‘דָּוִד זְמִירוֹת קָרֵית לְהוּ כו׳?׳

"David, you call them songs…?" This opening phrase directs our attention to a rabbinic saying which forms the basis of the entire essay. The Bible recounts how David returned the Holy Ark (which had earlier been in the possession of the Philistines) to Jerusalem. He had his men place the Ark on a new wagon and they traveled on. However, when Uzza, who was accompanying the wagon, thought that the Ark was about to fall off, he reached out his hand to support it, at which point God struck him and he died. Greatly shocked by the incident, David realized that something was wrong and that he was the one at fault. The Talmud clarifies what went awry and explains David's surprising lapse through an exposition of Rava: For what reason was David punished? Because he called words of Torah "songs," as it is stated: "Your statutes were songs to me in the house of my sojourning" (Ps. 119:54). The Holy One blessed be He said to him: It is written about words of Torah: "If you cast your eyes on it, it is gone" (Prov. 23:5), [and yet] you call them songs?! I will cause you to stumble in a matter that even schoolchildren know, as it is written with regard to the wagons brought to the Tabernacle: "But he did not give [wagons for carrying] to the sons of Kehat, because the sacred service [is upon them; they shall bear on the shoulder]" (Num. 7:9). And he [David,] brought it in a wagon.

הִנֵּה בַּזֹּהַר (חלק ג ח,ב): שִׁבְחָא דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא וּרְנָנָה כו׳

Now, it is said in the Zohar (3, 8b): "The praise of the Torah and its chant…" In order to understand this rabbinic saying, the author of the Tanya first explains the purpose of the joy of Torah study. In this source, the Zohar is referring to one's joy in the service of God, in accordance with the verse "Serve the Lord with joy" (Ps. 100:2). It states that when the Temple was standing, this joy was attained through the sacrifices, which would atone for a person's sins and draw him closer to God, and he would accordingly praise the Lord and rejoice. Nowadays, however, when there are no sacrifices, the joy is derived through the study of Torah.

וּלְהָבִין, מַהוּ הַשֶּׁבַח להקב״ה, כְּשֶׁזֶּה אָסוּר אוֹ מוּתָּר?

We need to understand: What is the praise of the Holy One, blessed be He – when this is prohibited or permitted? It is not difficult to understand the praise of God when we grasp His exalted status and the abundant goodness that He bestows upon us. However, it is more challenging to comprehend the praise and great joy in the Torah, a large part of which consists simply of determinations of what is permitted and prohibited.

הִנֵּה הוּא עַל דֶּרֶךְ ״מַה גָּדְלוּ מַעֲשֶׂיךָ ה׳ מְאֹד עָמְקוּ מַחְשְׁבוֹתֶיךָ״ (תהלים צב,ו)

This is in the manner of: "How great are Your works, Lord; how profound Your thoughts" (Ps. 92:6). This verse, which praises God, refers to His deeds and thoughts. His deeds are great, and when one reflects upon them – the oceans, mountains, sky, and the countless stars – one is motivated to marvel and to extol the One who created them all, His power and kindness that are revealed through His actions and wisdom. Yet there is also a more internal thought, which is the wisdom revealed in the Torah, upon which the externality of His wisdom in creation ("Your works") depends. As will be stated below, is not easy to perceive the praise of the Torah. Yet when one reflects on "How great are Your works," and that this is connected to "How profound Your thoughts," one can comprehend the praise of the Torah. This is not merely a general connection, but a specific, particular connection of every individual entity in the great wide world to Jewish law and the minutiae of each particular halakha, as the author of the Tanya proceeds to explain:

כִּי הִנֵּה נוֹדַע שֶׁכָּל הָעוֹלָמוֹת עֶלְיוֹנִים וְתַחְתּוֹנִים תְּלוּיִם בְּדִקְדּוּק מִצְוָה אַחַת

For it is known that all the upper and lower worlds depend on the precise performance of one mitzva. The wisdom of the Torah involves the definition of the mitzvot: What is a mitzva, under what exact conditions must it be fulfilled, and the like. The precise features of a mitzva are the same as its minute details, why in such circumstances is it considered a mitzva, but not otherwise. These boundaries are called "the precise features of a mitzva" because they deal with its minute and exact definitions, which sometimes make no sense to us. And yet it is these very definitions and minutiae that structure the character of the mitzva, so that it will have a real image and existence in the world, precisely in this manner and not otherwise. If a single aspect is not followed properly, then the mitzva is no longer worthy of the name. The great wonder for which the entire vast world was created, that at a certain point it will have a mitzva and a bond with God, will remain unfulfilled.

דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל: אִם הַקָּרְבָּן כָּשֵׁר, נַעֲשָׂה יִחוּד עֶלְיוֹן וְעוֹלִים כָּל הָעוֹלָמוֹת לְקַבֵּל חַיּוּתָם וְשִׁפְעָם

For example, if an offering is fit, a supernal union is achieved and all the worlds ascend to receive their vitality and flow. On the inner level, a sacrifice ascends from the world to the Holy One, blessed be He. It is detached from the world through the acts of slaughter and burning, and so on, and it is drawn closer to God when it is offered and placed upon the altar. Each specific sacrifice is merely a representative of all the worlds, both the upper and the lower ones, which ascend and are drawn closer together with it, and are thereby incorporated into their Creator. All animals would ascend together with the animal that was brought as a sacrifice, and all plants by means of the one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour. Thus, the entire ascent and drawing close of the worlds depend on the performance of this rite in exactly the proper manner according to the precise definitions and rules of the Torah.

וְאִם שִׁינָּה שֶׁקִּיבֵּל הַדָּם בִּשְׂמֹאלוֹ דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, אוֹ שֶׁלֹּא בִּכְלִי שָׁרֵת כָּשֵׁר, אוֹ שֶׁהָיְתָה חֲצִיצָה אֲזַי נִתְבַּטְּלָה עֲלִיּוֹת הָעוֹלָמוֹת וְחַיּוּתָם וְשִׁפְעָם מֵחַיֵּי הַחַיִּים אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא

But if one deviated, as he, for example, received the blood in his left hand, or not in a kosher service vessel, or there was an interposition, the ascents of the worlds, and their vitality and flow from the infinite source of life, Ein Sof , blessed be He, are negated. One who receives the blood after the slaughter must do so in his right hand, and he must use a specific vessel designated for the Temple service, which has been anointed with the anointing oil or which has served a holy purpose. If he used just any regular vessel, the sacrifice has been invalidated. Another example is an interposition between the priest and the service vessel, or between the priest and the floor of the Temple, or between the priest and his garments. All of these are examples of precise requirements of the mitzva of the sacrifice. Any deficiency in their fulfillment culminates in the negation of the "vitality and flow" of the worlds, which they receive "from the infinite source of life, Ein Sof, blessed be He." All the worlds ascend by virtue of the sacrifices, as stated. This ascent is not a minor issue, but rather it is the essence of the existence of the worlds. On the one hand, when they ascend, they fulfill the purpose of their creation, as they rise upward and return to God all that He has granted them. On the other hand, in their ascent they receive new life from the life and source of all life, which is Ein Sof, for the continued existence of the worlds and another cycle of ascents. The service of the sacrifices is, of course, only an example, for the same is true for all the mitzvot. Every mitzva embodies a bond with the Divine, and everything that is part of the mitzva ascends and connects to God, including the person himself, his body, and the objects of the world with which he performed the mitzva. Whether the act itself is an explicit mitzva or whether it is related in some way to a mitzva (in Hasidism this possibility is unlimited), in its ascent it draws with it part of an entire world, from both the lower and the upper ones. However, when the precise details of the mitzva are not performed properly, all of this is nullified and they do not ascend.

וְכֵן בִּתְפִילִּין כְּשֵׁרוֹת מִתְגַּלִּים מוֹחִין עֶלְיוֹנִים דזו״נ שֶׁהֵם מְקוֹר הַחַיִּים לְכָל הָעוֹלָמוֹת וּבְדִקְדּוּק אֶחָד נִפְסָלִין וּמִסְתַּלְּקִין הַמּוֹחִין

Likewise, in the case of kosher tefillin , the supernal moḥin , brains, of Zeir Anpin and nukva are revealed, which are the source of life for all the worlds, but through one particular detail they are invalidated and the moḥin depart. Every mitzva belongs to part of the soul (and body) and part of the world on the one hand, and all of the mitzvot are "limbs of the King," the Holy One blessed be He on the other hand. The "King" from the perspective of the created beings, is the countenance of Zeir Anpin (the "small countenance"), the aspect of the countenance of Ein Sof above, which is directed toward the worlds, as explained in the kabbalistic sources, while the nukva of Zeir Anpin is the feminine, receptive side of the Divine that belongs to Zeir Anpin, through which the shefa, the divine abundance, flows to the worlds. The tefillin of above are the tefillin that are donned by God, so to speak (see Berakhot 6a). A manifestation of Zeir Anpin, their function is to direct the flow of the supernal moḥin from the cluster of sefirot known as Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at, and from even higher than that. Just as the limbs of a person draw the vitality of the soul into those limbs – the power of intellect to the brain, or the power of vision to the eye – so too the mitzvot draw forth and connect the divine life force from below to above and from above to below. The tefillin of above and the tefillin of below, those which we don, are linked to one another. The same applies to every mitzva: what we do below is performed likewise above. On the deepest level of ​​the mitzva, the tefillin below and the tefillin above are the very same tefillin, but in order for the unification between them to be revealed, for the vitality to flow in unity, we must, in the only place in all of creation where there may be any opening, close the circuits by fulfilling the mitzva in all of its specific requirements. At that hour, the unity between above and below, between the encompassing and the internal, between the Divine and everything else, is drawn out and revealed. The phrase "which are the source of life for all the worlds" refers back to the moḥin that are drawn forth by means of the mitzva of tefillin. The author of the Tanya adds that "through one particular detail" of the halakhot of tefillin, e.g., if a single letter is missing or written incorrectly, or if the boxes of the tefillin are not square or the straps are not black, as required, the tefillin are invalidated, and in essence they are no longer tefillin. At that point the vessel, which drew the moḥin to the person and all the worlds, has ceased to function.

וּכְהַאי גַּוְונָא בְּדִקְדּוּקֵי מִצְוֹת 'לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה'

The same applies to the precise details of negative commandments. In the case of negative commandments, there is no action or element whose omission can render the mitzva unfulfilled. Instead, there is a no less complicated system of actions that are forbidden to perform. Just as positive commandments connect a person's deeds below to all the worlds, so too negative commandments define precisely those actions that if performed in a particular manner will detach the person and that part of the world from the Divine, and sully the world with corruption from one end to the other.

וְהִלְכָּךְ, הַמִּתְבּוֹנֵן מַה גָּדְלוּ מַעֲשֵׂי ה׳, שֶׁבְּרִיבּוּי הָעוֹלָמוֹת וְכָל צְבָאָם

Therefore, one can reflect on "how great are Your works, Lord," in the proliferation of the worlds and all of their hosts, The reflection begins, as stated, in the first part of the verse: "How great are Your works." We reflect on what we can observe, on God's actions and the worlds He has created, in their immeasurable size and number. This appreciation is not self-evident: a person can live in the world without recognizing these facts. People become habituated, they take things for granted and then the wonders cease to be significant. That is why it is necessary to articulate and meditate on "how great are Your works," as though it has all just been created, and one is seeing it for the first time and marveling.

וְאֵיךְ כּוּלָּם בְּטֵלִים בִּמְצִיאוּת לְגַבֵּי דִּקְדּוּק אֶחָד מִדִּקְדּוּקֵי תוֹרָה, שֶׁהוּא עוֹמֶק מַחֲשָׁבָה הָעֶלְיוֹנָה וְחָכְמָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, אֲשֶׁר בְּדִקְדּוּק קַל עוֹלִים כָּל הָעוֹלָמוֹת וּמְקַבְּלִים חַיּוּתָם וְשִׁפְעָם אוֹ לְהֵיפֶךְ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם

and how they are all negated in reality in relation to a single detail of the details of the Torah, which is the depth of the supernal thought and His wisdom, as through a slight detail all the worlds ascend and receive their vitality and flow, or the opposite, God forbid. The second stage of the reflection is "how profound Your thoughts." We neither see nor understand the thoughts, the supernal wisdom, and therefore, in order to establish the connection, our wonder for the depth of His thoughts, we must observe and marvel at the magnitude of His works. When one reflects that all this immensity and multiplicity is sustained and exists on the basis of "a single detail of the details of the Torah," he will begin to relate to the precise details of the Torah, and, indeed, the Torah as a whole, in a very different manner. When we consider the fact that the Torah in our possession, which we study and fulfill, is the supernal wisdom itself, the wisdom of the Holy One blessed be He who created the worlds, it becomes clear that all of the worlds, in their current state, depend on the precise details of that thought. If the thought were otherwise, all the works would change accordingly. When one reflects in this manner, the whole perception of the world changes. One's initial view of reality is that there is a large world which maintains a stable existence, and irrespective of that fact, there is also a Torah that certain people follow. However, when one looks at it in the above fashion, that perception is reversed: there is a Torah, which is the deep wisdom of the Creator and leader of the world, and events unfold in accordance with the Torah and this wisdom. This is comparable to a desire one has that is subsequently fulfilled, or a wise perspective with which one sees and comprehends things and then they come into being according to that understanding. The great world is not at all stable in its existence; it changes and is created anew every moment from absolute nothingness, in accordance with the Torah and all of its particulars, as we study and fulfill it.

וּמִזֶּה נִתְבּוֹנֵן גְּדוּלַּת עוֹמֶק מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, שֶׁהוּא בִּבְחִינַת בְּלִי גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית וּמַעֲלָתָהּ לְאֵין קֵץ וְתַכְלִית עַל מַעֲלוֹת חַיּוּת כָּל הָעוֹלָמוֹת, שֶׁכָּל חַיּוּתָם שׁוֹפֵעַ מִדִּקְדּוּק אֶחָד מִמֶּנָּה

From this we can reflect on the greatness of the depth of His thought, which is unlimited and infinite, and whose quality is endlessly and infinitely superior to the quality of the vitality of all the worlds, as all their vitality flows from one particular detail of it. The depth of the thought of the Holy One blessed be He according to which the world was created, is greater than the world. If the world God created occupies all limits and measures (because limits and measures are themselves part of the creation), the wisdom with which the world was created extends beyond that limit and purpose of the world. The "vitality of all the worlds" is a spiritual life force, so that "all their vitality," of the worlds, "flows from one particular detail of" the Torah. The connection between the Torah and the physical world cannot be seen with physical eyes, and therefore one must use his conceptual powers in order to perceive it with the eye of the mind. Every physical entity has a spiritual vitality that constitutes and animates it. When one relates to those spiritual life forces and dimensions, it is easier to proceed to the divine dimension and vitality. If a divine mitzva is performed precisely in accordance with the divine will and wisdom, it will release a stream of will and wisdom, which are the vitality of all the worlds.

שֶׁהוּא נִמְשָׁךְ מִמְּקוֹרוֹ, הוּא עוֹמֶק מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ כְּמוֹ שְׂעַר הָאָדָם הַנִּמְשָׁךְ מִמּוֹחוֹ עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, וְכַנּוֹדַע מֵהַתִּיקּוּנִים וְהָאִידְּרָא רַבָּא

For it draws from its source, which is the depth of His thought, like the hair of a person that is drawn from his brain, metaphorically speaking, and as is known from the Tikkunim and Idra Rabba . Every particular detail of the Torah, even of it seems like something ordinary that does not display any profound wisdom, actually flows from the depth of the divine wisdom, as explained above. The Tikkunim (Tikkunei Zohar ) and Idra Rabba (a section of the Zohar, from Parashat Naso ) explain that the revelations of the Torah, of the Divine in the world, are like hairs drawn from the brain. A hair contains vitality from the brain, but it is so limited that it cannot be seen, and certainly one is unable to perceive its source. However, for this very reason the hair can transfer the vitality of the intellect to places that are so distant that they are no longer intellect at all, and yet the hair reaches there as well. Up to this point, the essay has discussed the superiority of the Torah in relation to the worlds. Although it is above the worlds, it is related to and refers to them; it is higher than the worlds, but it constitutes them and all of their greatness. Now, in the second part of the essay, the author of the Tanya will talk about the true virtue of the Torah, which does not refer at all to the worlds created by God, but only to the Holy One blessed be He Himself.

וְזֹאת הָיְתָה שִׂמְחַת דָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם, שֶׁהָיָה מְזַמֵּר וּמְרַנֵּן לְשַׂמֵּחַ לִבּוֹ בְּעֵסֶק הַתּוֹרָה בְּעֵת צָרָתוֹ

This was the joy of King David, may he rest in peace, as he would sing and chant to gladden his heart in the engagement of the Torah at his time of trouble. That is, this superior quality of the Torah, which is such that all the worlds are nullified in favor of a single of its particulars, "was the joy of King David." When King David was troubled by the affairs of this world, when he was persecuted by his enemies and he did not have "this world" in which to rejoice, he would gladden himself by engaging in the Torah. When he reflected and sensed that all the worlds are negated by the Torah in which he was occupied, as explained above, he could rejoice in this fact, even though externally he was still involved in a time of trouble.

אַךְ מַה שֶּׁהָיָה מִשְׁתַּבֵּחַ בִּתְהִלַּת הַתּוֹרָה בְּמַעֲלָתָהּ זוֹ, וְאָמַר ״זְמִירוֹת הָיוּ לִי כו׳״ (תהלים קיט,נד) נֶעֱנַשׁ עַל זֶה

However, when he glorified himself in the praise of the Torah for this quality, declaring, "Your statutes were songs to me…" (Ps. 119:54), he was punished for that, As long as he rejoiced in his study of the Torah, this was not a problem. On the contrary, a person should be happy and rejoice as much as he can, and if he is able to do this while engaging in the Torah, this is all to the good. The trouble begins when one turns his joy in the Torah into a praise of the Torah itself, that this is his relationship to the Torah, in its quality as "songs to me in the house of my sojourning."

וְאָמַר לוֹ הקב״ה: זְמִירוֹת קָרֵית לְהוּ

and the Holy One blessed be He said to him: You call them songs? You dare to call this Torah, which is the deep wisdom of the Holy One blessed be He Himself, mere songs? That is, not the wisdom we receive and not what all the higher worlds and angels can attain, but God's own, inner wisdom, in relation to which all the worlds are considered external – is that what you, David, call songs? Do you rejoice in that, by making it an externality for something else? The divine will is His self-expression, like the highest desire in the soul that expresses what lies beyond the wisdom of the soul and beyond what it loves: the soul itself, when it desires not for an external reason but due to its very nature. Nevertheless, the will invariably refers to the external; it is expressed in the soul's desire and relation toward something that is external to it. However, the soul itself also has an inner expression, which is the power of pleasure. Like will, pleasure is also an expression of the soul itself, but this pleasure relates inward, for it is the pleasure of the soul in its essence. This is what the Holy One blessed be He said to David: Are you calling them songs? Are you treating them as a will without a reason? I would expect you to relate to the lofty, inner side, to the divine pleasure of a mitzva, a pleasure that distinguishes between the particulars of every mitzva, each of which has a different reason. It is true that David cannot comprehend the reasons for the statutes, but this is not about David's powers of reasoning or those of anybody else, but rather the reason that God Himself receives from the mitzvot, as it were, such that a person who attains the nullification of his entire reality can, by means of this negation, also relate to this level of the reason and pleasure within the Divine.

מִשּׁוּם שֶׁבֶּאֱמֶת מַעֲלָתָהּ זוֹ, שֶׁכָּל הָעוֹלָמוֹת בְּטֵלִים לְגַבֵּי דִּקְדּוּק אֶחָד מִמֶּנָּה, הִיא מִבְּחִינַת אֲחוֹרַיִים שֶׁל עוֹמֶק הַמַּחֲשָׁבָה

Because truly that virtue, in relation to a single one of whose details all the worlds are negated, is considered the "back side" of the depth of the thought, The virtue of the Torah in comparison to all the worlds is not an internal merit of the Torah itself, but only its external reference to the worlds. We marvel at the fact that all the worlds are subsumed in the Torah because we can see the worlds and appreciate their greatness, and through this admiration we also appreciate the Torah. However, this is of course not an evaluation of the Torah, nor even of its relation to the worlds, but rather of the worlds' relationship toward the Torah.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁמְּבוֹאָר בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר בְּשֵׁם הָאֲרִיזַ״ל עַל מַאֲמַר רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז״ל: נוֹבְלוֹת חָכְמָה שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה תּוֹרָה

as explained elsewhere in the name of the Arizal, on our Rabbis' statement: Torah is the withering fruit of wisdom that emerges from above. "Withering fruit" refers to those fruits that have fallen and are no longer attached to the tree. The analogy, as discussed elsewhere, in the name of the Arizal, is that the source of the Torah in our possession is the supernal wisdom, but like the fruit that has fallen from the tree, the Torah we comprehend and refer to is likewise not the supernal wisdom as it is internally, connected and united at its root, but as it relates to the worlds.

אֲבָל פְּנִימִית שֶׁבְּעוֹמֶק, שֶׁהוּא פְּנִימִית הַתּוֹרָה, הִיא מְיוּחֶדֶת לְגַמְרֵי בְּאוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא הַמְלוּבָּשׁ בָּהּ בְּתַכְלִית הַיִּחוּד

However, the internal aspect of the depth, which is the internal aspect of Torah, is completely united in the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, which is enclothed within it in ultimate union. The Torah is the interiority of God's thought, so to speak, what He thinks in His own mind, and therefore it is completely unified within Himself. Just as for a man, his thought is a garment and a vessel for the soul, so too in the realm above, a thought is a garment and a vessel for the light of Ein Sof. The more internal the clothing, the more it is connected and identified with what it covers. Just as thought is more internal than speech, and is more connected and identified with the mind than speech, the same relationship exists between an internal and a more external thought. The Torah, which is the interiority of the interiority of the supernal thought, and not merely "withering fruit" as we perceive it below, is the innermost garment, united by the light of Ein Sof that it enclothes.

וּלְגַבֵּי אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא כָּל הָעוֹלָמוֹת כְּלֹא מַמָּשׁ וְאַיִן וָאֶפֶס

And in relation to Ein Sof , blessed be He, all the worlds are insubstantial

מַמָּשׁ, כִּי "אַתָּה הוּא עַד שֶׁלֹּא נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם וכו׳״

and literally nothingness, for "You are He, before the world was created…" This phrase appears in the prayer book: "You are He, before the world was created; You are He, after the world was created." If the worlds are not considered to be anything in relation to God, but "are insubstantial and literally nothingness," then the creation of the world did not change anything with respect to God Himself: as He was before the world was created, so He remains after it was created, without any change at all. The negation of the worlds is absolute; they are not just smaller than Him and of lesser value; they are completely non-existent in reference to the light of Ein Sof itself.

וְהִלְכָּךְ גַּם לִפְנִימִיּוּת הַתּוֹרָה, אֵין לְשַׁבְּחָהּ כְּלָל בִּתְהִלַּת חַיּוּת כָּל הָעוֹלָמוֹת, מֵאַחַר דְּלָא מַמָּשׁ חֲשִׁיבֵי

Therefore, the internal aspect of the Torah should also not be praised at all with the praises of the source of vitality of all worlds, for they are considered insubstantial, Since the Torah in its interiority is truly united in Ein Sof, and all the worlds are literally nothingness in relation to Ein Sof, they are not considered to be anything, and their existence and life have no meaning in relation to the interiority of the Torah. Therefore, there is also no cause to praise the Torah for its relationship with the worlds. True words of praise must be appropriate for the one who is being praised, as otherwise it is not real, internal praise, but only an external commendation that does not relate to him on his inner level.

וּבִבְחִינַת פְּנִימִיּוּתָהּ, אֵינָהּ שִׂמְחַת לְבַב אֱנוֹשׁ וְשַׁעֲשׁוּעָיו, אֶלָּא כִּבְיָכוֹל שִׂמְחַת לֵב וְשַׁעֲשׁוּעַ הַמֶּלֶךְ הקב"ה שֶׁמִּשְׁתַּעֲשֵׁעַ בָּהּ

and with respect to its interior aspect, it is not the joy of man's heart and his delight, but rather, as it were, the heart's joy and the delight of the King, the Holy One blessed be He who delights in it. David took delight in the externality of the Torah, but in its inner level the Torah is not the joy of the human heart, but the joy of the heart of God alone. A person can be happy, frolic, and take delight in the Torah when it relates in some way to the structure of his soul, when he understands and senses something, if not in the Torah itself then at least in the wonder of what he can grasp, the world and everything it contains. However, he cannot rejoice or delight in the internalities of the Torah, which cannot be compared at all to anything with which he is familiar. The internality of the Torah is the inner thought of God in His own mind, as stated, on a more interior level than His relationship toward everything else, and therefore it is the joy of God's heart and the delight of God alone.

כִּי אֱלֹקִים הֵבִין דַּרְכָּהּ וְיָדַע מְקוֹמָהּ וּמַעֲלָתָהּ בִּידִיעַת עַצְמוֹ כִּבְיָכוֹל

For God understands its way and He knows its place and its quality, through His knowledge of Himself, as it were, The garment of the Torah is so internal that understanding and knowing it is like knowing God Himself, so to speak, which He alone knows. Therefore, only God understands the way of the Torah (where it goes), its place (from where it comes), and its individual quality, through His knowledge of Himself.

אֲבָל נֶעֶלְמָה מֵעֵינֵי כָל חָי, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "וּפָנַי לֹא יֵרָאוּ" (שמות לג,כג), דְּהַיְינוּ בְּחִינַת פְּנִימִיּוּתָהּ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב שָׁם (אגרת הקדש סימן יט) בְּשֵׁם הָאֲרִ״י ז״ל

but it is concealed from the eyes of all living beings, as it is written: "But My face will not be seen" (Ex. 33:23), meaning its internal aspect, as is written there (Iggeret HaKodesh, epistle 19) in the name of the Arizal. This essential concealment of the Torah, like that of God Himself, is of the "internal aspect." The internality of the Torah, the Torah as it is with God, as it is itself, is not within the comprehension of even our teacher Moses.

וְזֶה שֶׁאוֹמֵר הַכָּתוּב: ״וָאֶהְיֶה אֶצְלוֹ כו׳ שַׁעֲשׁוּעִים״ (משלי ח,ל) ‘אֶצְלוֹ׳ דַּוְקָא, ״מְשַׂחֶקֶת לְפָנָיו״ (שם) – ‘לְפָנָיו׳ דַּוְקָא, דְּהַיְינוּ בִּבְחִינַת פְּנִימִיּוּתָהּ

This is the meaning of the verse" "I was with Him…a delight" (Prov. 8:30) – "with Him" is meant specifically; "playing before Him" – "before Him" is meant specifically, that is, its internal aspect. The full verse reads: "I was with Him, as a protégé; I was a delight." The author of the Tanya infers that "with Him" is meant specifically, that is, the Torah is a delight only for God, not humans.

וְעַל זֶה

And with regard to this it says: "I was with Him, as a protégé [amon ]" (Prov. 8:30); do not read amon but rather omen … This is referring to the interiority of the Torah, that it was like an artisan [omen ] with God. It is further stated at the beginning of Bereshit Rabba: "Amon means pedagogue…amon means hidden." On this level, the Torah is like the Holy One blessed be He Himself, when He acts solely as a giver and sustainer, not as one who receives or is comprehended in any manner.

וְעַל בְּחִינַת אֲחוֹרַיִים אָמַר: ״מְשַׂחֶקֶת בְּתֵבֵל אַרְצוֹ וְשַׁעֲשׁוּעַי אֶת בְּנֵי אָדָם״ (משלי ח,לא)

And with regard to the "back side" it says: "Playing in the world of His earth, and my delights are with the sons of man" (Prov. 8:31). In contrast to the interior aspect which is not grasped and which does not refer to the worlds, the "back side" does relate to the worlds, as the author of the Tanya earlier mentioned that all the worlds are negated in relation to any particular halakhic detail. This is the meaning of the phrase "playing in the world of His earth," that this reflection provides joy and delight for a person, when he maintains his focus on the Torah even when he is troubled by the affairs of the world.

כִּי הַתּוֹרָה נִיתְּנָה בִּבְחִינַת פָּנִים וְאָחוֹר, כְּדִכְתִיב בִּמְגִילָּה עָפָה דִּזְכַרְיָה: ״וְהִיא כְתוּבָה פָּנִים וְאָחוֹר״

For the Torah was given in the form of "front and back," as is written with regard to Zechariah's flying scroll: "And it was written front and back." Our Rabbis explained that this scroll, which was "written front and back," is the Torah that was given at Sinai, as it has both a front and a back: its front, interiority, is in God's inner thought, in His understanding and the joy of His heart alone; and its back, exteriority, is its relationship with our worlds and ourselves, our understanding and the way in which we fulfill it. The most significant part of this statement is that the Torah was given to us in the form of "front" as well. In interpersonal relationships, when one teaches his friend wisdom, he delivers only the exterior. Whatever the listener manages to understand, what relates to him and his world, that is what he receives, whereas the interiority of the wisdom necessarily remains with the giver, since he cannot convey the depth and subtleties of his understanding and feeling as they are within himself. It might have been thought that if this is the case between human beings, all the more so between man and God, whose interiority is immeasurably higher than man's, and He gave us the Torah only in the form of "back," not "front."

וּלְפִי שֶׁתָּפַס דָּוִד בִּבְחִינַת אֲחוֹרַיִים, לְכָךְ נֶעֱנַשׁ בְּשִׁכְחָה הַבָּאָה מִן בְּחִינַת אֲחוֹרַיִים וְנֶעְלַם מִמֶּנּוּ לְפִי שָׁעָה מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב: ״עֲבוֹדַת הַקֹּדֶשׁ עֲלֵיהֶם בַּכָּתֵף יִשָּׂאוּ״ (במדבר ז,ט)

Because David grasped hold of the "back side" aspect, he was therefore punished with the forgetfulness that comes from the "back side" aspect, and he temporarily overlooked the verse: "The sacred service is upon them; they shall bear on the shoulder" (Num. 7:9) This occurred when David rejoiced in the quality of the Torah, in the endless vitality of the worlds that flows from a single particular of it, which he called "songs." It is known that forgetfulness comes from the "back side," as we see that a person can forget what is not important to him, what is only secondary and "back side," whereas he will not forget anything that is deemed vital to him and essential to his existence, upon which his life depends. The cited verse from Numbers teaches that the Holy Ark must be carried on the shoulders, not on a wagon, as David did.

לְחַבֵּר וּלְיַחֵד אֶת הַכְּתֵפַיִים, שֶׁהֵן בְּחִינַת אֲחוֹרַיִים, אֶל ‘עֲבוֹדַת הַקֹּדֶשׁ׳ הִיא חָכְמָה עִילָּאָה בִּבְחִינַת פְּנִים, שֶׁמִּשָּׁם נִמְשְׁכוּ הַלּוּחוֹת שֶׁבָּאָרוֹן

to join and unify the shoulders, which are the "back side" aspect, to "the sacred service," the supernal Ḥokhma , in a form of internality. For the tablets in the ark were drawn from there, Here the author of the Tanya explains why the Ark must be carried on the shoulders. The internal reason for this mitzva of bearing the Ark on one's shoulders is the unification of the "front" and "back." The shoulders are the bodily expression of the "back side" with which the "sacred service" is performed. This is a service that is separate from us, which belongs not to us but to the interiority of God's Torah that belongs to Him alone, and that is the bearing of the Ark and the Tablets that are inside it. The Ark, and the Torah inside the Ark, inscribed on the Tablets of the Covenant, are the expression in this world of that inner Torah. The Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies in the Temple, in the innermost place of all the worlds, in the interiority of the Land of Israel, the interiority of Jerusalem and the Temple, in the Holy of Holies and within the Ark itself. No man enters that inner place, the place of the Divine Presence alone, where the Tablets, the inner parts of the Torah, are located, as will be explained.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״כְּתוּבִים מִשְּׁנֵי עֶבְרֵיהֶם(שמות לב,טו)

as it is written: "Inscribed on both their sides…" (Ex. 32:15), Various interpretations have been offered for this verse. Based on Rashi's commentary, it seems that the letters were miraculously engraved from one side of the Tablets to the other, such that they could be read from both sides.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּיְּרוּשַׁלְמִי דִּשְׁקָלִים (פרק ו הלכה א) שֶׁלֹּא הָיְתָה בָּהֶן בְּחִינַת פָּנִים וְאָחוֹר, עַיֵּין שָׁם

and as is written in the Jerusalem Talmud, Shekalim (6:1), that they did not have a front and back; see there. The interpretation of the Jerusalem Talmud is even more far-reaching. It states: "'From this side and from that side they were inscribed' (Ex. 32:15) – tatroga." In Greek, tatroga means a square, or a cube (Korban HaEda there). In other words, the text could be read not only from two sides, but actually from all four sides. Our world was created in such a manner that it and everything within it has a "front" and "back." There is no reality in the world of a "front" without a "back." Since the Tablets are read from all sides, that is, all its sides were "front," meaning that the letters could be read from each side, the Tablets were thus not a separate "creation," unlike anything in this world. This absolute interiority, the "physical state" of the Tablets, reflects the interiority of the Torah (which was written on the Tablets), as discussed in this essay. It was not an interiority in relation to a specific externality, that is, a more internal explanation of something that is explicitly understood, but an internality that is entirely separate from any external observation, from any reference to the world, the intellect, and worldly concepts. This interiority belongs to God Himself; it is between Him and Himself, as stated. According to the punishment, we can understand the nature of the "sin." The sin was not that David failed to recognize the existence of such an internality of the Torah, but that he did not connect it to the "back side." After all, we cannot do anything with respect to the interiority of the Torah itself. We cannot refer to it at all, since it is by definition "unavailable" to us. What we can do is to connect the "back side," which is the focus of our engagement, to the interiority, and this is "the sacred service is upon them; they shall bear on the shoulder." The service as regards the sacred, the distinct interiority of the Torah, is to connect to it and to unify with it the "back side," that is, the way in which we relate to the Torah and fulfill it in our world.