רַק שֶׁהַתּוֹרָה דִּבְּרָה כִּלְשׁוֹן בְּנֵי אָדָם,

The Torah nevertheless speaks in the language of men, Despite the great divide between human and divine reality, the Torah still calls divine communication speech. Because the Torah is addressing human beings, it uses a language to which they can, in some way, relate.

וְנִקְרָא בַּתּוֹרָה דִּבּוּרוֹ שֶׁל מָקוֹם בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּשֵׁם דִּבּוּר מַמָּשׁ כְּדִבּוּרוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם.

and the speech of God, blessed be He, is referred to as actual speech in the Torah, like human speech. Human speech and divine speech are so dissimilar in essence that they should have different names. But because a person can conceive of something only if it relates to his own reality, the Torah calls divine communication by its human counterpart, speech. Thus we are told that God spoke or said, just as human beings such as Moses and Aaron spoke or said.

לְפִי שֶׁבֶּאֱמֶת כָּךְ הוּא, דֶּרֶךְ יְרִידַת וְהַמְשָׁכַת הַחַיּוּת לַתַּחְתּוֹנִים בְּצִמְצוּמִים רַבִּים וַעֲצוּמִים

In truth, this is so, that God's speech appears to be separate from Him, by means of the descent and drawing down of the life force to the lower worlds through numerous, immense constrictions From God's perspective, His speech is not separate from Himself, nor does His speech, being a divine power, constitute an actual constriction of the divine light and life force. As explained in Sha'ar HaYiḥud VeHa'emuna, since the constriction itself is a divine force, it conceals nothing from God. But from the perspective of His creations, the constriction is real, obscuring the light and life force so that His speech appears to be separate from Him, the Speaker, much like human speech. The process by which God's speech is constricted by "numerous, immense constrictions" is in many ways comparable to human speech: The speech appears to be distant and separate from the Speaker, a greatly constricted version of the contents of God's thoughts. The essence of the original thought seems to have been broken down into an abundance of details that constitute words, letters, and the various combinations that they form. The previous chapter discussed speech as a means of transferring meaning from one point to another. Here we explore another quality of speech: the constriction of the original thought. Just as there are states of reality that we cannot conceive, so too there are thoughts that we cannot verbalize. Speech expresses only the lower margins of a thought, only that particular aspect of it that can be constricted through the medium of verbal expression. The greater part of a thought cannot be constricted and so cannot be expressed in speech except as a vague sense of something that floats just beyond the reach of the spoken word. Constriction is a vital process in every transfer of content from one medium to another. Constriction diminishes the light – the content – so that it can fit to the vessel. If there were too much light, the vessel would shatter. This is an exceedingly delicate balance: The more the content suits the vessel, the farther it is from its inner contents, the original, pure concept itself. But the more faithful it remains to the original, the less it conforms to the vessel.

מִינִים מִמִּינִים שׁוֹנִים, לְהִבָּרְאוֹת מֵהֶם בְּרוּאִים רַבִּים מִינִים מִמִּינִים שׁוֹנִים.

of variations upon variations in order that a vast array of numerous creations may be created through them. The process of constriction can be seen, paradoxically, as multiplicity and expansion. One example of this is the passage from wisdom to understanding. The initial flash of wisdom contains a reality that is not composed of discrete elements but provides a complete picture all at once. When this picture passes to a level of structured understanding, the image is broadened. The one spark of insight expands into a variety of thoughts and ideas, which can be expressed by innumerable words. There have been people, even great people, who never had more than one idea throughout the course of their lives. All their writings were no more than an attempt to understand and explicate that one illumination of wisdom. That point, that instantaneous comprehension, is transformed on the level of understanding into a thought that can last for years. Yet from a qualitative standpoint, those years of thought and those many books on the topic contain a mere elaboration of what had existed in the primal seed of wisdom.

וְכָל כָּךְ גָּבְרוּ וְעָצְמוּ הַצִּמְצוּמִים וְהֶסְתֵּר פָּנִים הָעֶלְיוֹנִים, עַד שֶׁיּוּכְלוּ לְהִתְהַוּוֹת וּלְהִבָּרְאוֹת גַּם דְּבָרִים טְמֵאִים וּקְלִיפּוֹת וְסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא וּלְקַבֵּל חַיּוּתָם וְקִיּוּמָם מִדְּבַר ה׳ וְרוּחַ פִּיו יִתְבָּרַךְ בְּהֶסְתֵּר פָּנִים וִירִידַת הַמַּדְרֵגוֹת.

The constrictions and concealment of the supernal countenance are so immensely powerful that even impure entities, the kelippot , and the sitra aḥara can be brought into existence and created, receiving their life force and existence from the word of God and the breath of His divine utterance through a concealed countenance and a descent through many levels. God created everything – "He fashions light and creates darkness, makes peace and creates harm" (Isa. 45:7). There is no other source of life from which the forces of impurity receive their existence and vitality. Everything receives its life force from one and the same source, but creation is inextricably intertwined with constriction. Since there is constriction and concealment of the Divine, it is possible for beings to exist in a reality where the Divine is hidden. These beings see divine speech as, at most, a first cause of their existence but do not comprehend how God is literally giving life to the universe, how His speech directly creates every being without an intermediary at every moment, literally from nothingness. Because the constriction of the divine illumination is so great, it is possible for kelippa and the sitra aḥara to be created, entities that wage war against Him and even deny His existence even as they receive all their life force from God and God alone. This concealment is not an end in itself but part of the process of revelation. The purpose of concealment is to reveal that which transcends constriction, a force that will be shattered at some time in the future. In the meantime, constriction and concealment are our reality, to such a degree that we cannot see the vivifying light, and impure entities, kelippa, and sitra aḥara have come into being.

וְלָכֵן נִקְרָאִים ‘אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים׳ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁיְּנִיקָתָם וְחַיּוּתָם אֵינָהּ מִבְּחִינַת פָּנִים אֶלָּא מִבְּחִינַת אֲחוֹרַיִים דִּקְדוּשָּׁה.

They are therefore called "other gods" [ elohim aḥerim ], because their nourishment and life force do not derive from the countenance of the Divine but rather from the back side [ aḥorayim ] of holiness. The forces of impurity, the kelippot and the sitra aḥara, are the root and essence of idolatry and are called "other gods." They are "other" because they do not receive their life force from the inner aspect of the divine sustenance but from the hind part, from the ancillary, from the nonessential, from that which is not God's primary purpose.

וּפֵירוּשׁ אֲחוֹרַיִים, כְּאָדָם הַנּוֹתֵן דָּבָר לְשׂוֹנְאוֹ שֶׁלֹּא בִּרְצוֹנוֹ שֶׁמַּשְׁלִיכוֹ לוֹ כִּלְאַחַר כְּתֵפוֹ, כִּי מַחֲזִיר פָּנָיו מִמֶּנּוּ מִשִּׂנְאָתוֹ אוֹתוֹ.

The meaning of the term aḥorayim , back side, can be illustrated by a person who begrudgingly gives something to his enemy, tossing it to him over his shoulder while turning away his face from him in his hatred of him. Because the person hates the enemy, he does not want to give him anything. He hates the enemy so much that he does not even want to look at him, so he turns his face away. But he is nevertheless obligated to give, so he throws the object over his shoulder. This illustrates the two types of relationship that could exist between God and His creations: a deep, inner relationship or a relationship of the back side. God desires a deep relationship from the outset, while the back side includes those things that are not desirable from the outset but are necessary to attain God's purpose. They serve as a framework, a vessel that conveys the essence of God's inner intentions. That the back side exists is not in opposition to God's will. It is a part of the world, even though God does not want it for its own sake. By analogy, hurdles on a racetrack are not an end in themselves, and they seem to interfere with the attainment of the goal. But they are necessary, because the inner intent is that the runner will leap over them in order to advance. In the same way, God sustains the kelippa, even though He is not intrinsically interested in its existence. It is a part of the framework of reality, necessary to the world's development until the divine will is fully attained.

כָּךְ לְמַעְלָה בְּחִינַת פָּנִים הוּא פְּנִימִית הָרָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן וְחֶפְצוֹ הָאֲמִיתִּי, אֲשֶׁר חָפֵץ ה' לְהַשְׁפִּיעַ חַיּוּת לְכָל הַקָּרוֹב אֵלָיו, מִסִּטְרָא דִּקְדוּשָּׁה.

So it is on high with regard to the Divine: The countenance [ panim ] represents the inner [ penimi ] aspect of the supernal will, which is His true desire, God's desire to bestow His life force on all those who are close to Him, all that is from the side of holiness. God's will has an inner and an outer aspect. His inner will, what the author of the Tanya refers to as "God's desire," is His true, primary, direct will, which is to give of Himself to those who wish to draw close to Him.

אֲבָל הַסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא וְהַטּוּמְאָה הִיא תּוֹעֲבַת ה׳ אֲשֶׁר שָׂנֵא, וְאֵינוֹ מַשְׁפִּיעַ לָהּ חַיּוּת מִפְּנִימִית הָרָצוֹן וְחֶפְצוֹ הָאֲמִיתִּי אֲשֶׁר חָפֵץ בָּהּ חַס וְשָׁלוֹם,

But the sitra aḥara and the forces of that He hates, and He impurity are abominations to God therefore does not bestow them with the life force of His inner will and true desire in which He delights, God forbid, When God gives vitality to the powers of evil and the sitra aḥara, He does not do so because He desires this or gets pleasure from it. He does not desire their existence as an end in itself. They are vital for God's true desire, His true intent, and that is the sole reason He sustains them. But He sustains them begrudgingly, so to speak, and not out of His true, deepest desire. If the other side were to receive more than the absolute minimum it requires for its existence, were it to benefit from God's inner will, it would break loose of its constraints and morph into "other gods" and idolatry itself.

כִּי אִם כְּמַאן דְּשָׁדֵי בָּתַר כַּתְפוֹי לְשׂוֹנְאוֹ שֶׁלֹּא בִּרְצוֹנוֹ,

but rather as one who begrudgingly tosses an object over his shoulder to his enemy. When a person wants to realize an inner desire, he has to do many things he does not want to do. For example, when someone wants an item, he goes to the store and buys it. He does not pay for it out of an inner desire to give away his money. On the contrary, he hates parting with it. He pays because that is the external means of attaining that which he desires.

רַק כְּדֵי לְהַעֲנִישׁ אֶת הָרְשָׁעִים וְלִיתֵּן שָׂכָר טוֹב לַצַּדִּיקִים דְּאַכְּפַיָּין לְסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא. וְזֶה נִקְרָא בְּחִינַת אֲחוֹרַיִים דְּרָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן בָּרוּךְ הוּא.

The function of the sitra aḥara and the forces of impurity is only in order to punish the wicked and grant a good reward to the righteous, who subdue the sitra aḥara . This is referred to as the back side of God's supernal will. The author of the Tanya now goes into greater detail concerning the purpose of the sitra aḥara and the forces of impurity. The sitra aḥara is the "other" aspect of all reality, which includes man himself. The existence of this other side in us makes possible the existence of tzaddikim and resha'im, free will, and reward and punishment. Evil punishes the wicked. As the verse states, "Evil causes the death of the wicked" (Ps. 34:22), indicating that the evil that a wicked person does eventually kills him. At the same time, it elevates the righteous, "who subdue the sitra aḥara, " raising them even higher than they were originally. Evil is a strainer that clarifies whether a person will be righteous or wicked, whether he will rise to the heights or descend to the depths.

וְהִנֵּה רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן בִּבְחִינַת פָּנִים הוּא מְקוֹר הַחַיִּים הַמְּחַיֶּה אֶת כָּל הָעוֹלָמוֹת.

The supernal will, in its aspect as the divine countenance, is the source of life that sustains all the worlds. God's inner will, which the author of the Tanya refers to as the countenance of the supernal will, the deep, inner content of all external, trivial wills, is the true source of life. It is the root of all types and levels of life by which the worlds are sustained. This inner will is manifest only in the realm of holiness, since the side of holiness is precisely that which clothes and expresses God's inner will.

וּלְפִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ שׁוֹרֶה כְּלָל עַל הַסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא, וְגַם בְּחִינַת אֲחוֹרַיִים שֶׁל רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן אֵינוֹ מְלוּבָּשׁ בְּתוֹכָהּ מַמָּשׁ

Yet since it is not bequeathed upon the sitra aḥara whatsoever, and even the back side of the supernal will is not actually clothed within the sitra aḥara Even the "back side" of the supernal will, described above as being tossed begrudgingly over the shoulder, is not actually enclothed within the reality of the sitra aḥara. Were that the case, the inner will would also become intermingled within it, implying its tacit consent, so to speak, to the forces of evil.

אֶלָּא מַקִּיף עָלֶיהָ מִלְמַעְלָה, לְכָךְ הִיא מְקוֹם הַמִּיתָה וְהַטּוּמְאָה, ה׳ יִשְׁמְרֵנוּ. כִּי מְעַט מִזְּעֵר אוֹר וְחַיּוּת שֶׁיּוֹנֶקֶת וּמְקַבֶּלֶת לְתוֹכָהּ מִבְּחִינַת אֲחוֹרַיִים דִּקְדוּשָּׁה שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה,

but rather encompasses it from above, it is therefore the abode of death and impurity, may God protect us. The minuscule amount of light and life force that it derives and absorbs within itself from the back side of the holiness on high The realm of the sitra aḥara is the abode of death and impurity because the divine light, the divine life force, is not manifest there. Death is the total lack of life, and impurity is the spiritual corollary of death and emptiness, of nonexistence in all its aspects. God does not desire the existence of the sitra aḥara. Therefore, His divine will does not instill life within it but only surrounds it from without, so that it receives its life force in an almost automatic fashion. In this sense, the powers of evil lack inner life. They are silent powers, corpses, beings of terror and impurity that inhabit existence. Two types of life force exist on the side of holiness, corresponding to the divine will that surrounds all worlds and the divine speech that permeates all worlds. Corresponding to these two forces on the side of holiness, the divine will and the divine speech, there are two types of life forces that exist on the side of impurity. We have already seen the first, the back side of the divine will, which surrounds it from above. The second is "the minuscule amount of light and life force" that nourishes the realm of impurity. This life force, which vivifies the side of impurity from within itself, is a spark of the lowest level of holiness that has been absorbed into the side of impurity.

הוּא בִּבְחִינַת גָּלוּת מַמָּשׁ בְּתוֹכָהּ בְּסוֹד גָּלוּת הַשְּׁכִינָה הַנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.

is literally in a state of exile within it, this being the mystic exile of the Divine Presence discussed above (chaps. 6, 17, 19). God gives life to the lower worlds, including the sitra aḥara and the forces of impurity, even though they do not recognize this, do not nullify themselves before Him, and even deny the very essence of His existence and rebel against Him. This constitutes the exile of the Divine Presence. Although the Divine Presence is captive within these evil realms and gives them life, it is not manifest within them. It exists there in exile and estrangement, enabling them to attack it even as they use the very life force that continuously nourishes them.

וְלָכֵן נִקְרָא בְּשֵׁם ‘אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים׳, שֶׁהִיא עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה מַמָּשׁ וּכְפִירָה בְּאַחְדּוּתוֹ שֶׁל מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא.

The kelippa is therefore referred to as "other gods," for it constitutes actual idolatry and the denial of the oneness of the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. We already know that the realm of kelippa is a world of darkness, far from the source of life, a world of shadows in which signs of life may be detected only with difficulty. Now we learn something new: Hidden within the world of kelippa lies the first seed of idolatry. There in the sitra aḥara, holiness lies in exile, captured by forces that no longer recognize the source of their sustenance but see themselves as independent beings with access to a source of life that is not connected with holiness. Here is where, whether consciously or not, the denial of God's unity begins. The doorway to idolatry has been opened. The existence of the sitra aḥara as a force, as a state of being, or as people who see themselves as detached, in whatever way, from the realm of holiness postulates that a source of life exists that is not drawn from holiness. The acts that come from this assumption, whether they have led to idolatrous faith or whether, more subtly, they have led to the belief in any kind of independent, core existence, are at any rate based in the belief in the existence of other gods and the denial of God's all-encompassing unity.

כִּי מֵאַחַר שֶׁאוֹר וְחַיּוּת דִּקְדוּשָּׁה הוּא בִּבְחִינַת גָּלוּת בְּתוֹכָהּ,

Since the light and life force of holiness are in a state of exile within the kelippa, The divine life force exists in kelippa in a state of exile. There, where the essence and will of the divine life force are not manifest but hidden and subjugated, the kelippa sees itself as an entity independent of holiness.

אֵינָהּ בְּטֵילָה כְּלָל לְגַבֵּי קְדוּשַּׁת הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וְאַדְּרַבָּה מַגְבִּיהַּ עַצְמָהּ כַּנֶּשֶׁר לוֹמַר: "אֲנִי וְאַפְסִי עוֹד״ (ישעיה מז, ח), וּכְמַאֲמַר: "יְאוֹר לִי וַאֲנִי עֲשִׂיתִנִי״.

it is not nullified whatsoever in relation to the holiness of the Holy One, blessed be He. On the contrary, the kelippa raises itself like a soaring eagle, saying, "It is I, and there is none like me" (Isa. 47:8), and as in the statement "The river is mine, and I made myself." Pharaoh, the epitome of haughtiness, symbolizes the kelippa. First, he feels a sense of ownership: "The river is mine." Next, he claims to have made the Nile and all of existence. Finally, he claims, "I made myself!" This is the ultimate kelippa, the ultimate arrogance. He has become an entity that denies all connection to the Divine.

וְלָכֵן אָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ זַ״ל (סוטה ד, ב), שֶׁגַּסּוּת הָרוּחַ שְׁקוּלָה כַּעֲבוֹדָה זָרָה מַמָּשׁ.

Therefore, our Rabbis stated that arrogance is equivalent to actual idolatry (Sota 4b), It may seem surprising that a sin as grave as idolatry should be equated with arrogance, which is at most a character failing or a moral flaw. But idolatry and haughtiness essentially share the same root. Haughtiness and egotism are the opposite of self-nullification. Their root is not the denial of God but the viewpoint that the "I," the self, is also an independent being.

כִּי עִיקַּר וְשֹׁרֶשׁ עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה הוּא מַה שֶּׁנֶּחְשָׁב לְדָבָר בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ, נִפְרָד מִקְּדוּשָּׁתוֹ שֶׁל מָקוֹם, וְלֹא כְּפִירָה בַּה׳ לְגַמְרֵי,

because the core and root of idolatry is that it is regarded as an independent entity, distinct from the holiness of God but not necessarily a total denial of God, The essence and starting point of idolatry is not necessarily the denial of God but the assumption of an independent status separate from His holiness. Of course, denial of God is also idolatry, but it is an outcome of the original premise.

כִּדְאִיתָא בַּגְּמָרָא: "דְּקָרוּ לֵיהּ אֱלָהָא דֶּאֱלָהַיָּא״ (מנחות קי, א), אֶלָּא שֶׁגַּם הֵם מַחֲשִׁיבִים עַצְמָם לְיֵשׁ וְדָבָר בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ.

as the Talmud states, "They call Him the God of gods" (Mena ḥ ot 110a), yet, at the same time, they also regard themselves as independent beings and entities. Even idolaters call God the "God of gods." In other words, even the kelippot, the forces of impurity, and the sitra aḥara admit that God is superior to all. Yet in opposition to the awareness of the side of holiness that "the Lord is the God" and there is no other, the understanding of the kelippa consciousness is that there is another. That is to say, they consider themselves to be self-sufficient, not originating from God nor dependent on Him. If they want, they will accept God's sovereignty to a greater or lesser extent, but they may choose not to do so, because they do not see themselves as an inseparable part of the Divine.

וּבָזֶה מַפְרִידִים אֶת עַצְמָם מִקְּדוּשָּׁתוֹ שֶׁל מָקוֹם בָּרוּךְ הוּא, מֵאַחַר שֶׁאֵין בְּטֵלִים לוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, כִּי אֵין קְדוּשָּׁה עֶלְיוֹנָה שׁוֹרָה אֶלָּא עַל מַה שֶּׁבָּטֵל לוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.

It is with this sense of independence that they separate themselves from the holiness of God, blessed be He, since they are not nullified to Him, for the supernal holiness rests only upon that which is nullified to God, as stated above. As the author of the Tanya said earlier, holiness cannot enter into partnership with anything else. Whatever is connected to holiness cannot retain an independent, separate being. Rather, the only state of holiness is self-nullification before the divine being, and so holiness cannot reside wherever there is even a trace of autonomy. The opposite is true as well: The more complete one's nullification to the Divine, the more profound the presence of that which is holy.

וְלָכֵן נִקְרָאִים "טוּרֵי דִּפְרוֹדָא״ בַּזֹּהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ (חלק א קנח, א).

They are therefore referred to in the holy Zohar (1:158a) as "mountains of separation." The lower worlds, which sustain the existence of evil and impurity, are called "mountains of separation." This refers to the "mountains" that elevate themselves and view themselves as separate from the Divine. They experience themselves as autonomous units and inflate themselves with the boast "I will rule!" They separate themselves from the divine light and conceal themselves from it, as it were. Therefore, beyond them and receiving energy from them are the "mountains of darkness," entities that exist in a pitch-black environment where there is no revelation of the divine light.

וַהֲרֵי זוֹ כְּפִירָה בְּאַחְדּוּתוֹ הָאֲמִיתִּית, דְּכוֹלָא קַמֵּיהּ כְּלָא חָשִׁיב וּבָטֵל בֶּאֱמֶת לוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ וְלִרְצוֹנוֹ הַמְּחַיֶּה אֶת כּוּלָּם וּמְהַוֶּה אוֹתָם מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ תָּמִיד.

This, then, constitutes the denial of His true oneness, because everything before Him is considered as nothingness and is truly nullified to God and His will, which sustains them all and constantly brings them forth from nothingness to existence. The mountains of separation cast a shadow over everything that is nourished from them. They create the image of an illusory world, a world that appears to be independent, a world that sees itself as separate and autonomous, even as it draws its energy and gains its existence only from holiness. This is a world that does not know that holiness is the sole source of life, because in this world the divine life force is in exile, as it were, not ruling but ruled. Continuing the theme of the previous chapter, this chapter addressed the concept of divine speech. After delineating the qualitative difference between human and divine speech, it went on to discuss their similarities and explained divine speech in terms of our understanding of human speech. Just as human speech is a means of transferring content from the concealed to the revealed, from within outward, divine speech is a means of drawing the divine life force to the lower worlds after a great many powerful constrictions, until it arrives at worlds that are, in a sense, alien to it and estranged from it. However, as the author of the