וְהִנֵּה כָּל בְּחִינָה וּמַדְרֵגָה מִשָּׁלֹשׁ אֵלּוּ, נֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ וּנְשָׁמָה,

Each of these three facets and levels, nefesh , ruaḥ , and neshama, The nefesh, or soul, in the broadest sense of the term, encompasses three foundational levels: nefesh, ruaḥ, and neshama. Each of these levels is different from each other to the extent that two people, each with his respective soul, differ from each other.

כְּלוּלָה מֵעֶשֶׂר בְּחִינוֹת כְּנֶגֶד עֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת עֶלְיוֹנוֹת שֶׁנִּשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּ מֵהֶן,

contains ten faculties corresponding to the ten supernal sefirot from which they devolved. Despite the distinctions between these soul levels, each of the three soul levels shares these ten faculties, which correspond to the ten sefirot. The ten sefirot are supernal manifestations, or aspects of the Divine, through which the Divine interacts with the world. They serve as the creative forces of existence comprising the very fabric of the entire universe. These creative forces infuse the universe with life and sustain it. Every created entity in the world likewise possesses ten faculties that correspond to these ten sefirot. This is particularly true of the human soul. As a portion of God on high, forged "in His image and likeness," the human soul possesses ten faculties that mirror the ten supernal sefirot.

הַנֶּחֱלָקוֹת לִשְׁתַּיִם, שֶׁהֵן "שָׁלֹשׁ אִמּוֹת וְשֶׁבַע כְּפוּלוֹת״.

These ten faculties are subdivided into two general categories, namely, "three mothers and seven doubles" (Sefer Yetzira 2:3). Sefer Yetzira refers to the ten sefirot as "three mothers and seven doubles" and correlates them to letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The three mothers correspond to the letters alef, mem, and shin, representing the span of the Hebrew alphabet, being the first, middle, and last letters. Likewise, these three sefirot are the foundational sefirot making up the entire infrastructure of reality. These sefirot, as they operate in the soul, are the cognitive faculties that determine the scope and content of a person's awareness. Yet they are not only tools for intellectual conception and cognitive processing; they represent the soul's capacity to perceive and assimilate reality. This explains why they are called "mothers." No flicker of mental or emotional experience can happen without that initial awareness of relating to something in some way. These cognitive faculties are necessary to generate the other faculties of the soul, like a mother who produces offspring. The "seven doubles" refer to the attributes of Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, Yesod, and Malkhut, which correspond to the letters bet, gimmel, dalet, khaf, peh, resh, and tav. These seven letters serve a double function: Each has both a hard and soft pronunciation. Likewise, these seven attributes have an intrinsic diametric nature and can diverge into two possible directions: either holy expressions or that of kelippa, the forces of impurity. While these sefirot have a particular character and way of operating in the world, they have no intrinsic objective. Whether channeled for holiness or the opposite is not predetermined.

פֵּירוּשׁ, חָכְמָה בִּינָה וָדַעַת,

The "three mothers" refers to Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at , Although generally Keter, Ḥokhma, and Bina (Crown, Wisdom, and Understanding) are regarded as the first three sefirot, the author of the Tanya here enumerates Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at (Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge) as the initial three. The two versions, one positioning Ḥokhma as the first sefira and the other listing Keter as first, stems from a difference of opinion in Kabbala regarding the nature of the sefira of Keter. When discussing the sefirot in broad terms, the author of the Tanya himself counts Keter as the first, but in the context of the soul, the structure that he presents as being first is Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at. Understanding this distinction calls for an examination of these three sefirot. The manifestation of the sefira of Keter in the soul has two facets. Its external aspect is the person's simple will, which defies any rational definition. The internal dimension of this faculty is pleasure, which also inherently lies beyond the realm of human comprehension. One cannot understand these aspects of his own being and certainly cannot control them. Conscious self-awareness begins only with the faculty of wisdom, the manifestation of the sefira of Ḥokhma in the soul. On a subjective level, wisdom is the starting point of everything that transpires within a person. An outside observer may notice that conscious intellectual faculties are not the only determining factor that cause him to act in a certain way. But that deeper inner Keter mechanism is not within the purview of the person's own subjective awareness. From this perspective, we relate to the "three mothers" of every thought as being within the person's scope of awareness. We therefore do not consider the faculty of the primal will that transcends consciousness and imposes itself upon the intellect like a keter, or crown. Rather, the will that is born of cognitive process, that which we refer to as Da'at, is derived from the cognitive process, the end product of the faculties of wisdom and understanding. For this reason, the foundational points of inception, the "mothers" in one's soul, are the faculties that correspond to the sefirot of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at.

וְשִׁבְעַת יְמֵי הַבִּנְיָן, חֶסֶד גְּבוּרָה תִּפְאֶרֶת כו׳.

and the seven "doubles," known as "the seven days of building," are Ḥesed , Gevura , Tiferet , Netzaḥ, Hod, Yesod, and Malkhut. These sefirot are called the "seven days of building" because the world was created through them during the six days of Creation. As the building blocks of Creation, they create and sustain all of existence at every moment, both during the six days of the week and on Shabbat. The first day of Creation is sustained by the attribute of Ḥesed, the second by the attribute of Gevura, and so on. But this does not mean that each of the sefirot operates only within the confines of its particular day in time, since the sefirot do not operate in their pure states. Rather, the Ḥesed of the first day encompasses elements of the other sefirot as well: Gevura in the context of Ḥesed, Tiferet in the context of Ḥesed, and so forth. In essence, the reality of the entire world is built from an admixture of these seven manifestations, which form every dimension and facet of reality.

וְכָךְ בְּנֶפֶשׁ הָאָדָם שֶׁנֶּחֱלֶקֶת לִשְׁתַּיִם: שֵׂכֶל וּמִדּוֹת.

It is the same within the human soul, that the ten faculties are also subdivided into two classes: the cognitive faculties and the emotive attributes. The division of the ten sefirot into "three mothers" and "seven doubles," or the "seven days of building," refers to the categorization of the supernal sefirot themselves. A parallel division exists in a person's soul but with human parameters. The "three mothers" correspond to the cognitive attributes, those of the intellect, the attributes of the mind, while the "seven doubles" parallel the attributes and emotions, the attributes of the heart. The essence of the intellect is awareness. Intelligence and cognition are only one facet of its capacity, not its sum, which is primarily the faculty of perception, the basic awareness of every thing in every way. Though the other seven attributes are emotive, they are not synonymous with emotion, but rather are seven impulses or drives, seven forces that motivate human behavior and elicit an emotional response in the person. Emotions such as love or fear are the attributes' imprint on a person's thoughts and awareness. The attributes themselves are fundamental elements that operate in certain ways, but only when combined with the power of thought do they form actual emotions. An emotion is actually a composite entity that includes perceptive elements, sensual components, and tactile responses. For example, the emotion of fear includes, in addition to the actual feeling of fear, a perception and recognition of the cause of the fear, as well as the reactions and responses spawned by the fear. In our experience, we never encounter a pure attribute, or even a pure emotion, but a compound of emotions, just as chemical elements are rarely found in a pure form but in various compounds. The attribute, then, is only the drive, the vector of a certain emotive direction in the heart of man. As such, the attributes in their pure form are not found in reality, but rather they operate within certain emotional structures.

הַשֵּׂכֶל כּוֹלֵל חָכְמָה, בִּינָה וָדַעַת, וְהַמִּדּוֹת הֵן: אַהֲבַת ה׳ וּפַחְדּוֹ וְיִרְאָתוֹ וּלְפָאֲרוֹ כו׳.

The cognitive faculties comprise wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, and the emotive attributes, which correspond to the seven sefirot, are love of God, trepidation and awe of Him, the glorification of Him, and so on. Since this is an exploration of the divine soul, whose point of reference is its relationship with God, its seven attributes are channeled toward God. Its love, which is derived from the attribute of Ḥesed, is therefore embodied by love of God. Likewise, its fear is embodied by trepidation and awe of God, which is aligned with the sefira of Gevura, and its glory, corresponding to the sefira of Tiferet, is channeled toward the glorification of God. The author of the Tanya here differentiates between two types of fear, awe and trepidation. Yira, awe, is a sensation that a person feels after rationally apprehending the reality of something great and powerful. It is the resultant caution that he takes to maintain a distance from it, but not due to an emotional reaction. Rather, awe is an awareness in the mind. Paḥad, trepidation, on the other hand, is a feeling in the heart that has a visceral effect. The person is frightened even if he doesn't understand why.

וְחָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת נִקְרְאוּ אִמּוֹת וּמָקוֹר לַמִּדּוֹת, כִּי הַמִּדּוֹת הֵן תּוֹלְדוֹת חָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת.

The cognitive faculties of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge are called "mothers" and are the source of the emotive attributes because the emotive attributes are the offspring of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. Every attribute, every emotional experience, must be preceded by some sort of perception that stems from the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of the soul. Without perception, not necessarily in the intellectual sense but in the sense of an awareness of the reality to which the soul relates, there is no context for emotion. This does not imply that every emotion is sparked by intellectual apprehension. Certainly, some emotions seem absurd and totally illogical. Yet there must be some awareness of the thing that elicits the emotion.

וּבֵיאוּר הָעִנְיָן, כִּי הִנֵּה הַשֵּׂכֶל שֶׁבַּנֶּפֶשׁ הַמַּשְׂכֶּלֶת, שֶׁהוּא הַמַּשְׂכִּיל כָּל דָּבָר, נִקְרָא בְּשֵׁם חָכְמָה, כֹּ״חַ מָ״ה.

The explanation of the matter, the basic definitions of the cognitive faculties, is as follows: The intellectual faculty in the rational soul, that which rationally comprehends every matter, is called ḥokhma , wisdom, which is comprised of two words: ko'aḥ , potential, and ma, what. Before a person registers anything, whether sensory or rational, he gets a general perception of that thing, a light-bulb gist of it. This initial flash of awareness is called ḥokhma, wisdom. The role of wisdom in the cognitive process parallels the manner in which the senses perceive physical reality. The senses perceive pure data devoid of significance and direction, but this is the very beginning of any connection to the perceived object. Similarly, the faculty of wisdom transmits the perceived object to the self that perceives it. Without the mediation of wisdom, the other faculties could not be activated. Wisdom is compared to an illuminating flash, an indivisible iota of time, an experience that cannot be broken down into phases. In the same way, wisdom registers reality as a singular entity, without differentiating details. The faculty of wisdom grasps the full picture in an intuitive way, viewing its components as a complete template. This can be compared to the way a person views an abstract drawing: as patches of light and color but without being able to associate that picture with any known object. The person perceives an idea, but does not quite understand what it is. This is wisdom: perception without understanding. It in itself is not strictly a cognitive faculty, but rather the link between the mind and that which lies beyond the mind. Along these lines, the author of the Tanya points out that the word for wisdom, ḥokhma, is comprised of the Hebrew words ko'aḥ and ma, meaning the potential, or power, of "what." The expression ma is not merely a word that connotes a question, but in the broader sense it is an expression of ayin, of nothingness. The question of "what" is always the first question one asks when confronted with the total lack of knowledge about a given thing. When Moses said, "And what are we?" (Ex. 16:7), a question on the surface, in a deeper sense his words could be understood as a statement pronouncing, "We are'what' – we are nothing." That wisdom is the "potential of what" means that it is the potential inherent in nothingness. It is the first faculty of the soul, the point where perception begins from a state of non-conception, an awareness that does not stem from previous perception but rather begins from zero, the transition from absolute nothingness into existence. The flash of wisdom is also the touchstone of every idea. The veracity of an idea comes, not through intellectual analysis or comparison (which is the bina process, that of understanding), but from that flash of perception that is wisdom, where a person attains instant clarity, a resonance with the idea, the gut feeling that it is true. This capacity for distinction that wisdom wields is also the ability to distinguish between truth and falsity. This explains the kabbalistic phrase "Through wisdom it will be clarified," meaning that the faculty of wisdom is what distinguishes between good and evil.

וּכְשֶׁמּוֹצִיא כֹּחוֹ אֶל הַפּוֹעַל, שֶׁמִּתְבּוֹנֵן בְּשִׂכְלוֹ לְהָבִין דָּבָר לַאֲשׁוּרוֹ וּלְעָמְקוֹ מִתּוֹךְ אֵיזֶה דְּבַר חָכְמָה הַמּוּשְׂכָּל בְּשִׂכְלוֹ – נִקְרָא בִּינָה.

When one brings forth the idea from its potential in wisdom into actuality by contemplating with his intellect in order to thoroughly and deeply apprehend something from a concept conceived through wisdom in his mind, this is referred to as understanding. Wisdom is that initial flash. A person registers that he grasped something, but he does not yet know what it is. He cannot define or transmit what he has ascertained to another. Only when the idea that he has perceived becomes actualized through a process of dissection, analysis, and synthesis, through breaking down the concept into its primary focal points and their particulars, stringing each detail together into meaningful units, only then is the intellectual process complete. This is the level of understanding. Every point of apprehension is built from two stages: The first phase is the flash of wisdom, and the second is the development of that point through the process of understanding until it becomes a fully comprehensible and relatable topic. The intellect, then, in its familiar sense, begins with understanding. The dynamic between wisdom and understanding is analogous to the difference between seeing and hearing and, more particularly, between seeing an event and hearing about it after the fact. Seeing grants a complete picture in an instant, offering every detail simultaneously. By contrast, hearing presents the picture one detail at a time. Wisdom is the direct sighting of a concept, creating a full picture of all its principles and particulars. From wisdom, this picture passes through the "thirty-two paths of wisdom," thirty-two avenues that narrate the picture to the faculty of understanding. Understanding receives its information not only secondhand but in a mode that is essentially different from the manner of perception attained through wisdom. With understanding, one grasps the details of the original picture that wisdom grasped in one flash and organizes and arranges them anew. The definition of wisdom as an illuminating flash accords with Rambam's metaphor for the nature of prophecy that appears at the beginning of Guide of the Perplexed: Most people walk in absolute darkness, with no light. The prophet receives a flash of illumination and insight through which he grasps the truth. According to the definition of wisdom put forth by the author of the Tanya, this illuminating flash is not the exclusive domain of prophets alone but rather is the inception of every single cognitive process on every level. The object of thought first lies in total darkness, and the initial moment of cognitive awareness is that primary illuminating flash: wisdom. Only after this fundamental perception enters the mind can the thought process develop in an organized fashion. Wisdom, then, is the sheer power of comprehension, that initial grasp of a concept before it is analyzed and understood.

וְהֵן הֵם אָב וָאֵם

These cognitive faculties of wisdom and understanding are known, respectively, as father and mother, The most common imagery used to describe the dynamic between wisdom and understanding is the interaction between a father and a mother, both with regard to their relationship, which involves mutual giving and receiving, and with regard to their engendering the rest of the attributes. The father contributes one drop, the raw, unformed nucleus, and the mother develops it into a multifaceted entity, a complete analogue. The content of that initial seed is not merely a miniature human being that only needs to be blown up into larger dimensions. Rather, it is the code that encompasses the entirety of an organism within a single cell. For this singular unit to develop into that organism, it needs a mother to carry it, reminiscent of pregnancy in the womb, so that it will not only grow in size but also qualitatively, each component evolving, transforming, and correlating with its other parts. The physical development of a fetus thus resembles the process of cognitive development on the spiritual level. It starts with cohabitation, the mating of the faculties of wisdom and understanding, which leads to the development of the "fetus" for a period of time (nine months in physical pregnancy, and as much as forty years or more in the spiritual womb of the mind), followed by a nursing stage until it reaches cognitive maturity. There are three aspects to physical pregnancy that are also present in the faculty of understanding: duration, construction, and growth. Duration lends the quality of time. While the illuminating flash of wisdom does not exist in the confines of time, the faculty of understanding embodies a process that demands a particular amount of time. Although time might be required to create the conditions for the flash of wisdom to occur, this period of time is not factored as part of the spark of wisdom itself. Yet from the moment the faculty of understanding receives the initial cognitive seed, it adapts, develops, and brings to fruition a bona fide, complete, understandable concept. Through this process, a particular period of time passes. These are the concept's "months of pregnancy." The faculty of understanding also builds. Wisdom lends the seed, the fundamental inception, that overarching snapshot that lacks any demarcation of "limbs" or "organs." The process of understanding extracts details from that seed and builds it into a working structure wherein each part functions in mutual interdependence. The various parts of an idea that, at first, are nothing but scattered seeds of formless potential, become integrated in the process of understanding and come together as a system whose constituent parts function with a beginning, middle, and end. Understanding receives the individual components from wisdom but in a condensed form. To become a complete, comprehensible idea, the faculty of understanding must expand on them and distinguish one from the next. Not only does every detail become interconnected with every other detail, but every component is substantiated so that each one can stand on its own within the system. This is the quality of growth that the faculty of understanding possesses. Growth is part of the construction process but also involves a creative element: Every newborn idea must be fleshed out and expanded with additional material so that it will exist as a distinct and meaningful point on its own. Only after the constructive and growth processes have been accomplished can we speak of a concept, something that may be understood, articulated, and communicated to others. Wisdom is the father, the masculine, active, giving element of the mind, while understanding is the mother, the feminine, passive, receptive element. However, there is another facet to these faculties that implies the opposite dynamic. The Sages distinguish between a wise person and an understanding person. A wise person understands that which he learns, while an understanding person infers one thing from another. An understanding person is thus greater than a wise one. Not only does he grasp what is being learned, but he also derives new ideas from what he has learned. Hasidism speaks of this hierarchy as well. The constituent words that comprise the term ḥokhma, ko'aḥ ma, the potential of "what," mentioned above, imply absolute nullification, which implies total passivity, simply being receptive and open to grasping an idea. The faculty of understanding, on the other hand, has substance. It has the essential nature of active innovation. This facet comes to the fore when one considers, not the mutual relationship between wisdom and understanding, but rather the nature of each of these faculties, how each one independently receives particular content. The greater the mind's capacity for self-abnegation, the greater its wisdom. The faculty of wisdom does not create that initial flash but simply registers and absorbs it. A person who has wisdom but not understanding grasps the insight but does not generate or develop it. By contrast, the more creative the person, the less his capacity to receive concrete concepts. For a person to attain the "potential of'what,'" he must emulate Moses, who declared, "What are we?" The essence of understanding, on the other hand, does not entail silent reception but rather its capacity to analyze, to dissect, in order to create something new. The understanding person "infers one concept from another." He analyzes what he knows and formulates something new from it. In light of this, the sefira of Bina corresponds to the world of Beria, wherein phenomena take on new shape and form, coming into existence from nothingness as distinct entities in their own right. From here one can understand how wisdom is the father, the giver, only in light of its relationship with understanding, where understanding plays the feminine role of receiver. But as far as their nature and function, wisdom is the passive receiver, while understanding plays the active, creative role. Wisdom and understanding are perpetually interfacing with each other. They are "two friends who never part." Their connection fuels all of existence, and any separation between the two is a taste of death, because it suspends renewal, movement, and growth. Their union, like birth itself, is the most powerful sign of life.

הַמּוֹלִידוֹת אַהֲבַת ה׳ וְיִרְאָתוֹ וּפַחְדּוֹ. כִּי הַשֵּׂכֶל שֶׁבַּנֶּפֶשׁ הַמַּשְׂכֶּלֶת כְּשֶׁמִּתְבּוֹנֵן וּמַעֲמִיק מְאֹד בִּגְדוּלַּת ה׳,

which produce love of God, on one hand, and, on the other, awe and trepidation of Him, for when the intellect in the rational soul contemplates and ruminates exceedingly on the greatness of God, The faculties of wisdom and understanding engender an awareness of God's greatness, which evokes the emotions of love or fear. When a person contemplates the greatness of God, and he arrives at a clear apprehension, this will inevitably trigger an emotional response. To "contemplate and ruminate exceedingly" is challenging work, but if one succeeds and cultivates a clear awareness, he can rest assured that the faculties of his soul, his capacity for love and awe, will be automatically activated. If a person spends time thinking about the greatness of God from various angles so that he may come to a clear apprehension of it, he will arrive at love and fear of God. On the other side of the spectrum, if a person is constantly dwelling on the temptations that he is confronted with, he will inevitably give in to his desires and sin. When a person constantly ruminates on anything, an emotional response will arise within him automatically. The problem is that realistically it is much easier to imagine life's temptations than to envision the greatness of God. Rabbi Levi Yitzḥak of Berditchev famously said, "Master of the universe! You placed material temptations right here before our eyes, while people must learn about Gehenna from the book Reshit Ḥokhma. I guarantee that if the opposite had been the case, and You had placed the horrors of Gehenna in plain view, while worldly desires were described in Reshit Ḥokhma, no one would sin!"

אֵיךְ הוּא מְמַלֵּא כָּל עָלְמִין וְסוֹבֵב כָּל עָלְמִין וְכוּלָּא קַמֵּיהּ כְּלָא חֲשִׁיב,

how He fills all worlds and encompasses all worlds, and how everything before Him is considered as nothingness, The author of the Tanya notes three aspects of this contemplation: God fills all worlds, vivifying and sustaining the worlds from His being. He encompasses all the worlds, surrounding them and transcending reality, because His existence extends above and beyond creation. Finally, both aspects, His light that fills and His light that surrounds, are negligible compared to His essence so that relative to Him they have no consequence whatsoever.

נוֹלְדָה וְנִתְעוֹרְרָה מִדַּת יִרְאַת הָרוֹמְמוּת בְּמוֹחוֹ וּמַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ לִירָא וּלְהִתְבּוֹשֵׁשׁ מִגְּדוּלָּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ שֶׁאֵין לָהּ סוֹף וְתַכְלִית וּפַחַד ה׳ בְּלִבּוֹ.

then the attribute of awe at God's exaltedness is produced and awakened in one's mind and thoughts, so that one feels awe and shame before God's infinite and limitless greatness, as well as fear of God in one's heart. Contemplating God's incalculable greatness engenders an appreciation of the vast distance between man and God. It is the conscious awareness of the Exalted One, of awe at God's eminence, that brings with it a shrinking of one's own sense of self. This awe engendered in the mind then engenders an emotion: "fear of God in one's heart."

וְשׁוּב יִתְלַהֵב לִבּוֹ בְּאַהֲבָה עַזָּה כְּרִשְׁפֵּי אֵשׁ בַּחֲשִׁיקָה וַחֲפִיצָה וּתְשׁוּקָה וְנֶפֶשׁ שׁוֹקֵקָה לִגְדוּלַּת אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא.

In turn, one's heart will be ignited with a love of God as fierce as sparks of fire, with longing, desire, and yearning, and a soul that thirsts for connection to the greatness of Ein Sof , blessed be He. One's contemplation will engender love for God as well. The author of the Tanya uses four expressions to describe this love, which are found in the writings of the Sages, each with its own unique connotation. Ḥashika, longing, implies the directionality of the love, the gravitation toward a particular object. Ḥafitza, desire, signifies one's inner desire, not as it relates to an external reality but rather in and of itself. Teshuka, yearning, and nefesh shokeka, a thirsting soul, describe that burning sensation that fills one's soul, that feeling that a person cannot survive without a connection with God.

וְהִיא כְּלוֹת הַנֶּפֶשׁ,

This level of love is known as the pining of the soul, Love of God at its highest level is called the "pining of the soul." The soul's desire for God, to the point that it would be subsumed into Ein Sof, is so immense that the soul would lose its independent existence. This is why it is called the pining of the soul: because the soul perishes due to its love. (The term for "pining of the soul," kelot hanefesh, literally means the expiration of the soul.)

כְּדִכְתִיב: "נִכְסְפָה וְגַם כָּלְתָה נַפְשִׁי״ וגו׳ (תהלים פד, ג), וּכְתִיב: "צָמְאָה נַפְשִׁי לֵאלֹהִים״ וגו׳ (שם מב, ג), וּכְתִיב: "צָמְאָה לְךָ נַפְשִׁי״ וגו׳ (שם סג, ב).

as it is written, "My soul longs, indeed it yearns…" (Ps. 84:3), and it is written, "My soul thirsts for God…" (Ps. 42:3), and it is written, "My soul thirsts for You…" (Ps. 63:2). The three verses that the author of the Tanya quotes here correspond to the three vantage points of contemplation he outlined above: "how He fills all worlds and encompasses all worlds, and [how] everything before Him is considered as nothing." The first verse parallels God's filling of all of the worlds, the second, His encompassing all worlds, while the third points to His essence, which transcends both.

וְהַצִּמָּאוֹן הוּא מִיסוֹד הָאֵשׁ שֶׁבַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִית, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתְבוּ הַטִּבְעִיִּים, וְכֵן הוּא בְּעֵץ חַיִּים, שֶׁיְּסוֹד הָאֵשׁ הוּא בַּלֵּב וּמְקוֹר הַמַּיִם וְהַלֵּיחוּת מֵהַמּוֹחַ, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּעֵץ חַיִּים שַׁעַר נ׳, שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת חָכְמָה שֶׁנִּקְרָא מַיִם שֶׁבַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹהִית.

The thirst for God stems from the element of fire in the divine soul. As stated in the works of the natural scientists, and similarly it is written in Etz Ḥayyim , the element of fire is in the heart, while the source of the element of water and moisture is in the brain. As explained in Etz Ḥayyim , chapter 50, that source of the element of water is the level of wisdom, which is called water that is within the divine soul. There is a distinction between the fiery and watery aspects of the soul. Fire moves upward and expresses the impassioned excitement and fervor of the heart. It is also the source of the soul's thirst, inspired by love, to ascend and become subsumed in the Divine. Water, on the other hand, is the rational element of the soul. Like water, the intellect is cold and damp (as opposed to the heart, which is hot and dry). Water moves downward, just as wisdom descends from the supernal heights to all points of existence.

וּשְׁאָר הַמִּדּוֹת כּוּלָּן הֵן עַנְפֵי הַיִּרְאָה וְהָאַהֲבָה וְתוֹלְדוֹתֵיהֶן, כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר (אגרת הקודש טו).

All the other emotive attributes are offshoots and derivatives of fear and love, as explained elsewhere (Iggeret HaKodesh, epistle 15). Love and fear are the foundational emotions of the soul, two poles that direct the soul's trajectory. Love, which corresponds to the attribute of Ḥesed, moves from the inside out, expanding and breaking through boundaries; it is the desire to give without limit. The attribute of fear, which corresponds to the attribute of Gevura, moves from the outside inward; it represents the constriction and restraint from giving. It is the capacity to set boundaries and confine oneself within them. Thus love and fear define the two poles of the soul: expansion and contraction, giving and abstention. The attribute of compassion is an expression of Tiferet, and in this context it constitutes giving to one who needs it. It is not a new, additional direction in the soul but rather a composite of love and fear, a middle point between undifferentiated giving and absolute restraint from giving. The other attributes, Netzaḥ, Hod, and Yesod, are also not primary attributes like Ḥesed and Gevura – but rather are secondary attributes that characterize, direct, and adjust the primary attributes.

וְהַדַּעַת, הוּא מִלְּשׁוֹן: "וְהָאָדָם יָדַע אֶת חַוָּה״ (בראשית ד, א),

וְהַדַּעַת, הוּא מִלְּשׁוֹן: "וְהָאָדָם יָדַע אֶת חַוָּה״ (בראשית ד, א), Da'at , the cognitive faculty of knowledge, has the same connotation as the expression in the verse "And the man had been intimate [ yada ] with Eve, his wife" (Gen. 4:1) Da'at is the third of the cognitive faculties. Wherever the word da'at is used in Tanakh, it always implies connection, as in the verse "For I love him [yedativ ], so that he shall command his children and his household after him" (Gen. 18:19). Rashi explains that the word yedativ connotes affection, as in "Naomi had an acquaintance [muda ] of her husband" (Ruth 2:1, 3:2), meaning that the person referred to was not a stranger; he was connected to Naomi in some way. Another example is with regard to Moses: "You have found favor in My eyes, and I have known you [ve'eda'akha ] by name" (Ex. 33:17).

וְהוּא לְשׁוֹן הִתְקַשְּׁרוּת וְהִתְחַבְּרוּת,

and is an expression of bonding and connection. Da'at is the third sefira among the "mothers" introduced by the author of the Tanya in this chapter: Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at. As explained above, Ḥokhma is the faculty of apprehending the initial flash of perception. Bina is the analytic, synthesizing faculty. Da'at is the capacity to form connections with the subject at hand. Da'at is not an intellectual faculty but rather the bridge between the mind and the emotions, relating the concept that was perceived by Ḥokhma and understood by Bina to the emotive attributes of the soul. Through Da'at, one stimulates an emotional experience toward that given concept.

שֶׁמְּקַשֵּׁר דַּעְתּוֹ בְּקֶשֶׁר אַמִּיץ וְחָזָק מְאֹד וְיִתְקַע מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ בְּחוֹזֶק בִּגְדוּלַּת אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא וְאֵינוֹ

One binds his knowledge with a supremely mighty and powerful bond and firmly applies his thoughts to the contemplation of the greatness of Ein Sof , blessed be He, without diverting his

מַסִּיחַ דַּעְתּוֹ. כִּי אַף מִי שֶׁהוּא חָכָם וְנָבוֹן בִּגְדוּלַּת אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא, הִנֵּה אִם לֹא יְקַשֵּׁר דַּעְתּוֹ וְיִתְקַע מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ בְּחוֹזֶק וּבְהַתְמָדָה לֹא יוֹלִיד בְּנַפְשׁוֹ יִרְאָה וְאַהֲבָה אֲמִיתִּית כִּי אִם דִּמְיוֹנוֹת שָׁוְא.

focus from that connection, for even one who is wise and understanding regarding the greatness of Ein Sof , blessed be He, will not engender true fear and love in his soul if he does not firmly and constantly bind his knowledge and apply his thoughts to the contemplation of God's greatness, only futile illusions. Da'at forges one's connection to a concept. It brings to the fore the connection of the self, the feeling that "this speaks to me. I care about this." A person forms this bond by "binding his knowledge and firmly and constantly fixing his thoughts." He concentrates his thoughts on the given concept and connects to it until it becomes part of the fabric of his being. This connection must be constant. If the person diverts his attention from the concept, then he no longer has knowledge of it and the concept ceases to be bound to his soul. Diversion means that one's thoughts are no longer actively engaged with the concept. It does not mean that his understanding is lost; it means that his knowledge of the concept – his spiritual bond with the concept – dissipates. As a result, his intellect fails to generate either love or fear within his being.

וְעַל כֵּן הַדַּעַת הוּא קִיּוּם הַמִּדּוֹת וְחַיּוּתָן וְהוּא כּוֹלֵל חֶסֶד וּגְבוּרָה, פֵּירוּשׁ אַהֲבָה וַעֲנָפֶיהָ וְיִרְאָה וַעֲנָפֶיהָ.

Thus, knowledge provides the sustenance and vitality of the emotive attributes, and it incorporates the attributes of kindness and restraint, meaning love and its offshoots and fear and its offshoots. The faculty of knowledge also has an active function: the ability to draw conclusions. The perpetual activity of wisdom and understanding does not produce deductions, not even of an intentional thought process, but only alerts one to the existence of something, to an awareness of that which exists within his soul or in the supernal world. Knowledge is the capacity to reach a conclusion about that awareness, to impart meaning to the ideas engendered by the faculties of wisdom and understanding so that one reacts to it emotionally and even takes a course of action. Knowledge actualizes the abstract awareness that comes about through wisdom and understanding. A person may be extremely smart or gifted at deductive reasoning, but if he lacks da'at, the faculty of knowledge, he will be incapable of applying those insights in a personal way. Although the faculty of knowledge does not add anything to the core insight, it plays a critical and decisive role. The deductions and conclusions formulated by the faculty of knowledge is the ability to generate emotion, whether it is one of attraction (love) or compulsion (fear). It is the faculty of knowledge that formulates one's likes and dislikes, the impulse to desire or to hate, ideals and pitfalls. Since knowledge is that which determines how a person relates to every aspect of his life, it "provides the sustenance and vitality of the [emotive] attributes." Da'at, then, is, in a certain sense, the root of the soul's emotive attributes.