout. The light that is garbed in the Torah must reach the worlds enclothed in the Torah as it is manifest in those worlds. The light drawn forth by prayer is not enclothed at all. The light of Ein Sof itself descends directly to this world, without garments, to effect real changes to creation. It should be noted that prayer here refers to the Amida prayer, in which one prays for the sick to be healed and for rain to fall so that the earth will produce fertile crops, among other things. The purpose of prayer, simply put, is to change this world. When a person is sick, he prays to God that He change reality and the person will thereby be healed. This also applies on a deeper level: When we pray for the Divine Presence and the redemption of the Divine Presence, we do not have something theoretical in mind. We actually mean that there should be a revelation of the Divine Presence in everything, even on the physical level, in nature and in people, in the soul and in the body. This is prayer: that which connects what is most lofty to what is most lowly.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן בַּתּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹת, שֶׁאֵין שִׁינּוּי בִּקְלַף הַתְּפִילִּין עַל יְדֵי הַנָּחָתָן בָּרֹאשׁ וּבַזְּרוֹעַ

This is not the case with the Torah and mitzvot, where there is no change in the parchment of tefillin by their being placed on the head and the arm. Although a mitzva is performed below, in this material, physical world, it does not effect any changes to this world. A person binds tefillin to his arm and head, but he does not thereby change the tefillin themselves. The tefillin remain the same after the performance of the mitzva as they were before. Moreover, the person himself does not change through the fulfillment of the mitzva. It is true that when he dons tefillin, he does so with the intention of subjugating his mind and heart to God's service, of coming to love Him alone. But it is not the act itself that produces this change in his heart and mind but his focus and intent. It is the person who repents who transforms himself, the one who prays. One who performs a mitzva effects and instigates changes above, in the world of Atzilut, while he himself merely carries out the action. The person, like the items used in the performance of the mitzva, is only an instrument, a tool, with which the service is executed. While the mitzva illuminates the person and the world in which it was performed, the illumination exists at the level of Atzilut in the soul, and it descends to the physical world, if at all, only indirectly and enclothed in garments.

וְגַם בְּמִצְוֹת שֶׁעֲשִׂיָּיתָן הוּא גְּמַר מִצְוָתָן

Even with regard to those mitzvot whose commandment is complete through their making of the object with which it is performed, When one performs the mitzva of donning tefillin, he uses a pair that has been fashioned beforehand. But there are cases where the mitzva act itself is in the creation of the object, such as the writing of a Torah scroll, circumcision, or the construction of a sukka. Here it is perhaps possible to say that the act of the mitzva changes reality. Yet the author of the Tanya says that even then this is not the case.

הַשִּׁינּוּי הוּא עַל יְדֵי אָדָם וְלֹא בִּידֵי שָׁמַיִם כְּבַתְּפִלָּה

the change is effected by man, not by Heaven, as with prayer, This change is part of the act of the mitzva that the person performs, an act that is itself part of the totality of the world. The reality of the world is not static; it is a reality that moves and changes within the framework of the boundaries and laws of nature. Just as the river flows into the sea, and man sows and reaps, he also performs deeds. But this is not the type of change that the author of the Tanya is referring to, the change that we request in prayer, which must come from God Himself, since it is a change that does not take into account the laws of nature and may even counter them.

שֶׁהִיא הַמְשָׁכַת הַחַיּוּת מֵאֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא, שֶׁהוּא לְבַדּוֹ כֹּל יָכוֹל

which is the drawing forth of the life force from Ein Sof , blessed be He, who alone is omnipotent. Prayer is directed to God Himself: "to Him and not to His attributes," to Him and not to the angels or His spiritual or physical forces. It is meant to change reality at its core, along with its own laws and parameters, as well as the forces and angels. Accordingly, the flow of light must come from high above, from Ein Sof Himself, who alone is able to effect such changes.

וְהִלְכָּךְ כְּדֵי לְהַמְשִׁיךְ אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמַטָּה, אִי אֶפְשָׁר בְּלִי הַעֲלָאַת מַיִין נוּקְבִין מִלְּמַטָּה דַּוְקָא

Consequently, in order to draw forth the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, below, it is impossible without the ascension of the feminine waters specifically from below. There is a rule that there can be no flow from above, which is called the "masculine waters," unless there is an ascension of "feminine waters" from below. The ascension of the feminine waters is what is called by the Zohar an awakening from below, where the lower realm initiates an awakening in the upper sphere by drawing attention to itself and its need for a flow of light and life force from above. It is natural that the greater the distance between giver and recipient, the more necessary and substantial the awakening on the part of the recipient. It is like a person trying to call attention to someone who is very far away: He must shout to be heard. This is never truer than with regard to prayer. Since one is praying to God Himself that He should draw forth the divine light directly into this world, this cannot simply happen automatically but must be achieved through awakening from below, from this place that is so lowly and far away, to which the flow of light must reach.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן לְתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה שֶׁבַּאֲצִילוּת, הַמְיוּחֶדֶת בְּלָאו הָכֵי בַּמַּאֲצִיל בָּרוּךְ הוּא

This is not the case with regard to Torah study, which has an effect in Atzilut , which is in any case united with the Emanator, blessed be He. Although the Torah is studied below, its impact is felt above, as it draws and increases light in Atzilut, a realm that is "united with the Emanator, blessed be He." The world of Atzilut is not far from God Himself. It is one with Him in every aspect, and there is no need to elevate the feminine waters in order to draw forth this increase of light in Atzilut. The whole significance and uniqueness of the giving of the Torah was that from that point onward everything one does below God likewise does above, as it were. But it is not like two actions, one evoking the other, but a single, simultaneous act. When a person studies Torah, he is studying God's supernal wisdom. When he speaks words of Torah, they are the actual words of God speaking through his mouth, and when one performs mitzvot, the "limbs of the King," it is as though God Himself is carrying out the mitzva. In this sense, there is no negotiation between the lower and higher realms, no awakening from below or ascension of the feminine waters initiating an awakening above. There is only the revelation of the Divine in Atzilut, which flows through us, the realm of Atzilut penetrating all the way to this world itself.

וְהַעֲלָאַת מַיִין נוּקְבִין בְּמוֹחוֹ וְלִבּוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם

The ascension of the feminine waters in a person's mind and heart All the holy sparks that a person collects in this world – the souls to which he connects, his deeds, words, and good thoughts – all ascend on high through the person's mind and heart. The mind and heart represent a person's consciousness and feelings, or, as it will be termed below, his cognitive love and fear. It is through his awareness and contemplation of God's greatness, and the love and fear that this evokes, that he binds his actions and his life to holiness. As the author of the Tanya says elsewhere, these are the wings that elevate what a person says and does. This is the ascension of the feminine waters. The author of the Tanya refers here to "a person's mind and heart" because they incorporate all the faculties of a person's soul, both his intellect and emotive attributes. Furthermore, the main work of the soul discussed in the Tanya involves the relationship between the mind and the heart, where the mind rules over the heart, rectifying and elevating the faculties of the heart and the animal soul. In a sense, the heart and the mind represent the animal soul and the divine soul in man, which can be compared to the chaos and rectification in the worlds in general. Through the service of mind and heart, man gradually rectifies his soul and the world at large.

הִיא בְּחִינַת ״רִשְׁפֵּי אֵשׁ״ בְּלִי גְּבוּל,

is the embodiment of boundless sparks of fire, The ascension of the feminine waters is compared to sparks of fire. Fire naturally reaches upward, leaping out of the vessel that tries to contain it. Similarly, the feminine waters are the holiness that we elevate from within this world by burning and consuming the vessels and garments in which it was hidden. It is like bringing an animal sacrifice upon the altar, which in the case of the soul is the elevation of the animal soul on the altar of the heart that burns with the love of God.

וְנִקְרָא ״מְאֹדֶךָ״

and it is called me'odekha , literally, "your might," Wherever it appears in the hasidic literature, the term me'od always denotes that which is infinite, that which transcends boundaries, as in the requirement to love God bekhol me'odekha, "with all your might," as we are adjured to do in the Shema. The implication is that we should love Him with unlimited love. In the same sense, the ascension of the feminine waters is also called "your might." The author of the Tanya specifies me'odekha, "your might," and not simply me'od, "might," because unlimited might is not within the power of any man. "Your might," however, is attainable, and when someone breaks through his personal limits, that is his connection with Ein Sof. It also means that this point, the most significant in each person's service, is not something objective that can be equated or replicated from one person to another. Some might give a million dollars to charity, and that would still not be considered "with all your might," whereas others can give only ten dollars and that would be classified as "with all your might." The issue is not the specific sum that was donated, but what one has taken from himself. One who cannot afford it, and is also stingy by nature and is not in a particularly good mood today, must overcome these tendencies and go out of his way to give at least a small amount. This is "with all your might."

כְּדֵי לְעוֹרֵר בְּחִינַת אֵין סוֹף

to awaken that which is infinite. How can man awaken the infinite, Ein Sof? Only when a person here below becomes in a certain sense infinite himself. Indeed, man is limited not only physically, but also in his mental and emotional faculties. His love is limited, and his reach is limited. After all, he is merely a created being, with boundaries and limits. Yet within the dynamic between the faculties within a person, in the contradictions, the struggles, and their integration, there is sense of infinity when a soul, or one of its faculties, succeeds in going beyond its previous limit. A person possesses several infinite faculties that limit each other when they exist in a single place. But when he succeeds in changing the array of faculties, to break through the boundaries that define him, he attains infinitude. Divested of boundaries, he can touch the infinite.

וְהַיְינוּ עַל יְדֵי גְּבוּרוֹת דס״ג

This is achieved through the gevurot , the forces of restraint, of the divine name Sag , The ascension of the feminine waters, the awakening below that initiates an awakening from above, drawing down the light of Ein Sof, occurs, in the terminology of Kabbala, through the forces of restraint of the divine name called Sag. This ascension can be seen as the elevation of the sparks of the divine light that fell upon the shattering of the vessels. These sparks belong both to the name Sag and to the side of Gevura and are therefore called "the forces of restraint of Sag." Every ascension from below to above employs the attribute of Gevura, as opposed to Ḥesed, which is poured forth in a movement from above to below and from the center outward. When Gevura is employed, it is through the opposite movement, from below upward and from the outside in, from the periphery to the core. The same is true of the refinement of the sparks and their elevation: One who rises must do so through the strength of Gevura, in order to emerge and break away from the world and the kelippot in which the sparks are captive. Yet it seems that the Gevura that is required here in order to rise above the limits of the world to initiate an awakening of Ein Sof is beyond man's capacity. A person may rectify himself, change himself, but going beyond that to change reality with the power of Ein Sof, is not within his own abilities. This power is obtained only from within the process of refinement itself, from the power that is within the shattered sparks themselves. The shattering occurred because the light was too great for the vessels of the world to contain, too intense for their parameters, so that it could not be contained. The light that emerged from the shattering, the sparks that fell, still carries with it a force that transcends limits. This power of Gevura is called "the forces of restraint of Sag " in the language of Kabbala, and it refers to the unlimited forces of restraint of chaos, which can be found within the shattered sparks. The massive power of these forces of restraint does not result from the ascension itself. At their essence, at their root, the sparks contain primal powers that are immensely greater than the forces of this world. These powers are released through their elevation, through the extraction of the sparks from the impure forces.

שֶׁהֵן הֵן הָרְפָ״ח נִיצוֹצִין כו׳

which constitute the 288 sparks… The name Sag is the source of the 288 sparks that fell from the world of chaos upon the shattering of the vessels. The number 288 represents the sum of the lights of the world of chaos that existed and was shattered before our world came into being. The shards of these lights are the sparks that are concealed and held captive within the framework of our world, and their elevation and rectification constitutes our divine service.

וְלָכֵן נִקְרֵאת הַתְּפִלָּה ‘חַיֵּי שָׁעָה׳, הִיא מַלְכוּת הַיּוֹרֶדֶת בִּבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה, וְתוֹרָה ‘חַיֵּי עוֹלָם׳, הוּא זְעֵיר אַנְפִּין

Therefore, prayer is called "temporal life," which is Malkhut that descends into the dimensions of time and place in the worlds of Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya , and the Torah is called "eternal life," which is Zeir Anpin , Prayer is called "temporal life" because its purpose is to draw the light of Ein Sof into this world, where the dimensions of time and place exist, in order to effect changes down below, such as healing the sick. Similarly, the sefira of Malkhut is "temporal life" since it constitutes the life force that descends into the dimension of time, into the fragments of time and the place of the worlds. At its essence, time constitutes change, which is essential to prayer. When we pray, we are praying for a change. Even a prayer of praise is designed to draw down more of that praiseworthy quality and improve reality further. By contrast, the Torah is called "eternal life" because it draws, as stated, an increase of light into Atzilut, which is above time. Furthermore, it does not change anything in the worlds below. It does not touch objects or enter them. On the contrary, the Torah raises the world to the dimension that is above time.

כִּי רְמַ״ח פִּקּוּדִין הֵן מִתְחַלְּקִין בי׳ כֵּלִים דְּעֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת דִּ״זְעֵיר אַנְפִּין״ כו׳

for the 248 positive commandments are divided into the ten vessels of the ten sefirot of Zeir Anpin … The connection between the Torah and Zeir Anpin is not merely a general equivalence, where Zeir Anpin, like the Torah, transcends the worlds and Malkhut. There is also a particular, structural relationship that pertains to their contents. The totality of the Torah can be viewed as the sum of the positive commandments, which number 248, a number that is related to the number of sefirot in Zeir Anpin. On a broader level, there is a link between the 248 positive commandments and the 248 limbs. On a basic level these mitzvot correspond to the 248 limbs of man. On a loftier level, they are the 248 limbs of the King, of God, which is Zeir Anpin, or more specifically, the revelation of God in the world as it is manifest through Zeir Anpin. Just as the 248 limbs of a person, metaphorically speaking, comprise the whole person, so too the 248 positive commandments comprise the entirety of God's revelation in Zeir Anpin. Zeir Anpin represents God's countenance that He displays toward the worlds, so to speak – a revelation of God in the worlds. It is the manifestation of the Divine from the perspective of the worlds. When we in the world relate to God, to the Creator of the world, to His power, might, and wisdom, we are actually referring to the partzuf, or countenance, of Zeir Anpin. On an even broader scale, our perception of the Divine, which transcends Atzilut and the constriction of the divine light that emanates from it, passes through Zeir Anpin. The 248 mitzvot are thus the "limbs" of God. Just as the vitality of the soul is manifest within the limbs of the human body, within the faculty of thought in the brain, within the ability of the foot to move, within the sense of sight in the eyes, so too the mitzvot are the vessels and limbs through which God reveals His will, wisdom, and essence in the world. At this point, the second section of the essay begins. As stated above, the essay compares the service of prayer, particularly when performed with love and fear, and the service of God through Torah study and the practical mitzvot. From here until the end of the essay, the emphasis shifts to its second theme: the fulfillment of action-related mitzvot and the study of halakha, which leads to that fulfillment, with an emphasis on the superiority of this service over service of the soul, of developing cognitive love and fear of God through contemplation of God's greatness. However, since the author of the Tanya has mentioned that the mitzvot are rooted in Zeir Anpin, that they are the 248 limbs of the King, he presents a short discussion on the source of the mitzvot in general. Of course, God Himself commands us to observe the mitzvot, which represent His will. The purpose of this section is to clarify just how internal and lofty is the divine will behind the mitzvot.

וְהִנֵּה בְּמָקוֹם אֶחָד כָּתַב (עץ חיים שער קיצור אבי״ע, פרק ד) שֶׁרְמַ"ח מִצְוַות עֲשֵׂה הֵן בה' חֲסָדִים, וּשְׁסָ״ה לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה בה׳ גְּבוּרוֹת וכו׳

In one place, it is written (Etz Ḥayyim, Sha'ar Kitzur Abiya, chap. 4) that the 248 positive commandments are rooted in the five ḥasadim , the spiritual forces of giving, while the 365 prohibitions are rooted in the five gevurot , the restraining forces… Generally, the mitzvot are categorized as either positive commandments or prohibitions. This allocation has a deeper root within the sefirot of Zeir Anpin. The five ḥasadim, the forces of giving, and the five gevurot, or restraining forces, are the lights contained in the vessels, or sefirot of Zeir Anpin, and thus the root of the mitzvot above is the divine light that is contained in the sefirot of Zeir Anpin. The roots of the positive commandments is in the lights called five ḥasadim, while the roots of the prohibitions is in the lights called five gevurot.

וּבְמָקוֹם אַחֵר (זהר חלק ג קכט, א) כָּתַב שֶׁהֵן תַּרְיָ״ג אָרְחִין נִמְשָׁכִין מֵחַד אָרְחָא כו׳, שֶׁהוּא לַבְנוּנִית וכו׳

but elsewhere (Zohar 3:129a) it is written that they, the 613 mitzvot, are 613 paths that are drawn from a single path…, which is the whiteness… Each of the 613 mitzvot, the 248 positive commandments and the 365 prohibitions, offer their own path through which the divine light flows below, but they all have one source, a single path, which is called "whiteness." White is the hue of kindness, or a specific aspect of kindness that transcends all the faculties and that incorporates all of them, just as one path can be the root of all paths. In contrast to the root of the mitzvot in Zeir Anpin, where there is a difference between the positive commandments and the prohibitions – where the positive commandments are rooted in the ḥasadim and the prohibitions in the gevurot – the whiteness referred to here is a far higher level that incorporates all the mitzvot in a single path. Moreover, it is explained in the teachings of Kabbala and Hasidism that the color white is actually not a specific color, but rather it includes all the colors. This whiteness, then, is not among the sefirot in Atzilut but rather is higher, on the level of Atik Yomin, the internal dimension of the sefira of Keter. As the Zohar states (3:129a), "There is no left in this Atik; it is all on the right." "Left" refers to the attribute of Gevura in the level of Atik, which is the internal dimension of Keter. Rather, it is all right, all Ḥesed. It follows that there two different levels that are the source and root of the mitzvot: It is either within the sefirot of Zeir Anpin in Atzilut, which contain the five ḥasadim and the five gevurot or within the whiteness of Keter. The author of the Tanya will go on to explain how these seemingly contradictory concepts can be reconciled.

אַךְ הָעִנְיָן שֶׁכָּל הַמִּצְוֹת לְתַקֵּן רְמַ״ח אֶבְרֵי זְעֵיר אַנְפִּין

The explanation of the matter is that all the mitzvot serve to rectify the 248 limbs of Zeir Anpin The impact of the mitzvot that we perform here, in this world, is activated in the world of Atzilut, as stated above. As the author of the Tanya puts it, they rectify the limbs of Zeir Anpin of Atzilut. This is the first level that is the root of the mitzvot: within the sefirot of Zeir Anpin. This is the place where they have an impact, where they bring about rectification.

עַל יְדֵי הַמְשָׁכַת אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא בַּמּוֹחִין הַכְּלוּלִין בה׳ חֲסָדִים וה׳ גְּבוּרוֹת

by drawing the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, into the moḥin that are incorporated in the five ḥasadim and the five gevurot . The rectification of the attributes is achieved by drawing the light of Ein Sof into the moḥin, which constitutes the illumination of the intellect within the attributes. Here the author of the Tanya is calling the aforementioned lights, the five ḥasadim and the five gevurot, moḥin, since the source of these lights, which are channeled through the attributes, is in the moḥin of Atzilut. The cognitive sefirot, Ḥokhma and Bina, are like the father and mother that give birth to the other attributes. They generate the awareness as a result of which the emotive attributes take shape. The light that reaches the attributes through the moḥin has its origin in the supreme root of everything, which is the light of Ein Sof. The moḥin flow into the attributes through the five ḥasadim and the five gevurot. The ḥasadim and gevurot are like the transmitters and translators of the moḥin to the attributes. The moḥin, or cognitive attributes that comprise the intellect, conclude either that there must be creation, expansion, and flow, which are the characteristics of the ḥasadim, or there must be caution, preservation, and internalization, characteristics of the gevurot. It is the fulfillment of the positive commandments and the prohibitions down below that draw forth the ḥasadim and gevurot, directing and translating the conclusions of the intellect into the form of attributes. What is more, that which guides the intellect toward these conclusions is the fulfillment of the mitzvot. The positive commandments draw forth the flow of the ḥasadim, since these mitzvot reveal the supreme will of the Creator to bestow and produce, while the prohibitions draw forth the gevurot, since the restraint exercised by refraining from a prohibited action reveals the power of limitation and boundaries from above. On a deeper level, they reveal the supernal light that cannot be contained in any vessel, which manifests itself either as an absence or flow of light.

וּמְקוֹר הַמּוֹחִין הוּא לַבְנוּנִית כו׳, הוּא הָעֹנֶג וְחֵפֶץ הָעֶלְיוֹן לְהַמְשִׁיךְ הָאוֹר לְמַטָּה לִרְמַ״ח אֲבָרִין דִּזְעֵיר אַנְפִּין

The source of the intellect is the whiteness of Keter, which is the supernal delight and desire to draw the light below into the 248 limbs of Zeir Anpin . These moḥin that flow through the attributes have a higher source than that of the attributes. In the human soul as well, the intellect is not the initial source for the soul's awareness and emotions, for the rationale behind why we think about a certain thing and why we understand something this way or that. It is not one specific faculty among the soul's faculties that we are speaking of here, but a general infrastructure that operates in the background, in the atmosphere where all the faculties of the soul exist. In the terminology of the Zohar, this is called the "whiteness." Just as the color white is the source of all the colors, the whiteness constitutes the unlimited supernal kindness in which there is no mixture or limitation of any kind. In the terminology of Kabbala, it is "the internal dimension of Keter," while in hasidic teachings, it is described as the pleasure and desire that is the internal dimension of the will. Similarly, the loftiest faculty in the soul, that which is the foundation of all the faculties, is the simple, primal will that has no specific definition or explanation. Yet it is what inclines the soul in one direction or another. Within that will, within that all-encompassing foundation, is pleasure. The flow of the light of the moḥin to the attributes does not begin with the intellect, where some course of action is prudent or wise, but even before that stage, there is the inexplicable pleasure it provides and the deep desire that it should be so. The three levels that constitute the root of the mitzvot and appear in various sources can be reconciled into a single framework: The mitzvot we perform below rectify the vessels above, the limbs of Zeir Anpin in Atzilut. The rectification that is implemented through the performance of mitzvot below occurs when they draw the moḥin from above through the five ḥasadim and the five gevurot. The source of this flow is even higher, in Keter, in the supernal delight and desire that precedes even the intellect.

וּמִתְחַלֶּקֶת הַהַמְשָׁכָה לְתַרְיָ״ג הַמְשָׁכוֹת פְּרָטִיּוֹת לְפִי בְּחִינַת עֵרֶךְ הַמִּצְוֹת

The flow of supernal pleasure and desire is divided into 613 individual channels in accordance with the value of the mitzvot. The supernal desire within the whiteness of Keter is a single desire, a one-dimensional pleasure, which is drawn from above to below through the fulfillment of the mitzvot. Just as in this world there are 613 mitzvot that are known to us, in Zeir Anpin of Atzilut there are 613 individual channels, each corresponding to the value of the mitzva that draws it forth.

כְּגוֹן, בִּצְדָקָה וּגְמִילוּת חֲסָדִים נִמְשָׁךְ אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְחִיצוֹנִית הַכְּלִי דְּחֶסֶד דִּ״זְעֵיר אַנְפִּין״ וּבְקִיּוּם הַדִּינִין בְּחִיצוֹנִית גְּבוּרָה וּבְרַחֲמִים כו׳

For example, through charity and acts of kindness, the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, flows to the external aspect of the vessel of Ḥesed of Zeir Anpin , and through the execution of judgment it flows to the external aspect of Gevura , and through mercy, and so on. The author of the Tanya now goes into specifics: When someone fulfills a mitzva that involves an act of kindness, such as giving charity to the poor, he causes the light of Ein Sof to be drawn from the supernal delight and desire into the vessels of Ḥesed in the world of Atzilut. Likewise, through the implementation of justice, whether it entails issuing a legal ruling or the execution of a sentence, either in an actual court of law, where the judge might dispense lashes and the death penalty, or within one's own soul, with respect to himself, one fulfills the mitzvot with the attribute of judgment. At that moment, he draws the light of Ein Sof from above into the external aspect of the vessels of Zeir Anpin and brings a flow of the gevurot into the world, which results in imposing justice on one's enemies, and on a larger, more general scale, dispensing life-giving sustenance to the world. The same applies to the fulfillment of the mitzvot that involve the attribute of mercy and Tiferet, and likewise to the other attributes. For the person performing a mitzva, this process can be described in the following terms: The light of the mitzva is the commandment of God. God commanded the mitzva, and its light comes from high above. Man as a whole is the vessel through which the mitzva is performed below, and he has an external aspect and an internal aspect. The internal aspect is his intentions, whether he fulfills the mitzva with love or fear, while the external aspect is the faculty of action, which overcomes any impediments to carrying out the action in practice. Likewise, in Atzilut above, the light comes from the whiteness in Keter, and the vessel is Zeir Anpin as a whole, through which the light is drawn and subsequently revealed in the worlds.

וְדֶרֶךְ וּמַעֲבַר הַהַמְשָׁכָה הוּא עַל יְדֵי פְּנִימִיּוּת הַכֵּלִים וּמוֹחוֹתֵיהֶן

The path and passage of the flow of the light of Ein Sof into the external dimension of the vessels is through the internal aspect of the vessels and their intellects, Just as nothing flows directly from the innermost part of the soul to deed, but rather there is a complex path from will to action, so too the flow of the divine light to the exterior of the vessels in Atzilut is first channeled through the interior aspect of the vessels, which are the moḥin, the intellect or cognitive sefirot, within them. The moḥin, the intellect, is always the initial stage that brings about the activation of the emotive attributes, which then translates into external action.

שֶׁהֵן דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שִׂכְלִיִּים אוֹ טִבְעִיִּים

which are cognitive or innate fear and love of God, The internal dimension of the vessels, and the internal dimension of the emotive attributes in the soul of man, through which one fulfills the mitzvot and has the proper intentions are "cognitive or innate fear and love [of God]." The internal faculty within a person that spurs him to fulfill the mitzvot is the love or fear of God. Cognitive love and fear are related to a person's understanding and awareness: It is this understanding and awareness that evoke the love and fear. Innate love and fear, by contrast, are found latent in the soul and need only to be discovered.

שֶׁהֵן בְּחִינַת מוֹחִין דְּקַטְנוּת וְגַדְלוּת

and these are in a state of constricted or expanded consciousness in Atzilut on high. In the world of Atzilut, which is the realm closest to God and most defined by divinity, the internal aspect of the sefirot, of the attributes, by virtue of which the mitzvot operate in the world, constitute the moḥin, or intellect. The moḥin are the internal aspect of the attributes, since they activate the emotive attributes. Furthermore, corresponding to the cognitive and innate love and fear of God, there are two levels of moḥin: expanded or developed consciousness and constricted or undeveloped consciousness, or more literally the "small" intellect or "large" intellect. The difference between them is not in the depth or scope of the knowledge or awareness that they contain, but rather in the place that they occupy in the faculties of the soul. For the sake of illustration, a child has a constricted consciousness, because his mind is dominated by his emotions and passions. It is constricted, or immature, because it is limited and serves the lowly faculties and facets of the soul. An expanded consciousness is more evident in those who are mature in all respects, for whom the intellect is not influenced by the emotions. Such a person will think in a certain manner, not because he desires it, but rather he will desire something because that is how he thinks, because that is how he views reality with his intellect. An intellect of this kind is an expanded consciousness, a consciousness that is not limited or serves other purposes. When this intellect has an influence on the emotive attributes, it creates what is called "cognitive love and fear." An expanded consciousness is thus consciousness itself, the moḥin themselves, which engender cognitive love and fear. It consists of the cognitive attributes that are employed in the fulfillment of mitzvot. By contrast, a constricted consciousness are the moḥin, the part of the intellect, that are brought to a state of awareness through the emotive attributes. This consciousness is contained within the attributes, since they require it in order to interpret the attributes and unveil them in the soul.

וְלָזֶה בִּיקֵּשׁ מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם מְאֹד לְקַיֵּים הַמִּצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת הַתְּלוּיוֹת בָּאָרֶץ

It is for this reason that Moses, our teacher, may he rest in peace, fervently sought to fulfill the action-related mitzvot that are dependent on the Land of Israel, God decreed that Moses would not be permitted to step foot in the Land of Israel, but he refused to give up and repeatedly implored God to allow him to enter the land. As emphasized here, he "fervently" pled with God to enter the land. The author of the Tanya employs the word me'od here, a word that connotes that which is limitless. When someone desires something "me'od," very much, he is prepared to pay any price, to give everything he has, to attain that which he seeks, because everything he possesses is worthless to him in comparison to the thing he desires. For Moses, everything he had, his Torah knowledge, his intellectual attainments, his lofty level of prophecy, was nothing compared to entering the land. As the author of the Tanya explains here, the reason Moses wanted to enter the Land of Israel was in order to fulfill the commandments that could only be fulfilled there.

שֶׁהֵן תַּכְלִית הַהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת

since they are the purpose of the chain of progression The action-related mitzvot that are fulfilled in the Land of Israel are the purpose and goal of the chain of progression through which the divine light descends to the physical world. This is not self-evident. The question of where the purpose lies, whether above or below, on the spiritual or physical plane, is at the center of all theology. It was none other than Moses, whose spirit was loftier than anyone else, who determined that the purpose of the entire chain of progression is down here below. Why is this so? What is the benefit provided by the practical service of God in the lower realm?

לְהַמְשִׁיךְ אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְבָרֵר הַכֵּלִים דִּזְעֵיר אַנְפִּין דִּבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה, שֶׁבָּהֶן הֵן הָרְפָ״ח נִיצּוֹצִין, עַל יְדֵי תּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת שֶׁבִּבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה דַּוְקָא

that draws forth the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, to refine the vessels of Zeir Anpin of Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya , in which there are the 288 sparks, through Torah study and action-related mitzvot, which are carried out specifically in Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya . The advantage to fulfilling the Torah in the physical land is that the vessels of the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya, in which the shattering of the vessels occurred, are thereby refined, and the 288 sparks of holiness that fell into them are elevated. But the main significance of this descent is the rectification of the vessels and the elevation of the 288 sparks, as explained above. This rises above everything that exists, beyond all the worlds and even all the lights. The world of chaos was the initial attempt to reveal the light of Ein Sof, as it were, to bring the light of Ein Sof into the vessels. It would seem that this attempt was unsuccessful, because the vessels were shattered and the light of Ein Sof, instead of being revealed, was merely scattered and concealed in the broken vessels. By refining the sparks that fell from the world of chaos, which we achieve mainly through Torah study and the action-related mitzvot, it becomes clear that there is a rectification and a positive outcome to this process, a complete nullification of the vessel and its limitations, so that it can contain and reveal the actual light of Ein Sof. This is the purpose of the entire chain of progression that draws down the light, that brings about the revelation of the supernal delight itself in the actualization of the desire of the Divine to have an abode in the lower realm.

וְהִנֵּה לְקִיּוּם מִצְוָה שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לַעֲשׂוֹת עַל יְדֵי אֲחֵרִים מְבַטְּלִין תַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה

To fulfill a mitzva that cannot be performed by others, we forgo Torah study, This statement is the key to understanding the relationship between Torah study and the fulfillment of mitzvot. It is a complex relationship. On the one hand, it is based on the assumption that Torah study is equal to all mitzvot, a virtue attributed to Torah study that does not apply to the action-related mitzvot. On the other hand, if a person is presented with the opportunity to perform a mitzva and there is no one else available to perform it, the mitzva takes precedence even over Torah study. There is an assumption here that the mitzvot have greater value than everything else. The conflict between these two extremes occurs when a mitzva cannot be done by others. It is impossible to both study Torah and fulfill the mitzva, and one must choose between the two. The ruling in that case is that the mitzva takes precedence. This indicates that the divine revelation from above that results from the fulfillment of a mitzva is always superior and more important, and any spiritual revelations that ascend from below must be negated in its favor.

וַאֲפִילּוּ מַעֲשֵׂה מֶרְכָּבָה וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן תְּפִלָּה שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת מוֹחִין וּדְחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שִׂכְלִיִּים וְהַטַּעַם כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל

even the study of the workings of the divine chariot, and all the more so prayer, which is an expression of the intellect and cognitive fear and love of God, for the reason stated above. One forgoes even the study of the esoteric teachings of the Torah, such as the study of the workings of the divine chariot that appeared in the prophet Ezekiel's vision, the study of the Divine as it is divested from the materiality of our world and is manifest in the higher, spiritual realms. Even more so one forgoes prayer. The main feature of prayer is the ascension of man, through contemplation of God's greatness and the development of cognitive love and fear of God. The prayers, accompanied by the love and fear of God, rise to the worlds of the spirit and the source of souls. They have nothing to do with the physical actions characterized by the performance of mitzvot, which is, as stated above, the entire purpose of the chain of progression through which the light of Ein Sof is drawn down to this world. Certainly, then, prayer, as well as Torah study, even when the study leads to practice, does not override a mitzva that cannot be fulfilled by others. The author of the Tanya is not referring here to the quality of prayer in elevating the sparks through love and fear, but to the refinement itself, the extraction of the sparks from kelippa before they can be elevated, which is achieved specifically through action.

וְעוֹד זֹאת, שֶׁבֶּאֱמֶת מְאֹד גָּדְלָה וְגָבְהָה מַעֲלַת הַמִּצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת וְכֵן לִימּוּדָם, עַל מַעֲלַת הַמּוֹחִין שֶׁהֵן דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שִׂכְלִיִּים

In addition, the virtue of the action-related mitzvot, as well as their study, is truly greater and loftier than the virtue of the intellect, which evokes cognitive fear and love of God, The study of action-related mitzvot entails the study of their halakhot in all their details: how one should fulfill the mitzvot in practice and how one should prepare himself for their performance. Such a mitzva takes precedence, not only because it is the purpose and will of God, but because the virtue of the action-related mitzvot transcends spiritual work, the contemplations of the intellect that leads to love and fear of God. This virtue is expressed in the connection with the Divine that a person attains through the mitzva act. It is not wonder that the word mitzva is derived from the term tzavta, which connotes a bond, a spiritual union. This is superior to any spiritual connection brought about through the intellectual understanding and sense of the Divine.

כִּי הֲגַם דִּכְתִיב: ״וּלְדָבְקָה בוֹ״ עַל יְדֵי מִדּוֹתָיו (דברים יא, כב)

for although it is written, "And to cleave to Him" (Deut. 11:22), by emulating His attributes, The Rabbis explain that this verse, "And to cleave to Him," means that we cleave to God by attaching ourselves to God's attributes and emulating them. These divine attributes, the sefirot in Atzilut, are united with God through a wondrous unification that we cannot comprehend. As the Tikkunei Zohar states, "He and His attributes are one." He, the light, and the vessels, or sefirot, are all one in the world of Atzilut. When a person conducts himself in accordance with those attributes, to the best of his ability, he cleaves to God Himself in a unique and more wonderful unification than can be imagined. Yet this unification would appear to occur only on the spiritual plane, on the level of God's attributes, and not in the realm of action.

מִכָּל מָקוֹם אֵינֶנּוּ דָּבֵק אֲפִילּוּ בַּמִּדּוֹת הָעֶלְיוֹנוֹת, אֶלָּא בִּמְצִיאוּתָן וְלֹא בְּמַהוּתָן

even in the case of the supernal attributes one nevertheless cleaves only to the external manifestation of their existence and not their essence, When a person cleaves to God's attributes by emulating them, he is certainly not cleaving to God Himself, and he is not even cleaving to His attributes. God's attributes are the most transcendent attributes of the world of Atzilut, with which God is unified. This means that His revelation within them is total, and nothing else is manifest within them but Him and Him alone. These attributes are as infinite as God Himself, and they differ in essence from anything we can fathom. Consequently, even when we conduct ourselves as much as we can to be like God, in our deeds and emotions, we are merely outwardly imitating these attributes. In the words of the author of the Tanya, we are cleaving only to "[the external manifestation of] their existence and not to their essence." Existence, in contrast to essence, is an external parameter. It is a garment, a particular expression, color, or sound – something that says, "This is here." But we cannot touch the essence of the supernal attributes, what they actually are, no matter how much we work on ourselves and no matter how high we ascend in spiritual terms. The essence even of the supernal attributes is divine, which is completely distinct from the created essence of which we are a part.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״וְאָנֹכִי עָפָר וָאֵפֶר״ (בראשית יח, כז)

as it is written, "And I am dust and ashes" (Gen. 18:27). This was the declaration of our forefather Abraham, who was a vehicle for the attribute of Ḥesed of Atzilut. Through his devotion and self-abnegation, he epitomized the divine attribute of Ḥesed in the most perfect form. His life in this world was nothing other than an expression of this attribute, yet he declared, "And I am dust and ashes." I and my attribute of Ḥesed are like dust and ashes in relation to the supernal attribute of Ḥesed. Ash is what remains of a tree after it has been burned. Just as only the element of earth remains from all the four elements of which it was composed (fire, earth, water, air), and just as the appearance and structure of the tree and its fruits has been reduced to mere ashes, which does not at all resemble the tree from which it came, so too only Abraham's attribute of Ḥesed remained from the supernal attribute of Ḥesed in Atzilut. Compared to that lofty divine attribute, his Ḥesed was mere ash and dust. In the same sense, one's emulation of God's attributes is at best something external, similar to Abraham's emulation of divine Ḥesed. There is an awareness that the attribute exists, but otherwise it remains far removed from the essence of the attribute itself to an immeasurable degree.

וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן בְּאוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא דְּלֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בֵּיהּ בְּאוֹרוֹ וְהִתְפַּשְּׁטוּת הַחַיּוּת מִמֶּנּוּ יִתְבָּרַךְ, כִּי אִם בִּמְצִיאוּתוֹ, שֶׁהוּא שֶׁמְּחַיֶּה אֶת כּוּלָּם, וְלֹא בְּמַהוּתוֹ

All the more so with regard to the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, since no thought can apprehend His light or the emanation of the life force that is drawn forth from Him, but one can apprehend only His existence, that He gives life to all, and not His essence. If we are unable to cleave to His attributes, all the more so we cannot cleave to God Himself. We cannot even apprehend His light or the life force that He issues forth. It is not just that we cannot contemplate it in our thoughts, but our minds do not have the capacity to contain such thoughts. Our thoughts and capacity for apprehension relate to this world. It is possible that lofty individuals may have some perception of the spiritual worlds, but the human capacity to apprehend is still confined to the world that we understand, in which we are situated. Our minds cannot venture beyond it. When discussing an understanding of the Divine, this refers only to the apprehension of the force and revelation of the Divine that gives life to the world or to the part of the world that we can apprehend, the present existence and the aspects of the world that we can grasp, but not its essence, which is beyond creation as we know it.

אֲפִילּוּ לָעֶלְיוֹנִים

This is the case even for the supernal beings, The supernal angels that inhabit the higher worlds also have no concept of God's essence but apprehend only His existence within their world. The supernal beings differ from the lower ones only in their level of divine revelation. The Divine is completely concealed in our world, because this world reveals only itself and does not inform us of anything beyond it, while in the higher worlds the Divine is openly revealed. It is as though the higher world proclaims, "There is a God that brings me into existence, who sustains me, and acts through me." Yet even this revelation is no more than the discovery of the reality that there is a Creator of the world, but it says nothing about the essence of the Creator Himself.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ ה׳ צְבָאוֹת כו׳״ (ישעיה ו, ג)

as it is written, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts…" (Isa. 6:3), The supernal angels, who are the seraphim in the world of Beria, declare, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts." "Holy" connotes that which is separate. When an angel says "holy" it means that he apprehends that there is something separate from him. He sees the evidence and even senses a presence. But the essence of it is unfathomable. The greatness of this supernal angel is in his apprehension of what might be called "the existence of the essence," which is a deeper perception than understanding the reality of His existence alone. One who apprehends God's existence alone might think that with a little more effort and thought he can grasp His essence. But one who apprehends the existence of His essence knows with certainty that he will never be able to apprehend God's essence itself, and he therefore declares, "Holy." The threefold proclamation of "holy" indicates that this lofty being understands that there is an essence that is separate and foreign to his understanding, and beyond that there is an essence that is separate and distinct from that essence, and beyond that, there is yet another essence that is separate from that separated essence. He recites "holy" three times but no more, because the angel relates only to the parameters of the worlds, and in general there are three levels of created worlds: Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya.

לְבַד עֲלוּלִים הַנֶּאֱצָלִים, מַשִּׂיגִים כָּל אֶחָד בְּעִילָּתוֹ

apart from the effects that emanate from the world of Atzilut, each of which apprehend its cause, The sefirot and the partzufim of the world of Atzilut are "effects" that issue from one another and are clothed in one another in a chain of causes and effects. They do not apprehend the divine essence itself, but rather the essence of the sefirot in Atzilut, which are unified with the Divine, of which they are the effect. The essential connection between cause and effect means that the effect grasps the essence of its cause. This is the greatest extent of its apprehension. It cannot comprehend anything beyond that.

כְּפִי הַסֵּדֶר שֶׁבְּעֵץ חַיִּים בְּהִתְלַבְּשׁוּת הַפַּרְצוּפִים

in accordance with the order as described in Etz Ḥayyim regarding the enclothing of the partzufim . It is explained in Etz Ḥayyim that the partzufim of Atzilut, which are comprised of arrays of sefirot, are enclothed in one another. They do not merely converse with each other, so to speak, as we do through speech, but they are actually enclothed within each other, essence within essence. Speech constitutes an external relationship in which the listener does not apprehend the essence of the speaker himself, but only his speech. This is like the transition between Atzilut and Beria, where there is apprehension only of its existence but not its essence. By contrast, the enclothing of the partzufim of Atzilut within one another, where the exteriority of the higher partzuf, which stems from its very essence, is enclothed in the interiority of the lower one, where the lower sefirot of the upper partzuf are enclothed in the lower partzuf, entails an apprehension of essence, not just of existence. It is an enclothing of essence within essence. This can be clarified with an analogy that relates to human relationships: If there is a deep bond between two people, where they both love the same thing, one does not need to explain anything to the other or issue commands to him, because they share a deep affinity. The second person grasps not only what the first one divulges to him, but even what the other feels. This is apprehension of the essence and interiority of one entity to another.

אֲבָל לֹא בַּנִּבְרָאִים אֲפִילּוּ בִּנְשָׁמוֹת דַּאֲצִילוּת

But this is not the case for created beings, even for the souls of Atzilut , A direct cause-and-effect relationship exists among the levels within the world of Atzilut alone. This is not the case for the transition from the world of Atzilut to the created worlds below it. There is a gap, a partition, through which the essence of Atzilut does not pass. This barrier conceals the essence of Atzilut and conveys to the created beings a different light, one that which merely attests to the existence of the levels of Atzilut there. "The souls of Atzilut " refers the souls of the world of Atzilut, which cannot grasp the essence of the partzufim of Atzilut that are unified with the Divine. There is a difference between the sefirot of Atzilut, which are actual divinity, and the world in which they exist, reveal themselves, and operate. The world of Atzilut, although purer and loftier than all the other worlds, is not part of the actual essence of the sefirot. The same is true of its inhabitants. In Atzilut there are also supernal angels and souls that emanated from the Divine. There is no distinct substance to them because they are nullified in the face of the Divine and serve as a vehicle for the Divine, yet even so they are not like the sefirot themselves, which are totally unified with the Divine. Rather, they belong to the boundary and scope of the world of Atzilut, which has no apprehension of the divine essence in the sefirot and the divine forces themselves.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּמֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם, ״וְרָאִיתָ אֶת אֲחוֹרָי כו׳״ (שמות לג, כג)

as it is written regarding Moses, our teacher, may he rest in peace, "And you will see My back…" (Ex. 33:23). Moses's soul, for instance, was a soul of Atzilut, and he attained a greater degree of holiness than any other man. The verse that the author of the Tanya quotes here tells us how God told Moses, "And you will see My back, but My face will not be seen." Not even Moses, with his affinity for holiness, was able to apprehend the essence of God, the "face," but only His existence, the "back." Moses's apprehension of the Divine was one of prophecy, which entailed the divestment of materiality, and therefore his perception was not limited by the physical world and the body in which he was enclothed in this world. Yet still he could see only "My back." This restriction is a fundamental limitation of the divine revelation in the soul, even a soul of Atzilut, and all the more so the soul of some other person, who cannot in any way or degree grasp the essence of God, but only the back side, which constitutes only an awareness of divine existence. In light of this, man's service through the faculties of his intellect and his cognitive love and fear, is limited. Although this is the loftiest service a man can perform, within the soul that transcends the body and the intellect, which comprise the loftiest and most abstract faculties of the soul, there is a limitation that cannot be traversed. The human soul, however lofty it may be, is a created and limited being, and no matter what it does, it is unable, on account of its own limitations, to achieve an essential connection with the Divine.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן מַעֲשֵׂה הַמִּצְוֹת, ״מַעֲשֵׂה אֱלֹקִים הֵמָּה״ הֵנָּה

This is not the case with regard to the performance of the mitzvot, which are the work of God. In contrast to cognitive love and fear, which are the work of man, the outcome of his intellect's contemplation and the application of his soul's faculties, the mitzvot are "the work of God." What man cannot achieve from below, God can effect from above. In His infinitude, He bridges the infinite gap between the Divine and the worlds so that the divine essence is revealed there. To illustrate: Everything that God created in His world is the work of God compared to what man achieves and creates. A person can analyze the nature of a flower, study botany and molecular biology and everything that people have written and could write about it, and yet all this will not constitute the flower itself. A single flower, like one drop in the ocean, incorporates the existence of the entire universe. Just as this flower encompasses all of nature and its laws infinitely more than anything that can be written about it, so a small mitzva act encompasses the divine essence, even if it is in a material and limited form, more than all the human conceptions and experiences can possibly encompass.

בְּדֶרֶךְ הִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת מִכֵּלִים דַּאֲצִילוּת לבְּרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה, מִמַּהוּתָן וְעַצְמוּתָן דְּחִיצוֹנִיּוּתָן

Within the chain of succession through which the mitzvot descend from the vessels of Atzilut to Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya , from the essence and being of those vessels' external aspects, The descent of a mitzva from Atzilut to the worlds below it does not occur in the same manner as the creation of those worlds from nothingness. Rather, it comes about through a transmutation that passes along something of the essence of the thing itself, as explained above with regard to the partzufim of Atzilut. A mitzva in our world of Asiya is actually a transmutation of the vessels of Atzilut, a portion of Atzilut that has descended to this world and is now situated below, even if it is not perceived and felt.

כְּמוֹ עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל אֶתְרוֹג וּמִינָיו הִלְבִּישׁ בָּהֶן הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מִמַּהוּתָן וְעַצְמוּתָן דַּחֲסָדִים [פְּנִימִית] [פְּנִימִים] דִּזְעֵיר אַנְפִּין

such as, for example, an etrog and its species, the Holy One, blessed be He, enclothed within them something of the [inner] nature and essence of the ḥasadim , the spiritual forces of giving, of Zeir Anpin , It is a mitzva to take the four species, the etrog, lulav, myrtle branch, and willow branch, on the festival of Sukkot and recite a blessing over them. The etrog and its species are physical produce that belong to this material world, and yet "the Holy One, blessed be He, enclothed within them [something] of the [inner] nature and essence of the ḥasadim of Zeir Anpin." As explained above, the ḥasadim and gevurot, the forces of restraint, are the inner lights, or life force, that are passed down from high above within the sefirot and vessels of Zeir Anpin of Atzilut. Just as these lights, which were originally above even Atzilut, in the realm called the "whiteness" of Keter, were enclothed in the sefirot of Atzilut, they likewise enclothed themselves in this world through the materials and actions with which the mitzva is performed.

וְהַיְינוּ מִבְּחִינַת חִיצוֹנִיּוּתָן, כַּנּוֹדַע בְּכָל מִצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת

meaning from the external aspects of the ḥasadim, as is known with regard to all action-related mitzvot. Only the external aspects of these lights can be transferred from one world to another. What is transmitted from the internal aspects of the ḥasadim high above to this world occurs through the external aspects of the external aspects, all the way down to the physical etrog and its species. The essence and being of these lights, then, are not stuck in the world of Atzilut, but have descended to this very world, to be enclothed in the material objects of the action-related mitzvot, objects such as the etrog and the other species.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן הָאָדָם, אֲפִילּוּ יֵשׁ לוֹ נְשָׁמָה דַּאֲצִילוּת

This is not so with regard to the apprehension of man, even if he possesses a soul of Atzilut . Though the service of cognitive love and fear through the contemplation of his intellect is very lofty, his apprehension is still limited and he still cannot perceive the essence and being of the Divine as it is enclothed in a mitzva act. This is the case even if his is a soul of Atzilut. There are certain individuals whose soul is not only rooted in Atzilut, but the soul itself, even while within a body in the world of Asiya, belongs to Atzilut. It possesses the same affinity and sense of the Divine as that which is found in Atzilut, a sense of Divine without any blurring or clouding. Although such a soul is rare and precious, and only a few people in all of history have possessed such a soul, it is still limited, and this limitation has nothing to do with the soul's particular level.

מֵאַחַר שֶׁמְּלוּבֶּשֶׁת בַּגּוּף, לֹא יוּכַל לִמְצוֹא בְּנַפְשׁוֹ, וּלְהַשִּׂיג מַהוּתָן וְעַצְמוּתָן שֶׁל פְּנִימִית הַחֲסָדִים דִּזְעֵיר אַנְפִּין דַּאֲצִילוּת

Since it is enclothed in a body, he will not be able to discover and apprehend through his soul the essence and being of the internal aspects of the ḥasadim of Zeir Anpin of Atzilut The body conceals. Just as it obscures the Divine in the world, it conceals the lofty essence of the soul that it contains. Even though the soul itself is from the world of Atzilut, it will not be able to apprehend the divine essence because it is enclothed in a body, the back side of the back side of existence, and therefore it is no longer able to uncover the internal aspects of the ḥasadim, the forces of giving, in Atzilut.

(כִּי הָאֲצִילוּת הִיא בְּחִינַת ‘חַיָּה׳ בִּכְלָלוּת הָעוֹלָמוֹת אֲצִילוּת בְּרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה, שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת מַקִּיף מִלְמַעְלָה וְאֵינָהּ מִתְלַבֶּשֶׁת בִּכְלִי כְּלָל)

(for generally Atzilut represents the level of ḥaya among the worlds of Atzilut , Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya , which constitutes an encompassing from above and is not enclothed in any vessel at all). The structures of the soul and the worlds parallel each other. Since they were made as counterparts that are meant to complete one another, each of them has everything that is within the other, whether in a hidden or revealed state, whether in a state of perfection or in a damaged form that requires rectification. Despite their differences, and though there are elements that are attributed only to the worlds whereas others relate only to the soul, the kabbalistic works invariably discuss them interchangeably, so that what is known about one is true of the other. This is exactly what the author of the Tanya is implying here. The soul is said to contain five levels: nefesh, ruaḥ, neshama, ḥaya, and yeḥida. But there are only four worlds: Atzilut, Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya. The fifth realm is that of Keter, which transcends all the worlds. If we view them as counterparts, that means that Keter corresponds to the soul level of yeḥida, ḥaya to Atzilut, neshama to Beria, and so on. When the author of the Tanya says that "Atzilut represents the level of ḥaya," he is merging the concepts, indicating that what is known with respect to the soul is the same with regard to the worlds. Not all of the soul's levels are enclothed in the body. These levels are too lofty to be placed in a vessel. They remain forever in a state of encompassment, ever present, as if hovering in the atmosphere, but not actually contained within the body. This is the case, not because no individual has enough intelligence to apprehend that level of his soul, but because this level cannot be apprehended through the human intellect, no matter how lofty the person's level. There is then a division in the soul between the levels of nefesh, ruaḥ, and neshama, which are enclothed in the body, and the levels of ḥaya, and yeḥida that are not enclothed and remain in state of encompassment. These two levels of the soul cannot be apprehended or reached through the faculties of the intellect or the emotive attributes. By stating that Atzilut corresponds to the level of ḥaya, the author of the Tanya connects the concepts: The essence of Atzilut cannot be apprehended by the aspects of the soul that are enclothed in the body. Just as the level of ḥaya is not enclothed or apprehended by the body, so too Atzilut is not apprehended within the other worlds.

כִּי אִם מְצִיאוּתָן עַל יְדֵי דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שִׂכְלִיִּים

Rather, he can apprehend only their existence through cognitive fear and love of God. This is love and fear that a person attains with his intellect. The intellect of man is a created entity, whose tools and concepts are taken from creation. Such an intellect cannot apprehend the essence of the divine light in Atzilut, but only the fact of its existence.

וּמַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב: ״וְרָאִיתָ אֶת אֲחוֹרָי״ (שמות לג, כג), הוּא בְּדֶרֶךְ נְבוּאָה דַּוְקָא

As for the verse "And you will see My back" (Ex. 33:23), it will occur specifically through prophecy On Mount Sinai, at the moment of the revelation and illumination of the divine will, Moses submitted one more request to God: "Please show me Your glory" (Ex. 33:18). God responded, "You will not be able to see My face…. You will see My back, but My face will not be seen" (Ex. 33:20, 23). "My back" is also a revelation of the divine essence, beyond what man can apprehend of reality with his intellect. Seeing in general, and certainly spiritual perception, involves the perception of essence. One does not merely hear about a thing, but he actually sees it. Yet this does not involve cognitive fear and love that a person attains through the contemplation of his intellect, but rather a revelation through prophecy. In contrast to the apprehension and understanding of the intellect, prophecy is akin to sight, in the sense that one sees the essence of the thing itself, even if it is only its back side.

(שֶׁהוּא הִתְפַּשְּׁטוּת הַגַּשְׁמִיּוּת, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּרַעְיָא מְהֵימְנָא פָּרָשַׁת מִשְׁפָּטִים

(which entails the divestment of physicality, as it is written in Raya Meheimna , Parashat Mishpatim ). According to the Zohar, in a prophetic vision, the person sees directly with the soul, not through his body or even a faculty of the mind. In any case, in the context of this essay, the author of the Tanya is not focusing on the attainment of prophecy, nor on the divestment of materiality, but on the apprehension of the intellect and cognitive love and fear. Through these faculties, a person can grasp only the existence of the Divine, but not its essence.

וְהַיְינוּ הַטַּעַם לְפִי שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לַנִּבְרָא לְהַשִּׂיג כְּלוּם בְּמַהוּת הָאֱלֹקוּת שֶׁהוּא הַבּוֹרֵא

The reason for this is that it is impossible for any created being to apprehend anything of the essence of divinity, which is the Creator, The relationship between Creator and created being is that of existence from nothingness, meaning that for the created being, who now exists, the Creator is nothingness, invisible and entirely incomprehensible. This is an essential feature of the relationship between Creator and created being: Were the creation to grasp the essence of the Creator, it would cease to be a creation, an entity with its own existential perception of reality. It is impossible to be on both sides at the same time. Either one is a created being, an independent entity, so to speak, and then one cannot attain this apprehension, or one attains it and then one is no longer a created being.

וּבְלִי הַשָּׂגָה אֵין זוֹ הַלְבָּשָׁה וּתְפִיסָא וּדְבֵיקוּת אֲמִיתִּית

and without apprehension of the divine essence there is no true enclothing, grasping, or cleaving. If there is no apprehension of a thing, it is not truly enclothed and grasped within the person's being, in his understanding and emotions. Each entity exists on a separate plane, and there is no essential connection between them that could render them as one entity.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן הָאֶתְרוֹג, עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, חַיּוּתוֹ נִמְשְׁכָה וְנִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלָה מִמַּהוּת חִיצוֹנִית דְּכֵלִים דְּנוּקְבָא דִּזְעֵיר אַנְפִּין דַּאֲצִילוּת, שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת אֱלֹקוּת

This is not the case with regard to the etrog , for example. Its life force is drawn forth and devolves from the essence of the external dimension of the vessels of the female aspect of Zeir Anpin of Atzilut , which is an aspect of the Divine, The same applies to all physical items that are used for the fulfillment of the mitzvot. Their spiritual vitality, which gives them existence, stems from "the essence of the external dimension of the vessels of the female aspect of Zeir Anpin." Zeir Anpin is the level of Atzilut that bestows the divine light and life force upon the world, and it first bestows this light and life force to the vessels of its female aspect, or the sefira of Malkhut within this partzuf in Atzilut, One might say that it first bestows to itself what it received of the life force. This can be compared to the way a person first gives from what he receives to what is inside him, in terms of his feeling and sensing it and understanding it. After that, it emerges through the external dimension of the vessels, which are analogous to speech, which is external to thought and is expressed to another. At any rate, all the levels through which the life force devolves from Atzilut above to the worlds below, from feelings and thoughts to speech, all comprise the divine essence. Unlike a human being, where that which is below him truly becomes other, for God there is no other: Everything is contained within Him, analogous to the other entity when it is still in one's thoughts. The entire chain of progression through which the light and life force descends is the same, all the way down to the actual physical realm: Everything is contained within His essence, and every part of reality that devolves from Him and descends below is, in this sense, His very essence.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּעֵץ חַיִּים: שֶׁכָּל הַפֵּירוֹת הֵן בַּאֲצִילוּת

as it is written in Etz Ḥayyim , that all fruits are in Atzilut . In contrast to man's grasp of that which is above from here below, which cannot touch on the divine essence, that which descends from above, from God Himself, is always divine essence. This can be observed even in the lowliest form of vegetation in the physical world, how it devolves and descends from the vessels of Atzilut, "essence in essence," as the author of the Tanya states below.

כִּי לָמֶ״ד כֵּלִים דַּאֲצִילוּת יָרְדוּ לִבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה

For thirty vessels of Atzilut descended to Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya The kabbalistic works describe the descent of Atzilut into the worlds: Each of the ten vessels, or ten sefirot, of Atzilut has an inner, middle and external aspect, which means that together they total thirty vessels. The inner ten descend and become souls and life forces for the world of Beria, the middle ten for the world of Yetzira, and the external ten for the world of Asiya.

(וְהֵן יוּ״ד מַאֲמָרוֹת שֶׁבָּהֶן נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם)

(and these are the ten utterances with which the world was created) The ten vessels that become the soul of the world of Asiya are manifest as the ten utterances that appear in the first chapter of the book of Genesis. These are the general life forces of creation that comprise and sustain everything in this world, as explained at length in Sha'ar HaYiḥud VeHa'emuna.

עַל יְדֵי הִתְלַבְּשׁוּת בְּנוּקְבָא דַּעֲשִׂיָּה מַהוּת בְּמַהוּת

by being enclothed in the feminine aspect of Asiya , essence in essence. The feminine aspect of Atzilut is Malkhut of Atzilut. The vessels, or sefirot, within Malkhut of Atzilut descend and are enclothed in the feminine aspect, or Malkhut, of Asiya, so that the essence of Atzilut is literally within the essence of Asiya. "Essence in essence" means that the essence itself is transmitted, not merely the awareness or knowledge of its existence. This means that there are no concealing transitions, as there are, for example, between the essence of something and one's thoughts about it, or one's thoughts about the thought. That the essence of the vessels of the female aspect of Zeir Anpin are enclothed in the female aspect of Asiya, or Malkhut in Malkhut, means that it is enclothed not only in the head and body of Asiya – not only in the cognitive sefirot of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at (the head), and not only in the emotive attributes, Ḥesed, Gevura, and so on (the body) – but also in the female aspect of Asiya, in Malkhut. This constitutes a bestowal of essence in essence, the essence of Malkhut within the essence of Malkhut. This is analogous to a father teaching his son. When the father gives the son a rational explanation of what to do and how to act, this is not really "essence in essence," since the son has to convert the father's logic and rationale into deed. By contrast, when the father is not content with rational explanation but performs the action himself with his son, this is a communication of essence in essence.

כִּי הַכֵּלִים דַּאֲצִילוּת נַעֲשׂוּ נְשָׁמָה בַּעֲשִׂיָּה, שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת אֱלֹקוּת מַמָּשׁ

This is because the vessels of Atzilut became a soul in Asiya , which is literally an aspect of the Divine, The vessels of Atzilut are, as explained above, the essence of the Divine itself. Their external aspects, the sefirot of the outer array, became a soul in Asiya. The soul of Asiya, of reality and physicality, is what sustains and brings everything there into existence and it is actual divinity. From the perspective of the Divine, there is no concealment, not of light or vessels, not in Beria, in Yetzira, nor in the physical world of Asiya, and therefore all of these vessels, all the way down to the world of Asiya itself, are divinity itself as it is manifest in Atzilut.

לְפִי שֶׁבַּאֲצִילוּת ‘אִיהוּ וְגַרְמוֹהִי חַד׳, הַמַּאֲצִיל וְהַנֶּאֱצָל

since in Atzilut He and His attributes are one, the Emanator and the emanated. God and the vessels or sefirot of the world of Atzilut are one, which constitutes the unification of the Emanator with the emanated. The Emanator is the light of Ein Sof itself, which transcends Atzilut, while the emanated is the world of Atzilut and the ten sefirot, which are the vessels of the world of Atzilut. Accordingly, the vessels of Atzilut on all levels, both their internal dimensions and their external aspects, are unified in the light of Ein Sof, and so they are divinity itself.

וְעַל יְדֵי הִתְלַבְּשׁוּת מַהוּת הַנְּשָׁמָה בְּמַהוּת הַכֵּלִים דְּנוּקְבָא דַּעֲשִׂיָּה,

Through the enclothing of the essence of the soul, the life force that descends from the vessels of Atzilut, within the essence of the vessels of the female aspect of Asiya , or the ten utterances, the etrog came into existence. The physical etrog came into existence through the enclothing of the life force that descends from the vessels of Atzilut within the essence of the vessels of Asiya. These are the ten sefirot of Asiya which are manifest, through Malkhut of Asiya, as the ten utterances of Creation. Thus, the life force that gives vitality to this physical etrog is thus the divine essence itself.

נִמְצָא כְּשֶׁתּוֹפֵס הָאֶתְרוֹג וּמְנַעְנְעוֹ כְּהִלְכָתוֹ, הֲרֵי זֶה תּוֹפֵס מַמָּשׁ חַיּוּתוֹ הַמְלוּבָּשׁ בּוֹ מִנּוּקְבָא דַּאֲצִילוּת, הַמְיוּחֶדֶת בְּאוֹר אֵין סוֹף הַמַּאֲצִיל בָּרוּךְ הוּא

It follows that when one holds the etrog and shakes it, in accordance with the halakha , one is literally holding its vitality that is enclothed in it and that stems from the female aspect of Atzilut , which is united with the light of Ein Sof , the Emanator, blessed be He. The author of the Tanya emphasizes that a person takes hold of the etrog "in accordance with the halakha," because otherwise the act is not a mitzva. When a person uses the etrog in fulfillment of the mitzva, he is holding the divine essence in his hand. In this way, he physically cleaves to the Divine, to the divine essence and being.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן בְּכַוָּונָתוֹ אֵינוֹ מַשִּׂיג וְתוֹפֵס, אַף הַיּוֹדֵעַ הַסּוֹד, אֶלָּא מְצִיאוּתָהּ וְלֹא מַהוּתָהּ

This is not the case with regard to one's intention when fulfilling the mitzva. Even one who knows the mystical wisdom of Kabbala apprehends and grasps only the fact of the existence of the Divine, not its essence. When a person fulfills a mitzva, his intent constitutes his focus on the spiritual meaning of the act in his heart and mind. Yet even one who has the loftiest intentions cannot apprehend or perceive the divine essence that is enclothed in the etrog. This is undoubtedly the case for one whose thoughts merely encompass that which he understands through logic he arrived at himself, but even someone who has studied the wisdom of the Kabbala, who is aware of ideas and concepts that cannot be known with one's intellect or logic, but rather he acquired them from his teachers who themselves acquired them in the same manner, or through prophetic intuition, can understand the fact of the existence of the divine essence, but not the divine essence itself. It makes no difference that his capacity for apprehension is immense or that he learned these ideas from the loftiest of individuals. The human intellect is incapable of apprehending the divine essence. It can at best attain an awareness of its existence.

אַךְ בְּלִימּוּד הִלְכוֹת אֶתְרוֹג, מַשִּׂיג וְתוֹפֵס הָאֶתְרוֹג מַמָּשׁ וּמִצְוָתוֹ כַּהֲלָכָה, בִּבְחִינַת דִּבּוּר וּמַחֲשָׁבָה

Yet with regard to the study of the laws of the etrog , he apprehends and grasps the actual etrog and its mitzva in accordance with the halakha , through speech and thought, Unlike spiritual thoughts and intentions regarding the meaning behind the mitzva, thoughts about the practical aspects of the fulfillment, such as the study of the halakha, constitute a perception of the divine essence within the mitzva act. There is no action without thought, without a spiritual element that fuels it. It is impossible to act without knowing what one is doing, and therefore the study and preparation that are related to the mitzva are an inseparable part of the act itself.

וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן הַלּוֹמֵד הַסּוֹד

and all the more so one who studies the mystical wisdom of the Kabbala. Unlike the spiritual intention and meaning behind the mitzva that the author of the Tanya discussed above, this refers to the esoteric dimension of the actual etrog and the mitzva act performed with the etrog. It refers to the esoteric reasons behind the halakhot pertaining to the mitzva and their details. Furthermore, the study of the esoteric meaning is itself connected to the act, since many practical customs are based on esoteric teachings. The author of the Tanya states "all the more so" because the study of the esoteric meaning of a mitzva entails understanding the mitzva act on a deep spiritual level: what an etrog is in the higher worlds, what happens there to the higher beings when we hold the etrog and lulav here below and wave them up and down, in accordance with the parameters of the halakha, and so on. In that case, the person's thoughts not only precede and prepare the body for the action, in the form of studying the halakha, for example, but it also executes the mitzva in the spiritual worlds itself together with the performance of the physical action.

אֲבָל דַּוְקָא סוֹדוֹת הַמִּצְוָה, דְּלָא גָּרַע מִלִּימּוּד הִלְכוֹתֶיהָ וְאַדְּרַבָּה כו׳,

But this applies specifically to the mystical meaning of the mitzva itself, which is not inferior to studying its laws, but on the contrary… The author of the Tanya stresses once again that in order for a person's study and intention to allow him to apprehend the essence within the mitzva, it must be related to the action, as is the case of the study of the halakha in practice. But the author of the Tanya also implies that studying of the esoteric meaning of a mitzva is superior to the study of its halakhot. In this context, the virtue of studying the esoteric meaning lies in the discovery of the divine content within the act. The study of the halakha is also a spiritual activity, but it does not go beyond the realm of action, what to do and how to do it. It does not relate to the divine meaning behind the act. The study of the esoteric dimension of the Torah is generally on a different plane of reality, where the Divine is revealed to a greater extent. When one is focused on the physical etrog –what color a valid etrog should be, which marks are disqualifying, and other such factors – there is no divine revelation there, just as in the physical world itself one does not see the divine light within the fruit. But when one focuses on the spiritual essence of the etrog, such as the idea that etrog represents the sefira of Malkhut while the lulav represents Yesod, so that waving these species brings forth these forces into reality, then the Divine is openly revealed.

אַף שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַשִּׂיג הַמַּהוּת

even though he does not apprehend the essence of mitzva's spiritual meaning. When a person studies Kabbala, even when he studies the esoteric mysteries that relates to a particular mitzva, one does not actually grasp the essence of the matter one is studying. The virtue of studying halakha is that we know what we are dealing with. We know this physical world, and not only the fact of its existence but also its very essence. We know exactly what an etrog fruit is, what the color yellow is, and so on, and therefore our understanding of the halakhot is an apprehension of the essence of the act itself. By contrast, when we study kabbalistic concepts, this involves concepts that we do not actually understand, concepts such as angels, the sefirot, and spiritual lights. We can say the words, have a slight conception of what they might be so that we might know a little of how to connect one concept to the other, but we do not know what they actually are. In other words, we grasp the fact of their existence, but not their essence. Nevertheless, as long as the study of these esoteric matters is related to the mitzva act, even if one does not actually apprehend the essence of the concepts one is studying, he is connected to the act in practice, which contains something of the divine essence itself. This is akin to the particles that physicists work with. Though no one has any idea what they actually are, the physicists apply this knowledge and build devices that the entire world uses to maintain life in a very practical sense. The same applies to the relationship between the study of the esoteric meaning behind the act and the act itself: Even if one does not apprehend the essence of the concepts in question, the minimal knowledge of their existence and the relationships between them forms a connection between the person and the action and stimulates the deed.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן בְּסֵדֶר הַהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת

This is not the case with regard to the study of the order of the chain of progression by which the divine light descends to this world. This refers to the study of the abstract concepts of Kabbala that are not directly related to mitzva acts, to what and how to think and do. It involves general knowledge of the structure of the worlds and how they transmute from one another. The chain of progression consists of the path and channel that extends from the Divine itself all the way down to this physical world, from the first constriction and the first level of lights and sefirot through the higher spiritual worlds down to our physical world and reality. The expression the "chain of the progression" thus encompasses the entire expanse of theoretical knowledge of the Divine and the worlds.

אַף אִם מַשִּׂיג הַמְּצִיאוּת לֹא עָדִיף מִצַּד עַצְמוֹ כְּלִימּוּד הַמִּצְוֹת, שֶׁמַּשִּׂיג וְתוֹפֵס הַמַּהוּת

Even if one does apprehend the fact of the existence of the chain of progression, it is not as intrinsically worthy as the study of the mitzvot, where one does apprehend and grasp the essence of the concepts he is studying, Even if a person has studied Kabbala and knows how the worlds are structured and has learned of the existence of the divine forces and attributes and how they are positioned in relation to each other, this study is not as worthy as the study of the mitzvot. When one studies the subject for the sake of it and not in order to fulfill a mitzva or to evoke love and fear of God, such study does not have the special virtue of the study of mitzvot. When a person studies the mitzvot, particularly halakha, one attains an apprehension of the essence of the concepts he is studying, since he is dealing with physical matters that are part of the world in which he lives. Even the study of the esoteric meaning of the mitzva, which also leads to action and practical application, is connected to the deed, and therefore also to the divine essence within the act itself.

וּמַעֲלֶה עָלָיו כְּאִילּוּ קִיֵּים בְּפוֹעַל מַמָּשׁ כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״זֹאת הַתּוֹרָה כו׳״ (ויקרא ז, לז)

and God ascribes him credit as though he actually fulfilled them in practice, as it is written, "This is the law for the burnt offering, for the meal offering, and for the sin offering" (Lev. 7:37). When one studies the halakha, both on the revealed level and in relation to the esoteric meaning of a mitzva, it is considered as though he fulfilled the mitzva in practice. The Rabbis expound from the verse cited here, "This is the Torah for the burnt offering, for the meal offering, and for the sin offering…," that one who studies the laws of the sacrifices is accredited as if he actually sacrificed the offerings. The Torah itself ascribes the virtue of one who performs a mitzva to one who studies its laws.

אֶלָּא שֶׁיְּדִיעַת הַמְּצִיאוּת מֵהַהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת הִיא גַּם כֵּן מִצְוָה רָמָה וְנִשָּׂאָה

But the knowledge of the existence of the chain of progression is also a lofty, exalted mitzva, The author of the Tanya adds that even the abstract general knowledge of the chain of progression of the worlds, which is unrelated to a specific action-related mitzva or to the individual who knows it, is still a mitzva, even a "lofty, exalted" one. It is, in fact, the first mitzva discussed in the Rambam's Mishneh Torah: "To know that there is a Primary Being, and that He brought into being all existence. All the beings in heaven and earth, and whatever is between them, came into existence only through the truth of His being" (Sefer HaMadda, Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah 1:1).

וְאַדְּרַבָּה עוֹלָה עַל כּוּלָּנָה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״וְיָדַעְתָּ הַיּוֹם כו׳״ (דברים ד, לט)

and on the contrary, it surpasses all of them, as it is written, "You shall know this day and restore to your heart that the Lord, He is the God in the heavens above and upon the earth below; there is no other" (Deut. 4:39), This is a general mitzva that in a certain sense encompasses all the mitzvot. It is a mitzva that empowers a person to fulfill all mitzvot, so from a certain perspective "it surpasses all of them." The author of the Tanya emphasizes this point by quoting this verse from Deuteronomy. This verse adds a layer that is deeper than the knowledge one can gain from observing nature, as described by Rambam above. This deeper knowledge does not arise from contemplating the world merely through rational observation, but by virtue of this message from above that the Divine not only gives life to that which we see but that everything in existence is contained within the Divine and the Divine is contained within it. "The Lord, He is the God," or "Havaya," meaning everything in existence, "is God." That which brings into existence and that which exists are one and the same, as explained in Sha'ar HaYiḥud VeHa'emuna. There is nothing besides Him, not only with respect to the divinity that creates and give life, but there is no other within reality except for Him.

״דַּע אֶת אֱלוֹקֵי אָבִיךָ כו׳״ (דברי הימים א כח, ט)

and it is written, "Know the God of your father and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind…" (I Chron. 28:9). This verse is part of King David's final command to his son Solomon. As in the verse from the Torah, here too there is a mitzva to know, to investigate and reflect on God's greatness within the order of the chain of progression and to take this knowledge to heart so that it is expressed in one's service of God. But there is a personal addition here that does not appear in the verse from the Torah: "Know the God of your father." When one considers his own personal progression, his own origin in the Divine – "the God of your father" – he will find his personal God. He will become aware of the source of his life and his own personal situation, which points to Ein Sof Himself.

וּמְבִיאָה לְ״לֵב שָׁלֵם״ כו׳ שֶׁהוּא הָעִיקָּר

This knowledge leads to a "whole heart" …, which is the main thing. This is the "whole heart" that the verse from the Torah quoted above mentions, implying that this level of knowledge of God's existence leads to the rectification and perfection of one's attributes. A "whole heart" means that one's soul will be whole, perfected, through that which one understands, feels, and does. It is possible for someone to understand a concept, and yet half of his heart is focused elsewhere. He may also act in accordance with his understanding, while his feelings about it contradict his actions. Only a foundation as deep and as wide as possible of the knowledge of divine reality throughout the chain of progression of the worlds, within all aspects of reality and in everything that has occurred and will occur, can bring a person to the point where his emotions, his love and awe, his yearnings and frustrations, accord with his intellectual understanding and his actions and the practical application of what he thinks and feels. Developing a "whole heart" through the knowledge of the existence of the Divine is not only a foundation and a source of strength for one's divine service in practice. Rather, in a certain sense, it is the essence and purpose of the service of God through the Torah and mitzvot. We can infer this idea from yet another verse: "The Lord commanded us to perform all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God" (Deut. 6:24), which conveys that the purpose of the Torah and the mitzvot is the higher level of fear, the loftiest level of the human heart, and that is "a whole heart."

וְהַשָּׂגַת הַמְּצִיאוּת הוּא לְהַפְשִׁיט מִגַּשְׁמִיּוּת כו׳

The apprehension of the existence of the Divine entails divesting from physicality… This brief comment has a far-reaching implications. It expresses the approach of Hasidism in general, and that of the author of the Tanya in particular, with regard to the study of the esoteric teachings of the Torah. The study of these teachings in itself, which he defines here as "the knowledge of the existence of the chain of progression," is the knowledge of the existence of lofty spiritual essences throughout the immense chasm between us and God: what they are, how they are arranged, and how they relate to each other. Here he adds that this is not enough. Something more is required, another layer to this field of knowledge, without which none of this would constitute true knowledge of the Divine. It does not matter what we call the details, whether they are the names of worlds or angels, or even if they are the names of God Himself, if all of it is nothing but knowledge of the names and the garments that enclothe the spiritual entities, if it is nothing but a physical garb that does not contain anything of the Divine. Here physicality, in the broad meaning of the term, refers to the external kelippa that appears to be an independent entity, a thing in its own right, whether it is physical or spiritual. Not only is such study worthless, but it can even be dangerous. This is why the author of the Tanya says that the apprehension of the existence of the Divine must be divested of physicality.

רַק שֶׁזּוֹ הִיא מִצְוָה אַחַת מִתַּרְיָ״ג

But this is only one of the 613 mitzvot, and a person must fulfill all 613 mitzvot, Although the study and knowledge of the esoteric aspects of the Torah is a general mitzva that surpasses all the others, it is still only one of 613. It cannot replace the other mitzvot, but it is one of them, and one is obligated to fulfill it just as he is required to perform all the other mitzvot.

לְפִי שֶׁהֵן הִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת הַמַּהוּת דְּחִיצוֹנִית דְּכֵלִים דַּאֲצִילוּת

for they descend from the essence of the external aspect of the vessels of Atzilut . Each of the 613 mitzvot literally stems from the divine essence, and the essence it contains cannot be revealed through any other mitzva. If we were dealing with something external, where there is an obvious reason and purpose for it to be that way, it might be possible for one mitzva to replace another or even several other mitzvot. But since every mitzva is drawn from the divine essence, which transcends all rationale and any purpose, no mitzva can substitute another.

לְכָךְ צָרִיךְ לְהַרְבּוֹת בְּלִימּוּד כָּל הַתַּרְיָ״ג וְקִיּוּמָן בְּפוֹעַל מַמָּשׁ

Therefore, one must increase the study of all 613 mitzvot and their fulfillment in actual practice, While there are mitzvot that ostensibly incorporate other mitzvot, and a person may be more interested in certain mitzvot and more qualified to succeed in his fulfillment of them, he should still make an effort to fulfill all 613 mitzvot, both in study and practice. The study of the mitzvot itself is not merely a way of knowing what to do but represents a fulfillment of the mitzva itself on another plane, in another realm. But it is not actually part of the fulfillment of the mitzva at the level of action.

בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה דִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁהֵן

in thought, speech, and action, which correspond to Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya , Every mitzva should be fulfilled on three levels: thought, speech, and action. Action means the actual physical act, speech is the study of the mitzva in the Torah, and thought includes the person's intentions, in terms of both the spirit and the purpose of that mitzva. In the case of the sacrifices, for example, the level of thought comprises prayer, which serves as a substitute for the sacrifices. With regard to the Sabbath, it entails refraining from thinking about secular matters on this day and sanctifying oneself and elevating oneself through the Sabbath prayers. These three aspects of a mitzva correspond to the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya. Everything contained within man exists in the worlds to their fullest extent. In relation to the world of Atzilut, which is also called "supernal man," the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya are its thoughts, speech, and deeds. This means that when one fulfills a mitzva at the level of action, one fulfills it in the world of Asiya. When one fulfills it through speech, one fulfills it in the world of Yetzira, and when one fulfills it on the level of thought, one fulfills it in the world of Beria.

לְבָרֵר בֵּירוּרִין אֲשֶׁר שָׁם

to refine that which must be refined there. A person must fulfill the mitzvot at all levels and worlds in order "to refine that which must be refined" in all the worlds, to extract the holy sparks from the impure kelippot and elevate them. Although the shattering of the vessels and the concealment of the Divine occurred primarily in the world of Asiya, the finer roots of these corruptions exist in the higher worlds, in Yetzira and Beria, and the service of refinement is therefore needed there too.

וְעוֹד זֹאת,

Moreover, the truth is that the refinement that is effected in Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya by elevating the 288 sparks through Torah study and mitzvot, in thought, speech, and action, are loftier at their root than the nefesh , ruaḥ , and neshama in man, After the shattering of the vessels occurred, the lower three worlds became intermingled with a mixture of good and evil. The sparks of divine light fell among the kelippot. Now the worlds need to be refined and rectified through the extraction and elevation of these sparks. When the 288 sparks that fell to the worlds upon the shattering of the vessels are elevated by man through his service in this world, this results in the refinement and rectification of the worlds. When a person accomplishes this, he is loftier than the sparks, even though at their root, these holy sparks were originally loftier than man before they fell. This presents a paradox because only a higher entity can refine a lower one. But as the author of the Tanya goes on to explain, man originates from a loftier place than this world in which the sparks fell, and so he is able to refine and elevate them. The author of the Tanya stresses that man achieves this refinement through Torah study and mitzvot. Without Torah study and mitzvot, a person could not do more than his status allows, and what he gives he will receive, no more. But when he fulfills the Torah and mitzvot, it is no longer his own private personal act. He serves as a vessel and garment for lofty wisdom and deed, which are far higher than the person himself. When a person operates below through the Torah and mitzvot, he will raise from there sparks and forces of holiness that transcend whatever he invested in this service.

כִּי הֵן מִס״ג שֶׁבִּפְנִימִית ״אָדָם קַדְמוֹן״, וְנֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ נְשָׁמָה שֶׁכְּבָר נִתַּקְּנוּ עַל יְדֵי מ"ה, הוּא יוֹצֵא מֵהַמֵּצַח הֶאָרָה בְּעָלְמָא

for they stem from the name Sag of the inner dimension of Adam Kadmon , whereas the nefesh , ruaḥ , and neshama , which were already rectified through the name Mah , emerge from the forehead of Adam Kadmon as mere illumination. Here the author of the Tanya repeats what he just stated using kabbalistic terminology. Adam Kadmon, which is the loftiest and most internal spiritual world, constitutes the mapping out of all reality. The refinement that is effected is rooted in the divine name Sag, which itself stems from the internal dimension of Adam Kadmon, while the person who effected the rectification stems from the name Mah, which is only an external illumination that emerges from Adam Kadmon. This is another way of saying that the root of that which is refined is loftier than the person who effects the refinement. When these concepts are analyzed in all their detail and depth, they paint a complex picture that is hard to understand without a kabbalistic background, which is why the author of the Tanya merely alludes to them here. In summary, we might say that the refined sparks from the name Sag are rooted in the inner will of God itself, but because of their intensity and magnitude, the lights could not be contained and could not exist in reality. The person who effected the rectification stems from the name Mah, whose lights are more external and so not as intense, and it is precisely because it is merely an illumination, that it can exist in reality and that man can rectify the sparks.

וְזֶה שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״לִפְנֵי מְלוֹךְ מֶלֶךְ כו׳״ (בראשית לו, לא)

This is the meaning of the verse "And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before the reign of a king for the children of Israel" (Gen. 36:31). The name Israel is related to the divine name Mah, the rectifier, while the kings of Edom allude to the sefirot, which reigned in the world of chaos until the vessels shattered. Esau, who is Edom, was the elder son, while Jacob, who was also called Israel, was the younger son. This verse thus hints that the kings of the world of chaos that stem from the name Sag preceded the kingdom of Israel, or the world of rectification.

וְהַיְינוּ טַעֲמָא שֶׁהָאָדָם חַי בִּמְזוֹנוֹת דּוֹמֵם צוֹמֵחַ חַי וּמְבָרְרָן במ״ה שֶׁבּוֹ וְחַי בָּהֶם, לְפִי שֶׁהֵם מס״ג

This is the reason that man lives on sustenance from the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, which he refines through the Mah within him, and he lives through them, since they stem from Sag . It is an age-old question: Man lives on food from the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, but with his capacity for speech, he is above them. How, then, is it possible for him to receive his vitality from them? After all, the rule is that the higher entity bestows on the lower one, not the other way around. The answer is that man stems from the name Mah, whereas and the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms come from the sparks of chaos that fell from the name Sag. When a person eats of one of these species with the proper intention, he extracts those sparks and elevates them to their root in the name Sag, which is higher than man and from which they give life to the person. This is not referring only to the life of the physical body. The question primarily concerns the spiritual existence of man and his lofty divine soul. In order for his soul to be vivified from the bread he ingests, he must, when eating, refine the food and extract the holy sparks it contains. In other words, it is not enough for him to physically eat. The mere physical act of eating, without intent and spiritual work, might sustain the body but not the soul. In fact, that kind of eating even makes a person more corporeal and weakens his spiritual faculties. When a person eats, he must rectify the food, which means that he himself must have the status of a rectified being, at any rate with respect to this food and act of eating. He must position himself at least somewhat above the food, in a space where he can reveal the essence of the person he is as an embodiment of Mah. He will thereby awaken from the food the holy spark that is captured within it, which is the embodiment of Sag. The spark will then be elevated and refined, and the spiritual and divine portions of man will receive nourishment in turn.

וְעוֹד זֹאת, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״וּפָנַי לֹא יֵרָאוּ״ (שמות לג, כג), שֶׁפְּנִימִית הָעֶלְיוֹן אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לֵירֵד לְמַטָּה, רַק חִיצוֹנִיּוּתוֹ וּבְחִינַת אֲחוֹרַיִים

In addition, there is another reason that the fulfillment of the action-related mitzvot are superior to cognitive love and fear: As it is written, "But My face will not be seen" (Ex. 33:23), which means that the supernal inner dimension cannot descend below, only its external aspect and back side, The author of the Tanya elaborates further on the advantages of the fulfillment of the action-related mitzvot over cognitive love and fear. The inner dimension, the divine essence, by its very definition, cannot emerge outward, and that which does emerge is not the "face" but the "back." The author of the Tanya cited this verse at the beginning of the essay to impart the essential limitation of the divine revelation to the extent that even a soul of Atzilut, such as that of Moses, cannot see "My face," the divine essence. Here the author of the Tanya takes his analysis in another direction, pointing to what can descend and be apprehended by created beings. This relates to the previous words in the verse: "You will see My back, but My face will not be seen." This conveys that whatever descends to the worlds, which the people of the world can see, is the "back." To illustrate, when a person wants to teach someone, he cannot convey to him everything that he thinks and feels, but only the back side, his speech, which expresses the conclusions and ramifications of his ideas in terms that the other can understand.

שֶׁהוּא נוֹבְלוֹת חָכְמָה עִילָּאָה

which are the withered fruit of supernal wisdom. The wisdom that descends from above is not wisdom itself as it exists on high, but only the "withered fruit of supernal wisdom." Wisdom is essence in every context, like the light in a vessel, like the world of Atzilut among the worlds, like the soul, and therefore it cannot descend in the same state as it is manifest above. What is transmitted and descends is like the withered fruit that falls from a tree, which has no taste or vitality, and seemingly no interior, but only an external form that recalls the fruit that once was on the tree.

וְעוֹד זֹאת, שֶׁהֲרֵי הַדִּבּוּר מִדִּבְרֵי חָכְמָה עִילָּאָה אֵינוֹ מוֹלִיד, וְהַטִּפָּה שֶׁנִּמְשְׁכָה מֵהַכְּלִי דְּחָכְמָה עִילָּאָה, יֵשׁ בָּהּ כֹּחַ הַמּוֹלִיד וּמְהַוֶּוה יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן

Furthermore, speech from words of supernal wisdom does not produce offspring, while the drop that is drawn from the vessel of supernal wisdom has the power to produce offspring and bring about existence from nothingness. The author of the Tanya offers another metaphor explaining the superiority of action-related mitzvot over the service of cognitive love and fear: Speech that emits from supernal wisdom transmits only the back side, the external dimension of existence, in contrast to the transfer of a drop of semen from male to female, which transmits that which is internal, actual essence.

וְגַם הַמְשָׁכַת חָכְמָה עִילָּאָה כְּלוּלָה בָּהּ,

Also, the flow of supernal wisdom is incorporated within the drop of semen, and the reason is because the essence and being of supernal wisdom flows into it, As was commonly supposed in the times of the author of the Tanya, the drop of semen is drawn from the brain in the form of the spiritual essence of the intellect and wisdom, which descends and materializes in the spinal cord until it becomes a physical drop of semen. It is not that the wisdom affects another part of the body, which then produces the drop, but rather the wisdom itself, its "essence and being," is drawn into the drop. In the case at hand, since the physical drop contains all the information and potential needed to form a complete person, it is an embodiment of the point of wisdom, which is the initial point of the creation of the person that incorporates the entire spiritual essence of a human being.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן בְּדִבּוּר וּמַחֲשָׁבָה, וַאֲפִילּוּ בְּהַשְׂכָּלַת הַשֵּׂכֶל בְּאֵיזוֹ חָכְמָה

which is not the case for man's speech and thought, nor even the intellectual conception of some piece of wisdom. This differs not only from the garments of the soul, speech and thought, but also from the intellect itself, even before it is enclothed in the letters of thought. This can be observed in the difference between speech and thought themselves, where not all thoughts are clothed in the letters of speech. We think of an idea, understand and sense it in a way that is clear to us, but the idea cannot be conveyed to another person comprehensively in words. Likewise, there is a stage that precedes thought. It is impossible to fathom it, because it has not yet manifested itself in thought and it is imperceptible even to ourselves. Yet we know it exists, like the light that exists even before it is enclothed in vessels.

הֲרֵי חָכְמָה זוֹ רַק הֶאָרָה מִתְפַּשֶּׁטֶת מִמַּהוּת הַשֵּׂכֶל שֶׁבַּנֶּפֶשׁ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ

This intellectual conception of some piece of wisdom is merely an illumination emanating from the essence of the intellect that is in the soul and its being, This intellectual conception, which has not even emerged into the intellect itself, is only a reflection of the intellect, which conceives of a certain topic. Though the intellect is employed in thinking of the concept, it does not constitute the intellect itself. It is a reflection or illumination of the intellect, stemming from the intellect but not the intellect itself.

וְהֶאָרָה זוֹ הִיא רַק לְבוּשׁ לְמַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ שֶׁל הַשֵּׂכֶל וְהַשֵּׂכֶל הוּא הֶאָרָה וּלְבוּשׁ לְמַהוּת הַנֶּפֶשׁ

and this illumination is merely a garment for the essence and being of the intellect, while the intellect is an illumination and a garment for the essence of the soul. The intellect itself does not constitute a particular piece of knowledge or concept but is a faculty of the soul. It constitutes its ability to comprehend and conceive ideas, while the various conceptions that it conceives are the innumerable different illuminations and manifestations of the intellect. It is in these conceptions that the essence of the intellect is enclothed. Moreover, even the intellect itself is nothing more than a reflection and manifestation of the soul's essence. This description of the intellect contained in the soul, from its most external manifestation as it is enclothed in speech to its more internal manifestation, which lies in thought, and the even more internal levels of awareness and the intellect itself, are nothing but a reflection and enclothing of the essence of the soul. As for the essence of the soul itself, as is the case with the divine essence, we have no apprehension of it at all.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן הַטִּפָּה, נִמְשָׁךְ בָּהּ גַּם מִמַּהוּת הַנֶּפֶשׁ וְעַצְמוּתָהּ הַמְלוּבֶּשֶׁת בַּמּוֹחִין, וְלָכֵן מוֹלִידָה בְּדוֹמֶה לָהּ מַמָּשׁ

This is not the case with the drop of semen. The essence and being of the soul, which is enclothed in the intellect, is also drawn into it, and therefore it produces that which is actually similar to itself. In contrast to any other manner of giving, it is only through the drop of semen that the father imparts his soul's essence and being. It is evident that only the soul's essence, not any revelation or illumination that stems from it, can give birth to a being exactly like it. Only the essence of the soul bears within it the totality of everything, and only the essence of the soul carries with it the light of Ein Sof, the power that created it and that can also create a child who resembles his father. The soul and the drop of semen are a metaphor for that which God Himself bestows on the world. He bestows an illumination that we have the capacity to receive, that of the faculties of the intellect, of love and fear. But there is nothing of His essence in any of these faculties, but merely a revelation of His existence. Yet God also provides, in the terms of the analogy, a "drop." It is through this drop, which is a mitzva that He gave us to perform, that God draws forth His essence and being into this world.

וְזֶהוּ הַהֶפְרֵשׁ בֵּין עֲבוֹדַת הַמַּלְאָכִים הַיּוֹצְאִין מִ׳נְשִׁיקִין׳ לְהַנְּשָׁמוֹת הַיּוֹצְאִין מֵהַ׳כֵּלִים׳

This is the difference between the service of the angels, which emerge through kisses, and that of the souls, which issue forth from the vessels. The difference between the bestowal of the intellect and the bestowal of a drop, a mitzva, which contains God's essence, is like the difference between service performed with cognitive love and fear his service performed through the action-related mitzvot. This is also the difference between the service of the angels and the service of the human soul. This is only a general distinction, since like the angels, the souls also serve God with cognitive love and fear, but the human soul has another level of divine service, which no angel possesses, and that is service through the action-related mitzvot. The author of the Tanya now goes on to explain how these ideas can be reconciled: how it is that the service of man is performed both with the vessels, or sefirot, of Atzilut, and the essence, or lights, of Atzilut, as well as the lights that spread from it throughout the worlds.

אַךְ הַכֵּלִים דַּאֲצִילוּת נַעֲשׂוּ נְשָׁמָה לִבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה. וְהִלְכָּךְ דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שִׂכְלִיִּים הֵן כְּמַלְאָכִים דִּנְשִׁיקִין, מֵהֶאָרַת חִיצּוֹנִית דְּחָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת בִּבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה

Yet the vessels of Atzilut become the soul of the worlds of Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya , and therefore man's cognitive fear and love of God are like the service of the angels, which issue forth from kisses, but only from the external illumination of Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at in Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya . There is no unambiguous, objective definition of lights and vessels. Something that is a vessel in the world of Atzilut becomes light and soul in the worlds below it when it descends there. Moreover, man's service through cognitive fear and love of God is like the service of the angels, which is a spiritual service, like the coupling of kisses, which is a spiritual union, rather than the physical service of drawing forth the divine essence, as occurs through the service of man. In other words, even man, in serving God with the faculties manifest in his soul, with his cognitive love and fear, is relating to the manifestations of the Divine in the worlds rather than the divine essence itself. These are not revelations of the essence of Atzilut, of the divine essence itself, but only "the external illumination of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at." When the essence contained in the vessels itself descends to the worlds, it is not contained within the intellect or the attributes but rather manifests as a physical drop, or as an action-related mitzva. But when Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at descend into the worlds as Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, this is a revelation of the Divine, merely an external illumination, not that of the divine essence.

וְהַטַּעַם מִשּׁוּם דִּפְנִימִית חָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת, וּמַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ שֶׁל אוֹר פְּנִימִי, אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהִתְגַּלּוֹת

The reason that the revelation is external is that the internal dimension of Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at , and the essence and being of the inner light, cannot be revealed The worlds do not have the capacity to contain the internal dimension of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, which is the light that expresses the essence the sefirot of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at in Atzilut. This is the light of intellect itself, the awareness and understanding of the essence of the Divine. Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at of Atzilut constitute a knowledge of the Divine at its essence, from the divine perspective of reality, where there is no barrier or concealment and there is no place for the worlds below to exist at all. Here, in the world of Atzilut, within the awareness engendered by these supernal sefirot, there is literally nothing else besides Him.

אֶלָּא עַל יְדֵי הֶאָרַת הַכֵּלִים דַּוְקָא הַיּוֹרְדִים לְמַטָּה, כְּטִיפַּת הָאָדָם מִמּוֹחִין

except through the illumination of the vessels specifically, which descend below, like the drop of semen of man that issues from the brains, The only way for this inner light to be revealed is through the "illumination of the vessels." The inner light, the essence, descend specifically through vessels. The light is transparent and reflects what it is without concealment, but it has no ability to exist beyond the place and context in which it illuminates. By contrast, the vessel is opaque and conceals the light and that which it represents. It has its own existence, as it were, hiding the light within it. But it is for this very reason that it can bring down actual essence and transmit it to another reality, like the drop of semen that transfers the essence of the father to another reality within the child. To illustrate with a more spiritual example: When one person speaks to another and thereby conveys ideas and feelings to him, what is actually transferred to the other person is only the words, or the vessels that contain those ideas. One cannot impart an idea without speaking. A person's idea or feeling may be strong and clear in his own mind, but without words they have no external existence. Similarly, the light is specific and belongs only to the source of its illumination, whereas the vessel is universal. Thus, the words and letters can transmit the idea therein precisely because they do not illuminate on their own at all.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״וּפָנַי לֹא יֵרָאוּ״

as it is written, "But My face will not be seen." It is with regard to this internal dimension, to the light and essence that are concealed, that God said to Moses, "But My face will not be seen." The word panai, "My face," is related to penimiyut, the internal dimension. This does not apply only to Moses, but to the entirety of the wisdom and Torah that he brought down for all generations. They are available solely in the form of "My face will not be seen" and "you will see My back."

וּבַר מִן כָּל דֵּין

Apart from all this, In addition to everything that has been said so far about the superiority of the action-related mitzvot over spiritual service, over developing love and fear of God, there is another, more weighty point to be made. This is not just about two different ways of serving God, since it is possible that one method without the other will not accord with the divine will in any case. In general, there are two trajectories in the service of God. One involves ascension, when a person, by virtue of his service, elevates the lights from the vessels in this world to the divine source above. The second is the flow from above to below, the drawing forth of the divine light into the vessels of this world. The work of elevation primarily involves the spiritual service of cognitive love and fear, where one apprehends the divine light itself and so desires and longs to emerge from the vessel below and cleave to the Divine. The service of drawing down the divine light from above to below consists mainly of the performance of the action-related mitzvot. In the optimal circumstances, these two forms of service are intertwined: The upward trajectory awakens the desire to increase the flow downward, as described at the beginning of the essay. Accordingly, if the ascent from below to above does not lead to a flow from above to below, all we are left with is the lights leaving the vessels, of the soul and life force departing from the body. This is the opposite of the divine will, which always seeks to bestow and impart life to the vessels and the worlds. God wants to have an abode in the lower realm, for the divine light and life force to be perpetually drawn down from above to this world.

אֲפִילּוּ בִּנְשָׁמָה דַּאֲצִילוּת, אַף שֶׁהִיא מִכֵּלִים דַּאֲצִילוּת, וְכֵן בְּנֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ מִכֵּלִים דִּיצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה

even in a soul of Atzilut , though it stems from the vessels of Atzilut , and likewise with regard to the nefesh and ruaḥ , which stem from the vessels of Yetzira and Asiya , A "soul of Atzilut " is a lofty soul, because not only is its root in Atzilut (as is the case for all souls), but its life experience, its service, belongs to Atzilut as well. This is the case even though "it stems from the vessels of Atzilut." The human soul, unlike the angels, emerge from the vessels, as explained earlier, and thus they are not merely a light of Atzilut but an essence of Atzilut. The same applies to the nefesh and ruaḥ, which stem from the vessels of Yetzira and Asiya, which refer to souls whose level of service is on a lower level, rooted in the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya, since they too, on their level, stem from the vessels of those worlds and their essences.

הִנֵּה רְחִימוּ [אוּלַי צָרִיךְ לִהְיוֹת: דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ] שִׂכְלִיִּים שֶׁלָּהֶם, מְעוֹרְרִים גַּם כֵּן בְּכֵלִים דִּיצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה, בְּחִינַת הַעֲלָאָה מִמַּטָּה לְמַעְלָה, בְּאִתְעָרוּתָא דִּלְתַתָּא

their cognitive love of God [perhaps this should read: fear and love] also awaken in the vessels, or sefirot, of Yetzira and Asiya an ascent from below to above through an awakening from below. When the author of the Tanya says "their cognitive love," he is referring to the divine service of the souls performed through cognitive fear and love, which cause the lights in the vessels, or sefirot, of the worlds of Yetzira and Asiya, to emerge from the vessels and ascend on high. We see that such service elevates the lights also from the vessels in the spiritual worlds above, not only in this world.

וְזֶהוּ בְּחִינַת הִסְתַּלְּקוּת לְבָד חַס וְשָׁלוֹם

However, this is a form of departure alone, God forbid, The ascent of the lights from the vessels, which does not incorporate any thought or request for a flow of light from above to below, constitutes a departure of the lights alone. With regard to this kind of ascension, when the light leaves the vessels without returning, the author of the Tanya exclaims, "God forbid." It is true that this is the most beautiful of ascents, when the soul pines with love for God to the point of expiration, but it is, at the end of the day, a death, and that is not what God desires. Life entails "running and returning": In the stage of running, we follow through on the aspiration of our hearts, evoking love and devotion for God, yearning to escape all the materiality and darkness of the physical world and cleave to the holiness that we can perceive and sense, until the soul expires. Returning entails the soul's return to the vessel, to physical matter, to the life of this world.

אֲבָל בְּחִינַת הַמְשָׁכָה מִלְמַעְלָה לְמַטָּה, הוּא עַל יְדֵי מִצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת דַּוְקָא, לְהַמְשִׁיךְ אוֹר בְּכֵלִים

whereas the flow from above to below is achieved specifically through action-related mitzvot, drawing light into vessels, The flow of light in the vessels can be drawn from above to below, and this flow is achieved mainly through the fulfillment of the action-related mitzvot. While the first type of service entails elevating the soul's faculties, the intellect, love and fear of God, to a more abstract level that is detached from the physical plane, here a person does the converse: He lowers the higher, abstract, and holy faculties of his soul to a lower realm and mode of expression, that which belongs to the physical world. He thereby effects the same trajectory in all the worlds, of the flow of the divine light from above to the vessels in the worlds below.

וּבְחִיצוֹנִית הַכֵּלִים דַּוְקָא. שֶׁחִיצוֹנִיּוּת הָעֶלְיוֹן יוֹרֵד לְמַטָּה וּפְנִימִיּוּת הַתַּחְתּוֹן עוֹלֶה לְמַעְלָה

particularly the external aspect of the vessels so that the external aspect of the higher level descends below, while the inner dimension of the lower level ascends upward, Spiritual ascent and descent is not the same as in the physical realm, where the flow is invariably from a higher to a lower place. Instead, it resembles the soul, where that which is more lofty is the more internal, essential self, while that which is on a lower level is external, the aspect that relates to others. That which can descend is therefore not that which is internal, which is essence, the entity itself. Rather, what descends is the external aspect, and this is what is revealed below, through one's deeds. Meanwhile, "the inner dimension of the lower level ascends upward." That which ascends is the more internal, abstract aspect of the entity. Therefore, every ascent entails that which is internal. The interiority of the soul is less tied to external forms, and consequently it can detach itself from them and connect to loftier forms. This is what constitutes an ascent, where a person comprehends something on a higher, more spiritual, and abstract level.

וְזֶה שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזֹּהַר פָּרָשַׁת פְּקוּדֵי (חלק ב רמד, ב) הַנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל (סימן ב): דְּאִית סִדּוּרָא כו׳

and this is the meaning of the aforementioned statement from the Zohar , Parashat Pekudei (2:244b), that there is an order… The full quote reads, "There is an order that is established through words, and there is an order that is established through will and the intention of the heart." There is an order and way of serving God through words and deeds, which is primarily the descent of the light into the vessels, which are the words and deeds. There is also the spiritual service of contemplating the Divine, of evoking love and fear of God, which mainly entails elevation of the light from the vessels.

וּשְׁתֵּיהֶן צוֹרֶךְ גָּבוֹהַּ, הַעֲלָאָה וְהַמְשָׁכָה

Both of them are needed by the Most High: the elevation and drawing down Taken together, all the methods of service for elevating and drawing down the flow of light are "needed by the Most High." In other words, they are a requirement of God. Contrary to what one might think, that only the elevation is for the sake of God, while the drawing down of the light is for the sake of man and the world, the author of the Tanya stresses here that both trajectories, the elevation and the descent, are "needed by the Most High."

עַל יְדֵי הַעֲלָאַת מַיִין נוּקְבִין מס״ג בִּבְחִינַת עוֹבָדָא וּמִלּוּלָא

through the ascension of the feminine waters from the divine name Sag , which is achieved through action and speech. The elevation of the sparks through the performance of mitzvot is called the "ascension of the feminine waters from Sag." These feminine waters that a person elevates are the holy sparks from the name of Sag that fell into the world upon the shattering of the vessels, as has been explained. Their ascent from of the world is achieved through man's divine service, starting from man's animal soul and body and radiating outward until it includes this entire physical world. When he rectifies these elements, both his physical self and the physical world, he releases the sparks of light that were concealed in them and elevates them to their root above, and this is the ascension of the feminine waters. The essence of this elevation of feminine waters is that they awaken and draw forth the masculine waters, which is the flow of divine light and life force from above to below. Why do the feminine waters draw forth the flow of the masculine waters? It is because they are from the divine name Sag. In other words, since the root of the feminine waters is from Sag, which is loftier than the person who elevated them. When they are extracted from this world and elevated, they in turn return and bestow light and life below to the person who elevated them and to the world from which they ascended as soon as they ascend and are refined. Moreover, the light that returns is greater and loftier light than it was before. This is the flow of masculine waters after the ascension of the feminine waters. The author of the Tanya also notes that the ascension of the feminine waters occurs through the garments of action and speech. Since the soul itself belongs to the higher realms, it is only when it is enclothed in speech and deeds that it can have any effect in the lower physical world, and thereby elevate the feminine waters from there.

וְזֶהוּ תַּכְלִית הַהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת,

This is the purpose of the chain of progression: to reveal the supernal light below, not to elevate the lower level above, This is the purpose of the entire order of the descent of the light of Ein Sof from the loftiest plane down to this world, from level to level, in a chain of progression. Since it originates above, its purpose and aim is necessarily below because it can only follow the trajectory of above to below. Yet after it has been explained that there is both an ascent and a descent of light in the order of progression, one might have thought that the ultimate aim is the ascent, that God brought down the lights, to people and to the world, for the purpose of their subsequent ascent. But once it has been made clear that both are "needed by the Most High," that they are not two opposing trajectories, independent of one another, but are actually a single trajectory, we see that the aim is the descent. If the ultimate purpose were the ascent, why would the service of drawing forth the flow downward be required? But if the purpose is achieved down below, the reason for the ascent is clear: It is precisely that which rises from below that awakens the source above to issue forth to the vessel below.

שֶׁזֶּה אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא לְפִי שָׁעָה. וְאַף גַּם זֹאת דַּוְקָא, עֲלִיּוֹת הַכֵּלִים לְאוֹרוֹת עֶלְיוֹנִים

for such an elevation is only temporary, and even this must be specifically the elevation of the vessels to the supernal lights, The elevation is not an end in itself, but a temporary requirement in order to bring about the actual aim, which is the drawing forth of the light from above to the vessels below. Even this temporal ascent must be executed in a particular manner and method, which is "the elevation of the vessels to the supernal lights." Here the author of the Tanya adds another factor to the equation. He had previously spoken about an ascent and descent: the elevation of the lights from the vessels, and the flow of the divine light to the vessels below. Now he refers to the elevation of the vessels as well. The vessels can also ascend through the service of man. In fact, for the elevation to occur in the desired manner, it must involve the elevation of the vessels together with the ascent and purification of the lights.

הִיא מַעֲלַת הַשַּׁבָּת וְיוֹם הַכִּיפּוּרִים

which is a quality of the Sabbath and Yom Kippur, An example of this is the ascent of the worlds on the Sabbath and Yom Kippur. On the Sabbath, and in a different manner on Yom Kippur, and in a sense on all the festivals, the worlds rise higher than on weekdays. "Higher" means that they are more divested from physicality, divisions, and boundaries, that they are more unified with the source of everything, and the Divine is a little less concealed. On the Sabbath, for example, the world removes its weekday garments and becomes a more purified vessel to receive loftier lights. The worlds are vessels, which means that this is not an ascent of light alone, but an ascent of the world itself. Everything in the world – the food, the clothing, even the sky and the earth – is elevated on the Sabbath. All of this refers to the proper manner of ascent, whose ultimate purpose is the flow of light into the vessels and not the other way around. When the author of the Tanya speaks of the elevation of the feminine waters, he notes that even though this is an ascent, it is "only temporary," in order to awaken and draw forth the light from above so that it will descend to the vessels below. Moreover, even this ascent itself is not an elevation of the light as it leaves the vessel, but an ascent that pulls the vessel along with it. When the initial purpose of the ascent is to bring the light down to the vessel, this means that the vessel is never abandoned even temporarily. The specific vessel in question rises, and the more comprehensive the intention and the more self-nullification involved, the more it encompasses the entirety of a whole world that mysteriously ascends to receive the light through revelation.

אֲבָל לֹא עֲלִיּוֹת וְהִסְתַּלְּקוּת הָאוֹרוֹת חַס וְשָׁלוֹם

but not the elevations and departure of the lights from the vessels, God forbid, If the light were to merely ascend from the vessels, in such a manner that they depart and abandon them, regarding such an ascent the author of the Tanya declares, "God forbid."

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בִּפְרִי עֵץ חַיִּים

as stated in Pri Etz Ḥayyim regarding the ascent of the worlds on the Sabbath. After discussing the lights and vessels in general terms, the ascent and departure of the lights and their ascent in the vessels, the author of the Tanya now applies these principles to man himself.

וְנֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ נְשָׁמָה שֶׁל הָאָדָם לְגַבֵּי גּוּפוֹ בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה חֲשִׁיבֵי כְּאוֹרוֹת לְגַבֵּי כֵּלִים

The nefesh , ruaḥ , and neshama of a person in relation to his body in this world is like the lights in relation to the vessels, A person's soul is the light in relation to his body, which is the vessel. In view of this, what was stated about the elevation of the lights and their being drawn forth into the vessels applies equally to man himself. The ascent and departure of the lights is the elevation of the soul from the body, with all the beauty as well as the danger and dread that this entails. Likewise, the flow of the light to the vessel is the flow of the soul and life force to the body, in the form of the embodiment of the soul and its faculties. That the author of the Tanya specifies the nefesh, ruaḥ, and neshama indicates that it is specifically these soul levels that are comparable to the light that flows into the vessel that is the body. The remaining soul levels, ḥaya and yeḥida, are not actually enclothed in the body but encompass it.

וְכֵן דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שִׂכְלִיִּים לְגַבֵּי מִצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת דַּוְקָא

and likewise cognitive fear and love of God in relation to action-related mitzvot in particular. The same applies to man's service of God. Cognitive fear and love of God resembles the light in relation to the performance of action-related mitzvot, which is like the vessels. The author of the Tanya already stated above that service through cognitive fear and love of God raises the lights from the vessels, while service through the mitzvot draws the lights to the vessels. Here he is adding that this relationship applies to the service itself, to these two types of service. Cognitive fear and love is the light, while the vessel is the service of fulfilling the mitzvot. Accordingly, there is nothing lacking in either of them. There is no deficiency in spiritual love and fear. But they simply should not have to operate alone, but rather should be drawn to the vessel, which is the service of fulfilling the mitzvot in practice.

וְלָכֵן הִתְפַּלֵּל מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם תְּפִלּוֹת כְּמִנְיַן ‘וָאֶתְחַנַּן׳ עַל קִיּוּם מִצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת דַּוְקָא

Therefore, Moses, our teacher, may he rest in peace, offered prayers that amounted to the numerical value of the word va'etḥanan , specifically requesting that he might fulfill action-related mitzvot, Moshe asked again and again for permission to enter the Land of Israel. There is a tradition that he prayed 515 times for this, which is the numerical value of the word va'etḥanan. Why was he so persistent? What was there in the land that Moses needed to such an extent? The author of the Tanya explains that the Land of Israel has the action-related mitzvot. The Land of Israel is the place where the mitzvot are meant to be fulfilled. Apart from the many mitzvot that can be fulfilled only in the land, such as those that depend on the cultivation of the land and the service of the Temple, the primary fulfillment of all mitzvot is actually in the land. It is for this reason that Moses yearned to enter the land. He in particular, who had achieved the ultimate spiritual perfection, was deficient in action-related mitzvot. These mitzvot are not just another facet, another layer, in the service of God, but an element without which all spiritual work is worthless. As the author of the Tanya stated above, they are the vessel for spiritual work, and if the spiritual service is not drawn to the vessel, which is the action-related mitzvot, it might remain only as an elevation and departure of the light.

וְהוּא הַדִּין לְדִבּוּר גַּשְׁמִי שֶׁל הִלְכוֹתֵיהֶן

and the same applies to the physical utterance of their laws. The action-related mitzvot include the study of their halakhot, not only as a prerequisite and preparation for their fulfillment, but also as a value in its own right, as the fulfillment of the mitzvot on another level, on the level of speech rather than merely the level of action. That is why the author of the Tanya emphasizes "the physical utterance of their laws." The light must be drawn to the vessels in some manner, the spiritual service in the mind and heart to physical vessels, whether they are the actions and objects of the action-related mitzvot or the letters of speech employed in the study of their laws. On a deeper level, in the world of action, there are sparks of holiness whose root is on a very high plane, in the name Sag. When one performs a mitzva in the physical world, he extracts from it the spark of holiness that was held captive in this world, raising it to its lofty root, which is even loftier than the person who extracted it, since his soul stems from the name of Mah. The author of the Tanya proceeds to elaborate on these ideas, and he goes on to provide an analogy to explain them.

אַךְ לְהָבִין: אֵיךְ הָאֶתְרוֹג שֶׁהוּא מֵרְפָ״ח שֶׁלֹּא נִבְרְרוּ עֲדַיִין

However, it is necessary to understand: How can the etrog , which stems from the 288 sparks that have not yet been refined, Before a mitzva has been performed with it, the etrog is like all other fruits. It is part of the framework of kelippat noga, the glowing husk that constitutes the mundane reality of this world. Any ordinary feature of this world is considered kelippat noga, because by itself it does not reveal the Divine but conceals it in its materiality natural order. The holiness it contains, the part that is noga, constitutes the 288 sparks that fell to the kelippa from the world of chaos. It is true that these sparks are from a very lofty source of holiness, but as long as they have not been extracted from the kelippot, they remain covered and hidden. Not only are they not active or have any significant impact on the side of holiness, but they even nourish the kelippa in which they are concealed.

וְכֵן קְלַף הַתְּפִילִּין יַמְשִׁיךְ אוֹר בְּכֵלִים דִּזְעֵיר אַנְפִּין וְנוּקְבָא דַּאֲצִילוּת, שֶׁכְּבָר נִבְרְרוּ וְנִתַּקְּנוּ עַל יְדֵי שֵׁם מ"ה לִהְיוֹת בְּחִינַת אֱלֹקוּת?

and likewise the parchment of tefillin , draw forth light into the vessels of Zeir Anpin and Nukva of Atzilut , which have already been refined and rectified through the name Mah so that they are in a state of divinity? Like the etrog, before the passages of tefillin are written on it, the parchment of tefillin is no different from any other animal hide, which like all items of this world is kelippat noga, a neutral kelippa that can be used for good or evil. The question is, how do these lowly materials cause a flow of light in all the worlds, even in Atzilut, simply because a mitzva is performed with them? Surely the world of Atzilut is higher than this world, and indeed so are all the other worlds. Furthermore, the world of Atzilut is not only loftier than this world, but it is a refined and orderly world, in which the vessels fully contain the light within them, including all the divine lights in a single configuration. It is a world that is all holiness, one of total nullification and a perfect vessel for the divinity that is revealed in it. If so, how is it possible that a part of this physical world – a fruit or a physical piece of parchment – can draw light from so high above itself?

הִנֵּה הַמָּשָׁל לָזֶה הִיא הַזְּרִיעָה וְהַנְּטִיעָה

The analogy for this is sowing and planting, The author of the Tanya uses an example from the physical world to explain how a physical object can draw a spiritual light: the analogy sowing or planting a seed in the ground. This is a well-worn metaphor, because what happens to the seed, which can readily be observed, has no obvious logical explanation. A small and completely unimpressive seed, a tiny grain of fibrous material that has completely disintegrated in the ground, sprouts into a large and magnificent tree, a living tree that likewise produces its own fruit and seeds, leading to more trees, ad infinitum. What is going on here? How can a small and insignificant seed produce and give life to more trees and fruits? The mitzvot work in a similar manner. The etrog or the piece of parchment draw forth, beyond any proportion to their physical existence, the actual light of Ein Sof into the world of Atzilut.

שֶׁהַגַּרְעִין מְעוֹרֵר כֹּחַ הַצּוֹמֵחַ שֶׁבָּאָרֶץ, שֶׁהוּא דְּבַר ה׳: ״תַּדְשֵׁא הָאָרֶץ כו׳ עֵץ פְּרִי כו׳״ (בראשית א, יא)

where the seed awakens the earth's vegetative power, which is the word of God, as it is written, "Let the earth sprout grasses, vegetation yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in its kind, in which there is its seed, upon the earth…" (Gen. 1:11), It is not really the seed itself that grows. Nothing physical can sprout into something greater and more sophisticated than itself on its own. Rather, hidden within the earth is an immense power, an infinite power of growth, so that when the nucleus connects to this power and is subsumed in it, it produces any number of entities of the same species and form as the seed. The author of the Tanya goes on to explain that the vegetative power in the earth is actually the word of God – one of the ten utterances with which the world was created: "Let the earth sprout.…" These letters and words with which all vegetation was created, continue to be spoken in the earth throughout the existence of the world. They are the life force that perpetually causes all vegetation to sprout, with all their specific features, at all times. But the vegetative power itself, like the divine speech of the ten utterances, is a general, infinite power. In order for it to be revealed in individual plants, at a specific time and place, it is necessary for something to awaken it and circumscribe it precisely for this purpose, for this plant, at this time. This is stimulated by the seed that is sown in the ground.

עַל יְדֵי הַעֲלָאַת מַיִין נוּקְבִין לְשָׁרְשׁוֹ

through the ascension of the feminine waters to the seed's root. The root of the seed is in this vegetative power that is in the earth. Here the author of the Tanya makes use of concepts from a different field, which belong more to the process he seeks to explain than the analogy itself. He states that this vegetative process is like the ascension of the feminine waters to the root. The root of the seed and all plants is in the vegetative power, which constitutes the life force that is inherent in the divine utterance "Let the earth sprout…." The seed that is sown carries the particular information pertaining to this plant to the root, in the form of the ascension of the feminine waters, to awaken the flow of the masculine waters above, which is the bestowal of the life force that causes growth. Accordingly, it is not the seed that brings about growth. The seed merely issues a request, an idea and a path, but the growth comes from the root, which assuredly has the power to bestow life and produce growth.

כָּכָה מְעוֹרְרִים הַקְּלָף וְהָאֶתְרוֹג, עַד רוּם הַמַּעֲלוֹת

Thus, when a mitzva is fulfilled with them, the parchment of tefillin and the etrog are awakened at the loftiest heights, The ascension of the feminine waters through a mitzva act rises higher than all the worlds. The feminine waters ascend all the way to the Creator, above the creation. To emerge from the natural laws of the world, where the power of creation is increasingly weakened, and where the utterances of God gradually fade until they are virtually inaudible in our physical world, it is necessary to elevate and reawaken the power of the Creator. This is achieved through a new creation and illumination that breaks out at the root from which the feminine waters originate. This process resembles the growth of grass from earth, which to us seems like a new creation. Likewise, the flow of light in the vessels of Atzilut cannot be seen by mortal eyes but may be perceived by the eye of the spirit. This is the process that occurs when one performs a mitzva with the etrog or with the parchment of tefillin. If no mitzva is fulfilled with them, or even if the mitzva is performed but in an improper manner, it will not awaken anything just as nothing will grow if one sows stones. Only a combination of certain materials that have vegetative properties can stimulate growth. Likewise, the etrog or parchment alone achieve nothing. It is only when a mitzva is performed properly with them that the combination of the object, the act, and the doer attains significance above, in the divine will, which precedes all of creation. When the act is performed in the appropriate manner, place, and time, as detailed in the Written and Oral Torah, it becomes a vessel and a conduit for drawing forth the divine light from the loftiest heights down to the creation.

שֶׁהוּא שֵׁם ס״ג שֶׁלִּפְנֵי הַשְּׁבִירָה

which is the name Sag from before the shattering of the vessels. The awakening from below through a mitzva act reaches all the way up to the level and essence called Sag. The names of Sag, Mah, and Adam Kadmon were discussed above. Here the author of the Tanya here refers to the ascension of the feminine waters from the mitzvot to the name of Sag at the level it exists before the shattering. Each of these names is a facet and a particular revelation of the bearer of the name. The name of Sag represents the divine revelation in the world of chaos before the shattering of the vessels. The world of chaos preceded our world, both chronologically and in order of magnitude. Since the light it contained was too great for the vessels, it could not survive as a world, and therefore it shattered. In this sense, when the author of the Tanya says "the name Sag from before the shattering [of the vessels]," this refers to the name, the light, and the divine revelation itself prior to its emergence from the divine essence to become a world and before it was shattered. This immense light could not exist as a world, as a durable entity of lights and vessels like the world of Atzilut, and yet deep within the divine essence it exists even now.

שֶׁהוּא מַהוּת וְעַצְמוּת אוֹרוֹת שֶׁבְּאָדָם קַדְמוֹן

This is the essence and being of the lights in Adam Kadmon , Adam Kadmon, literally, "Primeval Man," is the first structure and image that formed after the constriction of the divine light, incorporating all that existed at that stage. Adam Kadmon is called "the crown of all crowns," meaning the highest, most abstract, most real entity that can relate to God himself from the totality of reality after the constriction. The name Sag refers to the light itself in Adam Kadmon. As explained above, the lights that were revealed in the world of chaos were unlimited, without parameters. They were the essence of the lights of Adam Kadmon, which is why the vessels shattered. In that state before the revelation and placement of the lights in the vessels, represented by the name Sag before the vessels shattered, it was still a vast and infinite divine light. These lights are superior in that they are self-contained and unlimited, but they are also inferior in a different respect, since they cannot illuminate and become manifest in the form of a world because there are no vessels that can contain them without shattering.

וְלֹא הֶאָרָה בְּעָלְמָא כְּמוֹ שֵׁם מ״ה שֶׁמִּמִּצְחוֹ

not a mere illumination like the name Mah , which stems from its forehead. In contrast to the name Sag, which represents the infinite and uncontainable light of chaos, the name Mah represents the revelation and light of the rectification, which belongs to our world. The name Mah is illumination alone. It is an illumination that does not bear the infinity of the divine essence, but reveals only a facet of that essence, like the difference between an object itself and a glimpse of it. As for the "forehead" mentioned here, that of Adam Kadmon, this is a kabbalistic expression used to contrast the illumination of the name Mah and the lights of the name Sag, which is the internal essence of Adam Kadmon that emerges through the eyes, as it were. Since the forehead is not an opening, what shines through it is not the inner light itself but only an illumination of it, an illumination of an illumination. This can be compared to a window through which some measure of light from inside passes through to the outside, as opposed to a veil, an opaque curtain, through which none of the light inside can escape, and yet a glimmer of the light is able to pass through. To use a different example, when one person instructs another to do something, his statement does not go beyond the world of speech, but when the listener does what he was told, the act has moved on into the world of action.

וְכֵן בְּלִימּוּד וְעִיּוּן הִלְכוֹתֵיהֶן מְעוֹרֵר בְּחִינַת חָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת שֶׁבְּעֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת דְּכֵלִים דִּזְעֵיר אַנְפִּין וְנוּקְבָא,

Similarly, through the study and analysis of the laws of the action-related mitzvot, one awakens Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at in the ten sefirot of the vessels of Zeir Anpin and Nukva in the world of Atzilut Studying the halakhot of a mitzva itself is in itself a fulfillment of the mitzva in a different, higher reality, like speech in relation to deed, as stated above. Since one studies with the intellect, by employing the attributes of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, the awakening above occurs in the same vessels: in Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at among the ten sefirot of Atzilut. Just as a kernel of wheat will sprout into wheat and the seed of an apple tree will grow into a tree that produces apples, the study of a mitzva by employing the faculties of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge awakens and draws Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at from above.

וְעַד רוּם הַמַּעֲלוֹת, גַּם כֵּן בְּחִינַת חָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת שֶׁבְּס״ג דִּפְנִימִית אָדָם קַדְמוֹן

and up to the most elevated heights, including Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at in Sag of the inner dimension of Adam Kadmon , The ascension of the feminine waters through the study of halakha also ascends above Atzilut. It is not only a mitzva act performed in the material world that brings about such an elevation, but also the study of these topics raises sparks from the world of chaos to their source, which is in the name Sag in the interior dimension of the partzuf of Adam Kadmon, and even there they are raised to the level of the intellect, to Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at in Sag, where the root of that halakha lies.

הַיּוֹצֵא דֶּרֶךְ הָעֵינַיִם כו׳

which emerges through the eyes… Unlike the name Mah, which is an illumination from the forehead of Adam Kadmon, the emergence of Sag is through the eyes of Adam Kadmon. The eyes are cavities, and the light that passes through them to the outside is the essence of the inner light, even if it is greatly constricted, like light passing through a small hole. Since it is the essence of the light itself, its power is greater than the light of Mah, which is merely an illumination of an illumination. Another analogy is given for this elsewhere: The inner light is that which a person understands on his own and evokes within his soul, as opposed to an illumination of an illumination, which is like a person hearing from someone else what he has understood and is trying to awaken in him as well. Naturally, any conclusion that a person arrives at on his own will affect him more directly and meaningfully. But just as a person usually requires an external factor to awaken him within, so too the illumination of the name Mah must elevate the feminine waters from below in order to awaken Sag from within and above.

וְכָל הַנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל הוּא בְּמִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה, אֲבָל לֹא בְּלִימּוּד פְּרָטֵי הִלְכוֹת אִיסּוּרֵי לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה, לִכְאוֹרָה

Everything discussed above applies to the positive commandments, but not, it would appear, to the study of the details of the laws of the prohibitions, All that the author of the Tanya has said about the study of halakha, that it is like fulfilling the mitzvot on a different level of reality, pertains to the positive commandments. What about the study of halakhot related to the prohibitions? In truth, this question applies not only to study but also to fulfillment in practice. The difference between positive commandments and prohibitions is that in the case of a positive commandment one actually does something. One changes and adjusts something within reality, and this achieves the refinement and elevation of the sparks. This is not the case with prohibitions, since one does not do anything but merely refrains from taking action. Still, the question remains in reference to study, because the act of studying is itself considered fulfillment. One must then ask what value there is in study when its content is about what not to do, which apparently achieves nothing in terms of rectification and the ascension of the feminine waters.

וּבִפְרָט בִּדְלָא שְׁכִיחֵי כְּלָל, כְּמוֹ פְּרָטֵי הִלְכוֹת פִּיגּוּל וּכְהַאי גַּוְונָא

particularly those that are not at all common, such as the detailed laws of pigul and the like. When the author of the Tanya asks whether the study of prohibitions is as effective as the study of the laws of the positive commandments, he does not refer merely to commandments that are rare, but to those that do not exist in our current reality, to a prohibition that is impossible for a person to come across in practice. He brings the example of pigul, a sacrifice regarding which the priest who offers it has in mind to offer up the animal or eat it after its allotted time. One does not have to do anything, even when the Temple is standing, to avoid violating this prohibition. On the other hand, there are prohibitions regarding which the Rabbis stated, "If one sits and does not transgress, he receives a reward as one who performs a mitzva" (Mishna Makkot 3:15; Kiddushin 39b).He is considered like someone who has performed a mitzva because he must actively resist temptation to avoid violating the prohibition. But when the prohibition is uncommon, even this connection does not exist, and if so, what benefit is provided by their study, even on the spiritual plane? To answer this question, the author of the Tanya takes the rest of this essay to analyze other aspects and qualities of the study of halakha, in addition to those he has mentioned to this point.

אַךְ עוֹד זֹאת, הַשָּׁוֶה בַּכֹּל כִּי כָּל דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שִׂכְלִיִּים שֶׁל הַמַּלְאָכִים הֵן בְּחִינַת נִבְרָאִים מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ

There is yet one more characteristic that is shared by them all, for all cognitive fear and love of God of the angels are created as an existence from nothingness, There is another characteristic of Torah study, and here there is no difference between positive commandments and prohibitions. In this case, the study of the mitzva is not regarded as a level of fulfillment, but as a distinct, separate act in itself, the drawing forth and revelation of supernal wisdom from above. From this perspective, it makes no difference whether the study focuses on a positive commandment or a prohibition. Above, the author of the Tanya contrasted the service of God through cognitive love and fear with service through the performance of the action-related mitzvot. In the same vein, he presents the concept of cognitive love and fear versus the study of halakha. The cognitive fear and love of the angels that the author of the Tanya mentions here does not refer only to the fear and love of the angels but even those of man, which is akin to the cognitive love and fear of the angels. Cognitive love and fear belong to the rank of created beings. They are apprehended and felt by those who are not nullified by the Divine, who are part of the worlds and the existence of created realities. The angels are the beings that express the reality of the higher spiritual worlds, just as man, as a physical being, expresses the physical world through his emotions and intellect, in his ability to feel, touch, and see it. We know whether the world is frightening or beautiful through our feelings. It is through human intelligence and comprehension that we understand the world and know that it is subject to rational explanation. Similarly, through the angels' feelings and understanding of the spiritual worlds, we too can feel and understand those worlds. That is why the author of the Tanya mentions the cognitive fear and love of the angels, because they are reflected in the cognitive fear and love of man.

וְהֵן בְּחִינַת נֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ דִּבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה

and they are the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ of Beria , Yetzira and Asiya . The service of cognitive love and fear are related to the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ, as opposed to neshama, and to the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya as opposed to Atzilut. The soul levels of nefesh, ruaḥ, and neshama are replicated in every world and soul. There is nothing that is truly dead and inanimate in reality. There is a certain measure of life in every object and every place, the divine light and life force within it. The Divine does not merely exist somewhere above all the worlds and creations, but an element of God is found in every world and level. This is the level of neshama in that world, while cognitive fear and love, which are the apprehension and feelings of the created being toward the Creator, are apprehended only on the level of nefesh and ruaḥ of the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya.

אֲבָל פְּרָטֵי הַהֲלָכוֹת הֵן הַמְשָׁכוֹת חָכְמָה עִילָּאָה דְּהַמַּאֲצִיל בָּרוּךְ הוּא

But the study of the details of the halakhot are a drawing forth of the supernal wisdom of the Emanator, blessed be He, The supernal wisdom that exists in the halakhot, in the laws of the Torah, and is drawn forth all the way down to us in the world of Asiya no longer belongs to the realm of created beings, to the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ of the worlds. Rather, by virtue of the study of these halakhot, they belong to the level of wisdom, which is the neshama of the worlds, enclothing and expressing the divine essence within the worlds.

הַמְלוּבֶּשֶׁת בְּגַשְׁמִיּוּת

which is enclothed in physicality. The supernal wisdom is drawn forth to this world directly through the details of the practical halakhot, of what one should do and how to do it. In this sense, it is clothed in physicality. Its essence is not enclothed in any spiritual layers, nor is it obstructed in its path by any spiritual levels or forms, but rather it is channeled directly into the physical realm.

וְהַלְבָּשָׁה זוֹ אֵינָהּ כְּהַלְבָּשַׁת חָכְמָה עִילָּאָה בִּדְחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שִׂכְלִיִּים

This enclothing is unlike the enclothing of supernal wisdom in cognitive fear and love of God, The supernal wisdom is also enclothed in cognitive love and fear. After all, supernal wisdom in Atzilut is the beginning of everything that exists, whether it is emanated, created, spiritual, or physical, and in this sense it is enclothed in all things, certainly in cognitive love and fear as it is employed in man's relationship with the Divine, as well as the wisdom that can be found within creation, or, more precisely, the part of creation that he has the capacity to apprehend. Consequently, the supernal wisdom is not enclothed solely in the study of halakha but also in cognitive love and fear. Yet, as the author of the Tanya points out, not all enclothing is equal.

דְּהָתָם הַלְּבוּשׁ הוּא מַעֲלִים וּמַסְתִּיר לְגַמְרֵי כְּהֶסְתֵּר וְהֶעְלֵם הָאָרֶץ הַחוּמְרִיִּית לְגַבֵּי חָכְמָה עִילָּאָה הַמְלוּבֶּשֶׁת בָּהּ

for there the garment completely hides and conceals the divine essence, just like the hiddenness and concealment of the material earth with respect to the supernal wisdom enclothed within it, Cognitive love and fear fully conceals the Divine until it cannot be seen at all. Although cognitive love and fear are essentially spiritual, and can even reach a very lofty level of spirituality, it is nevertheless the spirituality of a created being, and the garment of that being hides the essence of the Creator and the supernal wisdom in which His divinity is manifest. This is a fine distinction, since we are speaking about the apprehension of the Divine. Yet because it is achieved through the man's intellect and emotive attributes, it is necessarily an apprehension only of the existence of God, not His essence. It is precisely because it is only an apprehension of His existence within reality that this apprehension cannot go beyond the limits of reality, and therefore it conceals the divine essence. On account of the subtlety of the point he is making here, the author of the Tanya explains that the concealment inherent in cognitive love and fear is like the concealment of the material earth with respect to the supernal wisdom it enclothes. Just as in the physical world, one sees only matter, not that which is spiritual and certainly not the Divine, so too spiritual cognitive love and fear allows one to perceive only the existence of the Divine, essentially an external illumination, and not the essence of the Divine, that which is deep and internal.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״כּוּלָּם בְּחָכְמָה עָשִׂיתָ״ (תהלים קד, כד) וְהַיְינוּ חִיצוֹנִיּוֹת דְּחִיצוֹנִיּוּת דְּכֵלִים דְּמַלְכוּת דַּאֲצִילוּת שֶׁבַּעֲשִׂיָּה

as it is written, "In wisdom have You made them all" (Ps. 104:24), which refers to the external aspect of the external dimension of the vessels of Malkhut of Atzilut in Asiya , Everything was created, fashioned, and formed with wisdom, with the supernal wisdom of God, of Ḥokhma in Atzilut. Accordingly, His wisdom is enclothed in everything, even if we cannot see it. How does the wisdom of Atzilut descend and become enclothed in the created entities of the world of Asiya to give them life? That which descends from Atzilut is "the external aspect of the external dimension of the vessels of Malkhut of Atzilut " as they are manifest in Asiya. Once again, we can use the example of two people conversing with one another. Only the letters and the words – the vessels – pass between them, not the meaning behind the words that exist in the speaker's mind, which is like the light contained in the words he spoke. Similarly, the vessels of Atzilut are enclothed in Beria, while in Yetzira only the external aspect of the vessels exists, that which has been created from the vessels in the world of Beria. Finally, only the external aspect of their external aspect, that which was fashioned from the external aspects of the vessels from the world of Yetzira, is enclothed in the world of Asiya. It follows that the enclothing in Asiya is the external dimension of the external aspect of the vessels of Malkhut that is in Atzilut.

שֶׁהִיא מְסוּתֶּרֶת לְגַמְרֵי בְּרוּחַ נֶפֶשׁ דַּעֲשִׂיָּה

which is entirely concealed in ruaḥ and nefesh of Asiya . The wisdom that stems from Atzilut, which has reached all the way to Asiya, is entirely hidden within the being and existence of the world of Asiya, in the levels of ruaḥ and nefesh of the world of Asiya. This concealment "in ruaḥ and nefesh of Asiya " hides the internal aspect of supernal wisdom, the level of neshama. In the case of man, this means that on the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ, in the feelings of the soul through which it perceives physicality and grasps the existence of spirituality in Asiya, the apprehension of wisdom is concealed. This is the apprehension of the essence and interiority of the spiritual, the apprehension of the Divine in Asiya.

וְכֵן בִּבְרִיאָה, הִיא מְסוּתֶּרֶת לְגַמְרֵי בְּרוּחַ נֶפֶשׁ שֶׁהֵם בְּחִינַת נִבְרָאִים, בְּהֶסְתֵּר וְהֶעְלֵם הַבּוֹרֵא מֵהַנִּבְרָא

Likewise, in Beria it is entirely concealed in ruaḥ and nefesh of Beria, which are created entities made distinct and separate through the hiddenness and concealment of the Creator from created beings. As in the world of Asiya, where the supernal wisdom is concealed in the levels of ruaḥ and nefesh, the same applies to the world of Beria. Although they are far more lofty and spiritual than in Asiya, the ruaḥ and nefesh of Beria are still created beings, which means that the Creator is concealed from them. Supernal wisdom is not just another divine force like all the other sefirot. It carries the divine essence itself, Ein Sof, which is beyond all powers. The concealment of the divine essence exists not only in Asiya, which is lowly and corporeal, but even in the world of Beria, the loftiest of the worlds that contain created beings. Though it is the realm of the intellect and intellectual beings, the supernal wisdom is hidden there, just as it is concealed in the world of Asiya. To clarify further, let us return to the metaphor of two people engaged in conversation. The listener can hear what the other person is saying, and he can even sense what the person is feeling and even grasp what he understands. Since it is all within the parameters of this world, others can theoretically also apprehend all these things. But we can never apprehend the essence and being of the other person, just as he himself cannot perceive it. The author calls of the Tanya refers to this as the concealment of the creator from that which was created. A created being can apprehend the existence of the Creator when it is clothed in actions or speech, and even in thought (represented by Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya ). He can perceive a divine act or thought, knowing that there is One who is acting or thinking. Yet he cannot apprehend God himself, the one who is acting or thinking.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן הַהֲלָכוֹת, הֲרֵי הֶאָרַת הַחָכְמָה מְאִירָה בָּהֶן בְּגִילּוּי

This is not the case with the halakhot , in which the light of wisdom shines openly, The wisdom of halakha is not enclothed and concealed in the garments of the worlds through which it passes, unlike the life force that stems from Ḥokhma and gives life to the worlds. That wisdom is enclothed in every level and world and is manifest as wisdom characteristic of that world. This wisdom is enclothed in each world, in the logic, feelings, and the entire framework of the relationships between them that pertain to it, and therefore it is essentially manifest as the wisdom of that world and place. The wisdom imbued in halakha, by contrast, is unadulterated. It is manifest in our world in its essence without being affected by the intellect of our world, without any connection to its causal, internal logic. Why does one take hold of an etrog on the festival of Sukkot? Why don tefillin? For that matter, why does the tefillin contain verses written specifically on parchment fashioned from the hide of a kosher animal? Why are tefillin boxes square? And so on and so forth. It would seem that there is no logical reason for any of these halakhot, that they bear no relation to what is happening in this world. The actual reason, which we do not understand, is the supernal wisdom itself, and no wisdom belonging to the world, no wisdom in creation, can conceal it. However, since the halakhot are also enclothed in the garment of action, and we study these laws in order to implement them, how does its garment differ from all other garments?

וּלְבוּשׁ הָעֲשִׂיָּה הוּא דֶּרֶךְ מַעֲבָר לְבָד

and the garment of Asiya is merely a passageway, This light only passes through this garment of halakha. It is not affected by it or influenced to become like it. With enclothement, the entity that is being transmitted has changed and has not retained its original essence. Yet what passes through has been wholly transmitted, in its entirety, including the intellect, emotions, and deeds, and the recipient can understand what has been transmitted since it has been translated into terms that can be understood in the lower plane to which it has been delivered. By contrast, in the case of a passageway, what is transmitted is exactly what was above, but for precisely this reason it does not pass in its entirety. What passes through are only letters, deeds that cannot be understood and felt, and these are the halakhot. The halakhot are the supernal wisdom of Atzilut that is not enclothed in the garments of the lower world, and therefore it is impossible to understand, sense, and perceive meaning in them. The meaning merely passes through them, like the hand that writes down the thoughts of the mind until it is enclothed in the form of letters on paper, or in our case, in the practical halakhot of this world.

כְּמוֹ בְּיוֹם טוֹב, שֶׁחֶסֶד דַּאֲצִילוּת הַמְלוּבָּשׁ לְגַמְרֵי בְּחֶסֶד דִּבְרִיאָה מְחַיֶּה עוֹלָם הַזֶּה הַגַּשְׁמִי עַל יְדֵי מַעֲבָר חֶסֶד דִּיצִירָה וַעֲשִׂיָּה

as on a festival, when the Ḥesed of Atzilut , which is completely enclothed in the Ḥesed of Beria , gives life to this physical world via the passageway of the Ḥesed of Yetzira and Asiya . The author of the Tanya gives another example of a passageway: Unlike the weekdays, when the life force that reaches the lower worlds is enclothed in all the stages of the order of progression, such as Ḥesed of Atzilut devolving and being enclothed in Ḥesed of Beria, then Yetzira, then Asiya, on a festival the life force is enclothed only in Beria, from which it passes through Yetzira and Asiya in the form of a passageway.

הַנִּקְרָא גַּם כֵּן הִתְלַבְּשׁוּת, שֶׁאִם לֹא כֵּן לֹא הָיָה פּוֹעֵל בְּגַשְׁמִיּוּת עוֹלָם הַזֶּה

This is also considered enclothing, because otherwise it would not have an effect on the materiality of this world. The passageway from Ḥesed of Beria to Ḥesed of Yetzira and Asiya is, in a certain sense, also an enclothement. It is for this reason that the author of the Tanya refers to the "garment of Asiya " as a passageway. Although it is a passageway, it is still called a garment, because if there were no enclothing at all, the halakhot could not enter the world of Asiya at all. Returning to our analogy, while the hand that writes down words of wisdom is only a passageway, so to speak, and the written words are ascribed to the mind from which they came and not the hand, those words of wisdom could not have been formed as ink on paper without the hand. Similarly, the Ḥesed of Atzilut that is enclothed in the Ḥesed of Beria could not enter and act on this world if it did not enclothe itself in the Ḥesed of Yetzira and Asiya and pass through them. Admittedly, this is not the same enclothing as the manner of enclothement in which the divine light disappears completely because it is so heavily concealed. But it is an enclothement in the sense that the Ḥesed of Beria is enclothed in the clothing of Yetzira and subsequently in the clothing of Asiya, in order that it can enter the world of Asiya. Like the written word on paper, it is still ascribed to Ḥesed of Beria, but it is nevertheless "written": It exists in a physical form in the world of Asiya as well. It is true that, like words on paper, it is merely recorded there; it does not itself reveal the true essence of its Creator, as in the world of Beria. But those who know how to read it can receive the same revelation that exists in Beria down here in the world of Asiya. It is thus possible to interpret the analogy in the following manner: One who fulfills the mitzvot of the festival in practice is like someone who reads the letters written on the paper. When he tries to understand what is written there, to connect the letters and formulate words that have meaning for him, it is as though he is actually reading what Ḥesed of Atzilut has written about that day in Asiya. The same is the case for the halakhot, and in a certain sense, every divine revelation in our world. There is an enclothing of lofty levels, from Atzilut and Beria, within the physical world. This enclothing occurs in the manner of a passageway, a kind of enclothing that reveals those higher levels but they are still enclothed in a way that they can be revealed and exist in the physical reality.

וְאַף שֶׁגַּשְׁמִיּוּת עוֹלָם הַזֶּה וַדַּאי מַסְתִּיר לְגַמְרֵי אֲפִילּוּ הַחֶסֶד דַּעֲשִׂיָּה

Although the physicality of this world definitely conceals the divine light completely and even conceals the Ḥesed of Asiya , The materiality of this world conceals the divine light, not only when it is enclothed in the lofty levels of Atzilut and Beria, but it even conceals Ḥesed of the world of Asiya.

מִכָּל מָקוֹם, הַהֲלָכָה עַצְמָהּ אֵינָהּ גַּשְׁמִיּוּת מַמָּשׁ

the halakha itself is nevertheless not actually physical. Although the halakha is enclothed and expressed through physical reality, it in itself is not solely physical. True physicality is the reality whose spiritual, intellectual, and emotional components are also essentially physical. They are not comprised of matter that can be touched, but the reasonings and considerations related to them are corporeal: What can I get out of it? Perhaps it is food or money, and so on. By contrast, halakha is comprised of supernal wisdom, the Ḥokhma of Atzilut, which is merely manifest in a physical law but is not actually physical. One can see the physical tip of the iceberg, so to speak, the cow and the donkey, but one cannot see the other end, the intellect and the reasoning behind it, which are not physical and cannot be understood by a physical mind.

שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת רָצוֹן הַנִּמְשָׁךְ מֵחָכְמָה עִילָּאָה

It is the divine will that is drawn from supernal Ḥokhma , The physical realm is not a vehicle for revealing wisdom in general, but merely the divine will that is drawn from the wisdom, the conclusion of the wisdom that expresses the divine will, whether it should be like this or that.

לְהָקֵל אוֹ לְהַחְמִיר

for leniency or for stringency, A halakhic conclusion invariably takes one of two forms: a leniency or a stringency. It is true that the halakha also deals with other matters, including descriptions of objects and actions, but the ultimate purpose of all these details is to determine whether or not God wishes something to be this way or that way, whether He wishes one to be lenient or stringent.

רַק שֶׁיּוֹרֵד וּמֵאִיר בִּבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי בַּגַּשְׁמִיּוּת כַּמַּיִם הַיּוֹרְדִים מִמָּקוֹם גָּבוֹהַּ כו׳

only it descends and illuminates in a revealed manner in the physical realm, just as water descends from a high place… This expression of the Divine, the question of whether one is to be lenient or stringent, descends and shines in every world, according to its level, all the way down to this physical reality. What is revealed and visible in each world is the garments of that world, its spiritual and material states. The one common denominator that reveals the divine wisdom itself in all worlds is this point of the halakha, whether to be lenient or to be stringent. The analogy that the author of the Tanya offers here, of water cascading from a higher place to a lower one, has a further implication. In the case of a waterfall, the waters above and the waters below comprise the very same substance. Similarly, the divine wisdom that descends from Atzilut to the physical world of Asiya, despite all the garments and degrees of concealment through which it passes, is still the same essential wisdom, without change or distortion.

וְהַדָּבָר הַגַּשְׁמִי עַצְמוֹ שֶׁבּוֹ מְדַבֶּרֶת הַהֲלָכָה, בֶּאֱמֶת הוּא מַסְתִּיר לְגַמְרֵי כְּמוֹ הַמַּחֲלִיף פָּרָה בַּחֲמוֹר, וְכֵן בְּשַׂר הַפִּיגּוּל אוֹ לֹא פִּיגּוּל וְכָשֵׁר

The physical object itself that the halakha discusses, such as one who exchanges a cow for a donkey, and likewise that which concerns meat that is pigul and is prohibited or that is not pigul and is kosher, truly does conceal the supernal wisdom completely. This object is the physical garment through which the halakha is revealed. When one focuses on the physical garment, the situation and material object that the halakha discusses, the concealment is actual. The cow and donkey themselves in the case where one is exchanged for the other, and likewise the meat that is the subject of the debate as to whether or not it is pigul, both completely hide the supernal wisdom.

רַק הַהֲלָכָה בְּעַצְמָהּ, עִם הַטַּעַם הַנִּגְלֶה

However, the ruling itself, with the revealed reason, This refers to the halakha itself, whether to be lenient or stringent or whether an item is invalid or kosher, as well as the reasoning and understanding behind the ruling of the halakha.

הִיא מִבְּחִינַת מַלְכוּת דִּבְרִיאָה וִיצִירָה דִּבְחִינַת נְשָׁמָה שֶׁהוּא אֱלֹקוּת

stems from Malkhut of Beria and Yetzira , whose source is the level of neshama , which constitutes divinity The place for the halakhic ruling along with its revealed reason in the worlds is Malkhut of Beria and Yetzira. On every level, Malkhut is the sefira that descends to the world below. It is the sefira and vessel enclothed in the reality of that world and to which they transfer the life force from above. This is like a person's speech, which passes from one person to another, transferring information from speaker to listener. The halakha descends from Atzilut to Beria as it exists in the supernal wisdom in Atzilut through the nullification to the divine will. At that stage, there is no rational reason for the halakha that man could comprehend. But once it is in Beria, the revealed reason of the halakha is disclosed. Subsequently, Malkhut descends from Beria and Yetzira, which is the place of the ruling of the halakha. This accounts for the concept that "the Talmud is in Beria, and the Mishna is in Yetzira." The talmudic analysis of the reasons for the halakhot belong to Beria, which is the world of the intellect, whereas the practical ruling of the halakha, which appears in the Mishna and the Shulḥan Arukh, is in Yetzira. The source of the revelations of the halakha in Beria and Yetzira is "the neshama, which is the Divine." This halakha that descends from Atzilut to Beria and then Yetzira, and from there to Asiya, from the reason for the halakha to the practical ruling of the halakha, constitutes the divine life force on the level of neshama, which is the Divine.

הַמְחַיָּה וּמְהַוָּה נֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ דִּבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה

that sustains and brings into existence nefesh and ruaḥ of Yetzira and Asiya . The level of neshama, which constitutes the halakhot, gives life and existence to the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ of the worlds of Yetzira and Asiya. Just as on the broader scale God creates and sustains the world, so too the level of neshama is the crystallization of the Divine in the life force, and this is what sustains and brings into being that which gives life to the external frameworks of the world. In the same vein, the deeper, unfathomable reason behind the halakhot that is concealed sustains the revealed reasons and conclusions that we can see openly in the lower realm.

שֶׁהֵן דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שֶׁל הַמַּלְאָכִים וְהַנְּשָׁמוֹת וְחָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת שֶׁלָּהֶם, מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ

The levels of nefesh and ruaḥ constitute the fear and love of the angels and the souls and their Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at , which the neshama brings into existence from nothingness. The life force of the worlds at the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ are the emotive attributes, such as love and fear, from which a person receives his vitality. This life force is expressed by the angels, whose entire being and service is this fear and love. The angel who loves God is an expression of the divine attribute of love, not as it actually exists in Atzilut, but as it is enclothed and defined in the worlds below it. The essence of the angel is the love that relates to a certain recognition of the Divine, a recognition that characterizes the parameters of the angel. This is why the author of the Tanya specifies "their Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at." These are the cognitive attributes that constitute a being's awareness. This awareness and cognition of the angels is part of their being and service, which is cognitive love and fear, the emotions evoked as an outcome of their awareness of the Divine. In general, the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ in the worlds is the realm of the angels, which is a created reality below the world of Atzilut, but also a spiritual and pure one. This means that the angels' task is easier, since their intellect is expansive and clear, without any interference, and their love and fear are absolute. For them, there is nothing else. It is their entire being and is threaded throughout their conceptions and feelings. The soul, by contrast, exists not only on the level of nefesh and ruaḥ, in the spiritual realms, but it is also clothed in a body. On the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ, in the world of the angels, the soul's cognitive fear and love is the same as the fear and love of the angels. There, the soul can sense and worship God like the angels. It is not that simple, and not always clear-cut, but it is the same cognitive love and fear as that of the angels. The author of the Tanya tells us here that the level of neshama in the worlds, which is revealed by the halakhot of the Torah, gives life and existence to the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ, to the angels and souls in those realms.

וְלָכֵן הִיא מַרְוָה צִמְאוֹנָם

Therefore, the halakha that descends from above and bears the supernal wisdom quenches their thirst The halakha that descends from above quenches the thirst of the angels and souls that serve God with cognitive fear and love.

קוֹדֶם שֶׁיָּרְדָה לָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה כַּמַּיִם הַיּוֹרְדִים כו׳

before it descends to this world, just as water descends… Before the halakha descended to be enclothed in this world, it was a spiritual essence in the spiritual realms of Beria and Yetzira. The angels cannot fulfill the mitzvot in practice, nor can they relate to the world of action, just as those in the world of action cannot relate to the angels. But the angels can receive something of the intellectual aspect of the halakha, its spiritual essence, in their own unique manner, as it exists before it descends to the world of Asiya.

וְגַם אַחַר שֶׁיָּרְדָה לַעֲשִׂיָּה, הִיא לְמַעְלָה מַעְלָה מִבְּחִינַת חָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת דַּעֲשִׂיָּה, אֲפִילּוּ דִּבְחִינַת נְשָׁמָה שֶׁהִיא אֱלֹקוּת

Even after its descent to Asiya , it transcends Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at of Asiya and even the level of neshama , which constitutes divinity. Although the halakha is enclothed in materiality, and the divine essence is not easily detected in it, it still transcends the highest levels of the world of Asiya, what is considered the intellect of Asiya, its spiritual realm. It even transcends the level of neshama, which is the divine essence in Asiya. This is the internal aspect of Asiya that represents the Divine that creates and sustains the world of Asiya, including its intellect, its Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at. The revelation of the halakha when it is enclothed in Asiya is still higher than all those levels, since it is an actual expression of the Divine in Atzilut – not the Divine in Asiya but the Divine in Atzilut – that resides and is revealed here below within the physical matter with which the halakha is involved.

וְהַטַּעַם מִשּׁוּם דְּחָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת דַּעֲשִׂיָּה דִּבְחִינַת נְשָׁמָה, הוּא מְקוֹר הַחַיּוּת דְּחָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת דְּנֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ, וְתוֹלְדוֹתֵיהֶן וְהִתְהַוּוּתָן מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ עִם תּוֹלְדוֹתֵיהֶן עַד סוֹף הָעֲשִׂיָּה הִיא הָאָרֶץ וְכָל צְבָאָהּ

The reason for the difference between divine light that descends through the chain of progression and the divine light within halakha is that Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at of Asiya , on the level of neshama , is the source of the life force of Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at of the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ , and their offspring and their coming into existence from nothingness with their offspring until the ends of Asiya , which is the earth and all its hosts. Here the author of the Tanya seeks to explain the difference between the divine light that descends and progresses through the all the worlds, in which it is enclothed and concealed, and the divine light within the halakhot. The latter also descends into physical reality but is not hidden in it, but rather the divine essence remains, despite all the levels it passes through, essentially as it is above. The reason for this difference is that Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at of Asiya, which essentially is the presence of the Divine in Asiya, the level of neshama of this world, is the source of the life force of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at of the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ, which represents the head, or root, of the life force in Asiya itself. Their "offspring" is the physical world of Asiya, the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ within it, and "all its hosts," which includes everything that exists inside it, down to the smallest details of every inanimate, vegetable, and living creature. Thus, the Hokhma, Bina, and Da'at of Asiya are a source of life for the created beings.

אֲבָל חָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת דַּהֲלָכוֹת בְּטַעֲמֵיהֶן שֶׁבְּמַלְכוּת דִּבְרִיאָה וִיצִירָה, עִנְיַן הַחָכְמָה הִיא בְּתִיקּוּן פַּרְצוּפֵי הָאֲצִילוּת

But the Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at of halakhot , along with their reasons, are in Malkhut of Beria and Yetzira . The Ḥokhma within the halakhot effects the rectification of the partzufim of Atzilut , By contrast, the Ḥokhma of the halakhot with which one engages in the study of those halakhot descends within Malkhut of Beria and Yetzira, as well as Asiya. Although the halakhot apparently involve physical objects and actions, it actually affects the partzufim of Atzilut above. We may do the action in Asiya, but what we activate is in Atzilut above. To return to the analogy we have used above, when we write, we fashion the letters by hand, but these written forms have almost no intrinsic meaning. Their meaning exists in the world of the spirit, in the ideas, beauty, and love that the words express. In view of this, rather than being a source of life force for Asiya and all that it contains, it is a force of rectification for the world of Atzilut above.

שֶׁבָּהֶן תְּלוּיִן כָּל טַעֲמֵי הַמִּצְוֹת: מִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה בה׳ חֲסָדִים, וּמִצְוֹת לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה בה׳ גְּבוּרוֹת

upon which all the reasons for the mitzvot depend: The positive commandments depend on the five ḥasadim , the spiritual forces of giving, and the prohibitions on the five gevurot , the restraining forces. The five ḥasadim and the five gevurot are the lights that are drawn from above to below into the attributes of Atzilut, and their drawing forth into Atzilut and the worlds below Atzilut depends on the fulfillment of mitzvot. The illumination of the positive commandments are drawn forth through the ḥasadim, the forces of giving, while that of the prohibitions is drawn forth through the gevurot, the restraining forces.

וּמִשּׁוּם הָכֵי נַמִי כְּשֶׁיָּרְדוּ לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בַּנִּבְרָאִים, הֵן בְּמַלְכוּת דִּבְרִיאָה וִיצִירָה דִּבְחִינַת נְשָׁמָה דַּוְקָא, שֶׁהוּא מִכֵּלִים דַּאֲצִילוּת וְלֹא בִּבְחִינַת נֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ

Therefore, even when the halakhot descended to be enclothed in created beings, they descended in Malkhut of Beria and Yetzira , specifically on the level of neshama , which stems from the vessels of Atzilut , and not the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ . The halakhot descended in order "to be clothed in created beings," to be studied with the intellect of created beings and so that they should ultimately be fulfilled in practice. The levels of nefesh and ruaḥ are the spiritual realms of the worlds, while neshama contains the divine essence and life force that give the worlds their vitality. When the halakhot descend to the worlds, they are clothed solely in the vessels of Atzilut rather than the vessels of the worlds. Since they are clothed only in the vessels of Atzilut, the divine wisdom in them is not concealed, since the vessels of Atzilut do not conceal the Divine. There is a constriction of the divine light and essence within the materials and circumstances in which the halakha must be carried out, but there is no constriction or concealment of the divine wisdom that is in Atzilut, which descends as it is until the halakha is fulfilled down below with material objects.

וְאַף דְּחָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת דִּבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה דִּבְחִינַת נְשָׁמָה, שֶׁגָּבְהָהּ מְאֹד מַעֲלָתָן עַל בְּחִינַת מַלְכוּת דִּבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה דִּנְשָׁמָה, וְאַף עַל פִּי כֵן הֵן מָקוֹר לְחָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת דִּבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה שֶׁל בְּחִינַת נֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ שֶׁהֵן הַמַּלְאָכִים

Although Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at of Beria and Yetzira on the level of neshama far transcends Malkhut of Beria and Yetzira of neshama , they are nevertheless the source of Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at of Beria and Yetzira on the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ , which are the angels. Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at of Beria and Yetzira on the level of neshama are the source of the worlds and of cognitive love and fear since they contain the divine essence. They far transcend Malkhut of Beria and Yetzira of neshama, through which the halakhot pass. Even though these sefirot are all on the neshama level, that which contains the divine essence itself, Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at are much loftier than Malkhut, which is the lowest sefira. The revelation of the Divine in Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at is higher than the revelation of Malkhut, just as the intellect is higher, or precedes, action. Yet this lofty revelation of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at of neshama is the source of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at of the levels of nefesh and ruaḥ, which are the life force of the worlds and the service of the angels alone. In other words, it is not revealed below as divinity, but as Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, or the intellect of the worlds, which are the angels. Yet the apparently lower revelation in Malkhut that appears in the worlds in the physical forms of the halakhot is actually a revelation of the divine wisdom itself in the world of Atzilut.

לָא קָשְׁיָא מִידֵי דְּבֶאֱמֶת הַמַּלְאָכִים וְהַנְּשָׁמוֹת אֵינָן אֶלָּא מִטִּפָּה הַנִּמְשֶׁכֶת מֵחָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת דִּנְשָׁמָה לִיסוֹד זְעֵיר אַנְפִּין וְנִיתַּן לַנּוּקְבָא, וּמִשָּׁם יָצְאוּ בִּבְחִינַת לֵידָה

This is not a question at all, because in truth the angels and the souls, which are created from Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at of Beria and Yetzira of neshama, come only from a drop that is drawn from Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at of neshama to Yesod of Zeir Anpin , and was given to the feminine aspect of the sefirot, which is Malkhut, from which they emerged in the form of a birth. This apparent reversal, in which the lofty reveals that which is lowly (the worlds), while a lower entity reveals that which is lofty (Atzilut ), is not actually a contradiction at all. The souls and angels that were created from Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at of Beria and Yetzira on the level of neshama were created in a simulation of a birth of a new being, as opposed to being the result of a direct flow from above to below from the divine essence. Metaphorically speaking, this is like the difference between a person's own being, which extends from his intellect to the faculties and limbs of his soul, and the child he fathers. Despite the father's many sacrifices in the course of his upbringing and their close relationship, the child remains a different person. Likewise, in the realm of the Divine, this is the difference between the beings of the world of Atzilut, which are the "limbs of the King," and the worlds below it, as well as the souls and angels, which are separate beings, as it were, distinct from the Divine and the world of Atzilut.

כִּי אַף אִם תִּמְצָא לוֹמַר שֶׁנִּבְרְאוּ מֵהֶאָרַת הַכֵּלִים דְּנוּקְבָא דַּאֲצִילוּת, הֲרֵי הֵם הַיּוֹרְדִים וְנַעֲשִׂים נְשָׁמָה

Even if you say that they were created from the illumination of the vessels of the feminine aspect of Atzilut , they themselves, these vessels, descend to the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya and become the neshama of the worlds. One might propose that the created souls and angels were created from the vessels that descend and become the neshama the worlds, the divine essence that descends and is found within every created being in all places. But this descent and enclothing in the worlds is like the light of offspring, something apart from the divine essence, so to speak, and not the actual divine light that exists in Atzilut.

אֲבָל עַצְמוּת חָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת דִּנְשָׁמָה, מִתְפַּשֵּׁט בו׳ קְצָווֹת דִּזְעֵיר אַנְפִּין וְנוּקְבָא, וְשָׁם

But the essence of Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at of neshama extends to the six extremities of Zeir Anpin and Nukva , where they constitute the six orders of the Mishna and Talmud. The six extremities refers to the six sefirot of Zeir Anpin that passes the divine light directly to Malkhut. They are called six extremities because this alludes to the six directions, north, east, west, south, up, and down. This progression is not like a birth, generating offspring that stem from Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, but it is the actual light of Zeir Anpin. The essence of these six extremities, or six sefirot, are the six sections of the Mishna and Talmud. This split into six sections of the Torah actually occurs in Zeir Anpin. The transition from abstract awareness to something that can interact with reality unfolds in Zeir Anpin, where the world and its six dimensions takes shape. As the essence of these six extremities, or six sections of the Torah, descends, it becomes even more particularized: They split into the Talmud in Beria and the Mishnah in Yetzira, then take the form of the Mishna and Talmud that we study in this world. We see that the supernal wisdom itself descends and extends from Atzilut all the way to this world: From the Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at of Atzilut – from the cognitive sefirot in that lofty world – to the study of the halakhot in this world, it is all the same supernal wisdom wherever it passes through.

וּמַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב בְּעֵץ חַיִּים (וְשַׁעַר הַיִחוּדִים)

As for the statement in Etz Ḥayyim (and Sha'ar HaYiḥudim ), In relation to this idea, the author of the Tanya cites an apparently different claim from Etz Ḥayyim. After the sin of Adam, the garments of man's divine soul, his body and animal soul, his senses, his apprehension and awareness, and the way he lives and experiences reality, became garments of kelippat noga, with good and evil intermingled. Through Torah study and the fulfillment of mitzvot, man refines those garments and prepares holy garments for his soul. Specifically, it is clarified there that there is an order to the preparation of these garments. There is a special manner in which one should engage in Torah study and the performance of mitzvot from which the appropriate garments may be fashioned for each of the levels of the soul, for its nefesh, ruaḥ, and neshama. These garments are associated with the three levels of the soul, thought with the level of the neshama, speech with ruaḥ, and deed with nefesh. With respect to the service of God, the thought is the intention behind the mitzva act, the speech is the study of Torah, and the deed is the mitzva act itself.

שֶׁעַל יְדֵי הַכַּוָּונָה נַעֲשֶׂה לְבוּשׁ נְשָׁמָה וְעַל יְדֵי הַתֹּורָה, עַל יְדֵי מִשְׁנָה דִּיצִירָה, וְרוּחַ דִּנְשָׁמָה דִּבְרִיאָה עַל יְדֵי הַגְּמָרָא

that through intent when fulfilling the mitzvot and studying Torah a garment is formed for the soul level of neshama , and through Torah study itself, through the study of Mishna, a garment is formed for ruaḥ of ruaḥ of Yetzira , and for ruaḥ of neshama of Beria through the study of the Talmud, One's intent when studying Torah and fulfilling mitzvot is loftier than the mitzva act and Torah study themselves, and therefore the garments for the soul level of neshama, which is more internal, are fashioned from them. Through Torah study itself, a garment is formed for the soul level of ruaḥ, since Torah study in general is in the realm of speech, and speech is in the world of Yetzira and the level of ruaḥ. More specifically, the garment for the soul level of ruaḥ of ruaḥ is formed through the study of Mishna of Yetzira, since the Mishna, and the study of halakhic rulings in general, belong to the world of Yetzira, the world of the attributes where the correct relationship toward everything is determined, whether to be lenient or stringent. Finally, the garment for the level of ruaḥ of neshama is formed through the study of the Talmud. The study of Talmud occurs in the world of the intellect, which is the world of Beria. Consequently, through this study, the garments of ruaḥ of the level of neshama are fashioned for the soul. Etz Ḥayyim also states that the garment for the level of the nefesh is formed from the actual mitzva acts, but since the author of the Tanya here is focused on Torah study, he does not mention this. In any case, it can be inferred from the statement in Etz Ḥayyim that Torah study belongs to the level of ruaḥ, which is a level of created beings, not the level of neshama, which constitutes divine essence.

יֵשׁ לוֹמַר דְּהַיְינוּ דַּוְקָא עַל יְדֵי תּוֹרַת הָאָדָם בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה הָעוֹלָה לְמַעְלָה

it can be explained that this is specifically through the Torah study of man in this world, which ascends upward, When Etz Ḥayyim, and other hasidic sources, speaks of the Torah becoming a garment for the created beings, it is referring to a person's Torah study in this world, not the Torah itself. When a person studies Torah, he uses his mind, emotions, and knowledge of this world. As described in Likkutei Amarim, not only does the Torah enclothe the person who studies it, the individual himself also enclothes it with his intellect and understanding. The Torah he studied rises upward, unlike the Torah itself, which descends, just as water always descends from a higher place to a lower one. From the letters and words spoken or written in material form, from the understanding of the human mind and the physical human experience, it ascends to an increasingly deep apprehension. In the course of this ascent, the Torah enclothes the nefesh and ruaḥ of the person, so that he may be capable of receiving the divine light, which means that his soul becomes more spiritual and capable of apprehending a higher aspect of the Divine.

אֲבָל הַתַּלְמוּד עַצְמוֹ שֶׁנִּיתַּן בְּסִינַי הוּא בִּנְשָׁמָה

whereas the Talmud itself, which was given at Sinai, is in the level of neshama , The entire Torah was given at Sinai, not only the Ten Commandments and not only the Written Torah, but also the Oral Torah, the Mishna and the Talmud, including all the teachings that future sages of Israel would innovate through the generations. Of course, what was handed down at Sinai was not the precise words of Abaye and Rava, but rather the light and wisdom expressed by Abaye and Rava in their language and through their personalities, the supernal wisdom itself that was given at Sinai.

וְלָכֵן הוּא מְבָרֵר הָרוּחַ

and therefore it refines the ruaḥ , The Talmud itself, which was given at Sinai, is always in neshama and is always divine, no matter the level at which it is enclothed, in which words, or through which form of intellect. Its content is always divine, and it simply passes through those words. Consequently, since it is a divine entity, neither corrupted nor hidden, it refines, rectifies, and rearranges every created reality through which it passes. A created being knows that God is truth, and this is correct and proper, but he can actually apprehend the Divine only through the Torah. Therefore, the Torah that a person grasps, at every level, refines and regulates the level of ruaḥ, which is the life force of man and of creation.

וְכֵן בְּמִשְׁנָה דִּיצִירָה

and the same applies to the Mishna of Yetzira . Just as one's understanding of the reasons of the Torah through the Talmud refines the world of the intellect in general, and the mind of the individual who studies it in particular, so too the study of the Mishna refines the world of the emotive attributes, the world of Yetzira. These are the attributes employed to determine when leniencies or stringencies must be applied and what items must be rejected and what should be embraced, in the world and in the soul.

וְאַף אִם תִּמְצָא לוֹמַר שֶׁגַּם הַנִּיתָּן מִסִּינַי הוּא

Even if you say that what was given at Sinai is also enclothed in ruaḥ of Beria and Yetzira , If you say that the Torah itself, not the Torah a person has studied, is enclothed in ruaḥ of Beria and Yetzira upon its descent to the worlds, in the letters and affairs of this world below, how can it then be claimed that the Torah is in neshama alone, that it is not enclothed? In order to explain this, the author of the Tanya cites an example from a different area, from the existence of angels, who also transmit divine light from above to below in two ways.

הֲרֵי נוֹדַע שֶׁכָּל מַלְאָךְ שֶׁהוּא שָׁלִיחַ מִלְמַעְלָה אֲזַי נִקְרָא בְּשֵׁם ה׳ מַמָּשׁ הַשּׁוֹכֵן בְּקִרְבּוֹ

it is known that every angel that is an emissary from above is literally called by the name of God, who resides within it. An angel is an emissary of God. Just as "a person's agent is like himself" (Kiddushin 41a), so too an angel, for the duration of his mission, is in a certain sense like God. This principle applies in the case of the angel even more than it does to human agency. Since an angel is a holy being, without a body or animal soul and without kelippot that conceal and confuse it, it executes its mission perfectly, with complete transparency to the Sender. The angel does not do anything else. It does not think and has nothing else in mind, nor even does it have an existence outside the mission. Therefore, throughout the period of its mission, it does not have a name of its own, and it is called by the name of God.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן כְּשֶׁאֵינוֹ שָׁלִיחַ, יֵשׁ לוֹ שֵׁם אַחֵר כְּפִי עֲבוֹדָתוֹ

This is not the case when it is not an emissary: Then it has another name in accordance with its service, An angel is a created being, an entity that exists in a spiritual world and was created as part of that world. An angel thus has a defined reality in the worlds in that it exists even when it is not performing God's mission. Once again our analogy of a person's hand can be instructive: When a person executes a task, such as cooking or writing, we do not say that the hand itself is cooking or writing but that the person is cooking writing. The writing is ascribed not to the hand but to the individual himself. This is not the case when it is not being employed for a particular task, when it hurts or looks beautiful or is dirty. Then we speak of it as a separate entity: "That hand hurts" or "This hand is dirty."

וַאֲזַי קוֹרֵא: ״קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ ה׳ כו׳״ (ישעיה ו, ג), כְּלוֹמַר שֶׁשֵּׁם ה׳ מוּבְדָּל מִמֶּנּוּ

and then it proclaims, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord…." (Isa. 6:3), meaning that the name of God is separate from it. "Holy" means separate, and thus when an angel proclaims "holy is the Lord," it means that God is distinct from it. The concept of "holy" in relation to God is the fullest extent of that angel's grasp. Those who are greater, who can go beyond this reality and apprehension of God, will say "holy" one more time, and there are yet others who will say "holy" three times. These three declarations correspond to the three general levels of constriction and the parameters of the inner light, and with each declaration they rise another level. These levels are called head, middle, end, of which the ten sefirot are comprised, the head being Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, the middle being Ḥesed, Gevura, and Tiferet, and the end is Netzaḥ, Hod, Yesod, which parallel the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya.

וְכֵן הוּא מַמָּשׁ, בִּבְחִינַת הִתְלַבְּשׁוּת הַתַּלְמוּד בִּבְחִינַת רוּחַ דִּבְרִיאָה, וְהַמִּשְׁנָה בְּרוּחַ דִּיצִירָה

The exact same thing applies to the enclothing of the Talmud in ruaḥ of Beria and of the Mishna in ruaḥ of Yetzira : The Torah may be compared to an angel fulfilling its mission of bringing down the light of God. The enclothing of the supernal wisdom that is Torah within the structure and methodology of the Talmud occurs in the world of Beria, while the enclothing of the supernal wisdom in Mishna occurs in the world of Yetzira. This enclothement is like an angel serving in its role as emissary, when it is not called by its own name but by the name of God. The same applies to the Torah in the Talmud of the world of Beria: Although it is in the world of Beria, the Torah is not attributed to this world but to God Himself, to His will and wisdom. This applies to the Mishna in the world of Yetzira, and so too in our world when we study the Talmud and the Mishna.

הֵם שְׁלוּחֵי ה׳

They are emissaries of God, The halakhot laid out in the Talmud and Mishna are the emissaries of God. Just as an emissary is called by the name of the one who sent him, and everything he says and does is considered as though his sender himself is saying and doing it, so too the halakhot are God's emissaries, and no matter which garment they are enclothed in or which level they pass through, they are called by the name of God, and constitute both His will and His wisdom. They are not named after anything else that they pass along the way. They do not take on the features and characteristics of the world or level they pass through.

דְּהַיְינוּ, כֵּלִים דְּנוּקְבָא דַּאֲצִילוּת הַחִיצוֹנִים בַּתַּלְמוּד וְהָאֶמְצָעִים בַּמִּשְׁנָה,

which means that they are the vessels of the feminine aspect of Atzilut , which is Malkhut, which are external in the Talmud and intermediate in the Mishna, since the Mishna and Talmud contained within them issue forth from Yesod of Abba , Nukva, or the feminine aspect, of Atzilut is Malkhut of Atzilut, which is also divine speech. The vessels of speech are the letters and words, which are like the emissaries of man when he is speaking to others. The words do not state their content; they have no mind or will of their own. They merely convey what that person is saying. Similarly, the words of the Torah, through the words and concepts of the Talmud and Mishna, are the emissaries of God and His supernal wisdom, and the worlds are no more than conduits of that supernal wisdom. The Torah that is enclothed in the worlds of Beria and Yetzira, the Mishna and Talmud that we study, are drawn from the Yesod of Abba. Abba is the Ḥokhma of Atzilut, the attribute of Wisdom, and the Yesod of Abba is the drawing down of that wisdom as it passes through the worlds and receives its garment within each world, the garment of the Talmud in Beria and garment of the Mishna in Yetzira.

הַמְקַבֵּל מֵחָכְמָה סְתִימָאָה דַּאֲרִיךְ אַנְפִּין, שֶׁבּוֹ

which receives from the sealed Ḥokhma of Arikh Anpin, which is the Ḥokhma in Keter, the source of Ḥokhma in Atzilut, in which the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, is enclothed. In general, Ḥokhma is the garment and vessel for the light of Ein Sof, which means that the light of Ein Sof is enclothed in Ḥokhma. Ḥokhma is characterized by an almost invisible point; it is almost undetectable because it is mostly light and has no existence and definition of its own. For this reason, it is the only sefira that can be a vessel for the light of Ein Sof. Therefore, it is Ḥokhma that acts as a channel for the flow of the divine light to the sealed or hidden Ḥokhma in Keter – the sefira of Ḥokhma contained in Keter but because it is so lofty it is concealed from creation – and from there to Ḥokhma in Atzilut, and subsequently to the Torah that descends like water to the created worlds, from one world to the next.

וְנִמְצָא שֶׁאוֹר אֵין סוֹף, הוּא שֵׁם ה׳ שֹׁוכֵן בָּרוּחַ דִּבְרִיאָה יְצִירָה עֲשִׂיָּה בְּמִקְרָא וּמִשְׁנָה וְתַלְמוּד

It follows that the light of Ein Sof , which is the name of God, resides in the level of ruaḥ of Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya , in the Tanakh , Mishna, and Talmud. The light of Ein Sof, although it too is Ein Sof, is merely a revelation of Ein Sof Himself. In other words, it is the name that reveals and indicates to others the essence called by this name. In this sense, the name of God is the light and revelation of Ein Sof directed toward the worlds. This name of God, this light, is the Torah, the supernal wisdom that descends below, which resides in the worlds and sustains them. This light resides in the ruaḥ level of the worlds, which is the life force that sustains the worlds, in contrast to neshama, which is the divine essence itself that resides in the worlds. In other words, the Torah does not directly and visibly give life to the worlds, but rather it is something that sustains and gives meaning to life in the worlds. Deep within this life force lies the supernal wisdom, which is revealed in the worlds through the Torah. The light of God, the name of God, enters the worlds through the Torah, the section of the Torah that specifically belongs to it: the Tanakh in Asiya, the Mishna in Yetzira, and the Talmud in Beria.

וּכְשֶׁהָאָדָם לוֹמֵד, מַמְשִׁיךְ אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה

When a person studies these sections of the Torah, he draws the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, into this world When a person who is living in this world studies Torah, employing his intellect and experiences of this world, he draws the light of Ein Sof that is in the Torah to this world, where he himself is situated. Just as an angel is emissary of God, so is man when he studies Torah. The Torah and God are one in the sense that Torah that is spoken is said by God and Torah that is thought is thought by God. When a person studies the Torah, he is like God's emissary in the most internal sense: God Himself speaks and thinks through him and is drawn into the world through him.

לִהְיוֹת נִכְלָל וּבָטֵל בְּאוֹרוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ ״כִּי זֶה כָּל הָאָדָם״ (קהלת יב,יג)

for it to be incorporated and nullified in His light, "for that is all of man" (Eccles.12:13). When the light of Ein Sof flows to the world, the world itself is nullified in the face of it. The world is no longer a separate entity from the Divine, but is incorporated in it. This is man's task and mission in this world: To draw forth the divine light through himself, thereby connecting and uniting himself with the Divine. The author of the Tanya now proceeds to explain how the nullification of this world in the face of the Divine is achieved through the study of the halakhot of the Mishna and Talmud. Of course, all this has already been stated in this lengthy essay. Here he is merely tying up loose ends.

וְזֹאת הָיְתָה עֲבוֹדַת רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בַּר יוֹחַאי, וְכָל הַתַּנָּאִים וְאָמוֹרָאִים בַּנִּגְלֶה

This was the service of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai and of all the tanna'im and amora'im in the revealed portion of the Torah, Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai is described as a person whose vocation was the study of Torah. The revealed aspect of Torah referred to here is the Mishna and Talmud, which for us are the place where the Oral Torah encounters the Written Torah. It is where the entire Oral Torah that is known to us originates and emerges. In a certain sense, the Written Torah constitutes the Torah exactly as it exists in the higher worlds, of which we have no true grasp, while the Oral Torah is the Torah that penetrates our world. It is the Oral Torah that we try to understand with our intellect and logic. It is the Oral Torah that tells us how the mitzvot written in the Torah apply in our world. Determining the basic conclusions of the concepts found therein and the appropriate mode of thought when studying it was the great work of the tanna'im and amora'im. Any efforts made to study the Oral Torah beyond that is merely a continuation of the same effort. The author of the Tanya is precise in specifying the revealed portion of the Torah. This is because when a person studies the revealed Torah, it is drawn into this physical world. The study of the esoteric Torah, on the other hand, the hidden portion of the Torah, remains above this world or concealed in the recesses of the soul, whereas the study of the revealed portion of the Torah is directly applied to this world, with all its cracks and faults, with its conceptions and beliefs as well as its falsehoods.

לְהַמְשִׁיךְ אוֹרוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ וּלְבָרֵר בֵּירוּרֵי נוֹגַהּ כָּל מֶשֶׁךְ זְמַן הַגָּלוּת

to draw forth the divine light and to effect the refinement of the kelippa of noga throughout the duration of the exile, The light of Ein Sof is drawn down to this world in order to refine and raise the sparks of holiness that fell into kelippat noga. The time for this refinement is the duration of the exile, when Jews are scattered throughout the nations and the souls of Israel descend to the kelippot. Through their Torah study and performance of mitzvot among the nations, they elevate the sparks of holiness that can be found there.

דְּשָׁלְטָא אִילָנָא דְּטוֹב וְרַע

when the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has dominion, The time of the exile is "when the tree of [the knowledge of] good and evil has dominion," referring to the tree of knowledge whose fruit Adam ate. From that moment, the perfection of the reality in which Adam was created was impaired. Man was expelled from the Garden of Eden, and the time of exile commenced. Exile, then, can be seen as the time when good and evil are intermingled, a state of affairs that has taken over reality, until it is no longer possible to distinguish between them. The good provides the life force and existence that sustains the world, but evil conceals the divine light that provides this vitality and clothes the life force in various other identities.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״עֵת אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַט הָאָדָם בְּאָדָם כו׳״ (קהלת ח, ט)

as it is written, "Whenever man controlled man, it was to his detriment" (Eccles. 8:9). On a deeper level, this verse can be read as saying that whenever the kelippa in man had dominion over the holiness in man, it was to the detriment of kelippa in man." When kelippa prevails over holiness, concealing the holiness and using it for its own purposes, it will ultimately turn out to be to the kelippa's detriment. There will come a time when the holiness it swallowed, that is now inside it, will grow and awaken until the entire infrastructure of the kelippa collapses. There is a certain relationship between kelippa and holiness that preserves the kelippa's upper hand. It is a relationship of light and shadow that creates a reality of shadows, of imaginings and delusions. When this relationship falters, because the kelippa has swallowed more than it can contain and there is a greater illumination of the side of holiness, kelippa falls from its superior position and vanishes as though it never existed. Kelippa, after all, has no substance. It is merely concealment, confusion, and falsehood. It is only a veneer. Thus, when the truth is revealed, the kelippa dissipates like a bad dream.

כִּי זֶהוּ תַּכְלִית הַהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת, שֶׁיֵּרֵד הָעֶלְיוֹן לְמַטָּה וְיִהְיֶה לוֹ דִּירָה בַּתַּחְתּוֹנִים

This is the purpose of the chain of progression, that the Most High should descend below and have an abode among the lower creations The ultimate purpose of the creation of the world is God's desire for a dwelling place in the lower realm. In order for Him to have an abode in the lower realm, two things are required: There must be a lower realm, and God must reveal Himself there. During the exile, one can see the lower realm, a reality that is apparently independent from all that is holy, which brings it into existence from nothingness. The presence of the Divine will only be revealed there at the time of redemption. This does not mean that the Divine will be revealed and the lower realm will no longer be lowly, because that would not constitute "an abode in the lower realm." Rather, the lower realm will continue to be lowly, but instead of concealing the Divine, it will reveal it. Like the vessels of the world of Atzilut, which do not cease to be vessels just because of the revelation of the Divine that is so blatant in that realm, but rather they are the kind of vessels that do not conceal the Divine and instead reveal it through Ḥokhma, Ḥesed, and so on. In a similar manner, but to an even greater extent, the lower realm will discover those whose "beginning is affixed to their end" (Sefer Yetzira 1:7), the revelation of the divine essence itself, which is loftier even than the revelations of Atzilut.

כְּדֵי לְהַעֲלוֹתָן לְמֶהֱוֵי אֶחָד בְּאֶחָד

in order to elevate them so that they may be united as one. When God descends to this world in order to have an abode in the lower realm, the inhabitants of the lower world are elevated and united with God. This is a unity that even the created beings of the higher worlds are not privileged to attain. When beings of the lower worlds are elevated in this manner, they are not only unified, but "united as one" with God. The lower beings themselves become one down below and subsequently ascend and unite with the One above. They are then "united as one," literally, "one in one," because the singular being from below remains significant, even though it is now united with the One above. This occurs every Sabbath eve in the internal dimension of the worlds, and the same will occur to existence in general upon the final redemption, when all refinements have been effected and the lower realms have been revealed as an abode for God. This concludes the description of the great virtue of man's service through the study of the halakhot and their application. The author of the Tanya concludes by returning to the main point of the essay, which is the study of halakhot in contrast to service through cognitive love and fear.

מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן עֲבוֹדַת הַמַּלְאָכִים, דְּחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ שִׂכְלִיִּים, אֵינָהּ בִּבְחִינַת הַמְשָׁכָה כְּלָל וּכְלָל רַק הִסְתַּלְּקוּת כו׳

This is not the case with regard to the service of the angels, which is cognitive fear and love of God. It is not considered drawing forth at all, but only a departure… Unlike a person's service through the fulfillment and study of halakhot, which draws forth of the light of Ein Sof from above to below, service through cognitive fear and love, which is essentially the service of the angels, involves only an ascent and departure from the world. As has been explained in this essay, and numerous hasidic teachings, the ultimate purpose of the creation of the world and the entire order of progression is the drawing down of the divine light below, not merely a departure of the lights from below to above. Although one is impossible without the other, because there can be no drawing forth in the absence of any departure, no "returning" without "running" (in the kabbalistic parlance, referring to the descent of the divine light after the ascent of the sparks), one must know what the main aim is, what is internal and essential and what is external. The fundamental difference here is that the service of the angels, and of anyone who is serving God with cognitive fear and love, is ultimately for themselves. It is lofty, holy, and wonderful, but the service is completed solely within the angel himself, as it ascends and is subsumed within the Divine. By contrast, man's service in fulfilling and studying the Torah is not only done on his own behalf, but such service is in a sense service for God. On a higher level, it is the service that God Himself performs, since He Himself passes from His completely abstract state as Ein Sof into this world through this service, so that He may have an abode in the lower realm.

וּבָזֶה יוּבָן מַה שֶּׁנִּבְרָאִים מַלְאָכִים מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ עַל יְדֵי עֵסֶק הַתּוֹרָה

Now we can understand how angels are brought into existence from nothingness through the study of Torah, As the Rabbis taught, with each and every word that God utters, an angel is created. Furthermore, every word of Torah articulated by a person is in essence the speech of God Himself. Unlike the divine speech that created the world, His speech that constitutes the Torah descends in the manner of a passageway through all the worlds until it emerges from the mouth of the person who articulates it. In this way, the study of Torah generates the creation of angels, just like the speech of God. An angel is essentially an emissary of God in this world, and consequently it is always internal in relation to the world to which it is sent and in which it is active. An angel is never merely an object or a physical or spiritual force. It is always a particular divine statement, of love or fear of the Divine, as it relates to the place in which it appears. The same applies to words of Torah: At every level in which they appear, they are a revelation of the divine wisdom that relates to that place. Just as in the soul the attribute of wisdom generates secondary faculties, that of the intelligence or emotions that arise from it, the words of the Torah create angels everywhere, who are like emissaries of the divine wisdom in that place.

אֲפִילּוּ שֶׁלֹּא בְּכַוָּונָה שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת רוּחַ בִּלְבָד שֶׁאֵינָהּ אֱלֹקוּת כְּלָל

even without intent, which is merely the level of ruaḥ that does not constitute divinity at all. When a person studies Torah without the proper intent, when he does not have in mind that what he is saying is the speech of God and divine wisdom with all that this implies, it is "mere ruaḥ." The life force of all beings includes the levels of nefesh, ruaḥ, and neshama, as in the soul of man, as explained above. The level of neshama is the divinity within the life force, that essentially belongs to the Creator and is still a portion of the One who bestows the life force. The levels of nefesh and ruaḥ are the life force that belongs to the created being, the life force that is itself considered to be created. When a person studies Torah without the requisite intent for the sake of Heaven, his study belongs solely to the level of ruaḥ, not that of neshama.

אֶלָּא לְפִי שֶׁאַף עַל פִּי כֵן שֵׁם ה׳ שׁוֹכֵן וכו׳

Even so, nevertheless, the name of God resides in Torah that is studied even without intent, The Torah is the internal aspect of divine wisdom, which is the name of God, wherever it descends, including within the person who articulates its ideas, even if he has something else in mind. This person, in his present state, is the locus through which the Torah speaks, and as in every other realm, here too divine speech and wisdom are the same as they are above. Angels are thus created from nothingness even from these words of Torah.

וְדַי לַמֵּבִין.

and this is sufficient explanation for one who understands. Although the observations and concepts presented in this essay concern matters that cannot be fully understood, since they are rooted in the esoteric teachings of the Torah, each person's understanding of these concepts is sufficient for his Torah study to have an effect on himself and the world.