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Likutei Amarim
Chapter 4וְעוֹד יֵשׁ לְכָל נֶפֶשׁ אֱלֹהִית שְׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשִׁים, שֶׁהֵם מַחֲשָׁבָה דִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה
Furthermore, each divine soul possesses three garments, which are thought, speech, and action Thought, the faculty by which a person's soul expresses itself to the conscious self, is the innermost of the garments. Speech is the soul's vehicle of expression to others through words, whereas deed is the expression of the soul by way of the tools of the material world. These garments are the means through which the soul expresses itself, just as the clothes a person wears are an expression of who he is. The metaphor of garment stresses the dual nature of revelation: To manifest something is to both reveal it and conceal it. The garment facilitates a person's revelation of himself to others; without his garments, he would not show himself. At the same time, it conceals the wearer. One sees not the person but the garments. Another aspect of the analogy is the synonymy between the person and his clothes: The clothes mirror the person. They are external to the person, yet they reflect the character of the wearer. Here lies the difference between the garment and other tools a person might use. A tool does not imitate its user, whereas a garment alludes to the shape of its wearer even as it conceals him. Similarly, speech is the garment of thought, expressing the thought, its words mirroring the letters and images of the thought, even as it veils its deeper dimensions.
שֶׁל תַּרְיַ״ג מִצְוֹת הַתּוֹרָה.
of the 613 mitzvot of the Torah. The garments of the divine soul are the 613 commandments of the Torah. Each soul, like every other aspect of reality, expresses itself through those garments that facilitate the revelation of its particular nature. The animal soul expresses itself through garments whose content and form are akin to its physical and material nature. By contrast, the garments of the divine soul are affiliated with all that is holy – namely, the thoughts, speech, and deeds that constitute the 613 commandments of the Torah. That holiness is manifest through the 613 commandments of the Torah has a twofold implication: Holiness is attained by fulfilling the mitzvot, and it cannot be attained in any other way. This axiom has far-reaching implications: that holiness, that which is absolute good, does not contain anything that is not connected to the Torah. There are many important things in the world, but they are not necessarily holy. There is no meaning to such expressions as "the sanctity of the law," "the sanctity of the state," or "the sanctity of labor." People involved in a profession or an ideal acquire a love for it and attribute to it a sort of holiness. But holiness is not merely a matter of extreme regard, that because something is important or valuable, it is perforce holy. Rather, holiness by definition is something that pertains to the Divine, and the only way to connect with the Divine is through the Torah and mitzvot.
שֶׁכְּשֶׁהָאָדָם מְקַיֵּים בְּמַעֲשֶׂה כָּל מִצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת, וּבְדִבּוּר הוּא עוֹסֵק בְּפֵירוּשׁ כָּל תַּרְיַ״ג מִצְוֹת וְהִלְכוֹתֵיהֶן, וּבְמַחֲשָׁבָה הוּא מַשִּׂיג כָּל מַה שֶּׁאֶפְשָׁר לוֹ לְהַשִּׂיג בְּפַרְדֵּ״ס הַתּוֹרָה, הֲרֵי כְּלָלוּת תַּרְיַ״ג אֶבְרֵי נַפְשׁוֹ מְלוּבָּשִׁים בְּתַרְיַ״ג מִצְוֹת הַתּוֹרָה.
When a person fulfills all the action-related commandments with his deeds, and with his speech he engages in expounding all the 613 commandments and their halakhot , and with his thoughts he apprehends all that he is capable of apprehending of the peshat (plain meaning), remez (allusion), derush (homiletic exposition), and sod (mystical aspects) of the Torah, then the entirety of the 613 limbs of his soul are clothed within the 613 commandments of the Torah. The human body consists of 248 organs and 365 sinews. The soul too contains 613 "limbs," the spiritual counterparts of the 613 limbs of the body. Each of the 613 limbs of the human soul has a corresponding garment, which constitutes one of the 613 commandments of the Torah.
וּבִפְרָטוּת, בְּחִינוֹת חָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת שֶׁבְּנַפְשׁוֹ מְלוּבָּשׁוֹת בְּהַשָּׂגַת הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁהוּא מַשִּׂיג בַּפַּרְדֵּ״ס כְּפִי יְכוֹלֶת הַשָּׂגָתוֹ וְשֹׁרֶשׁ נַפְשׁוֹ לְמַעְלָה.
To be specific, the cognitive faculties of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge in one's soul are clothed within the apprehension of Torah that one apprehends through the four levels of peshat , remez , derush , and sod , commensurate with both his intellectual capacity and the root of his soul on high. Comprehension of the Torah, on the level at which a person understands, connects, and unites with it, serves as the garment for the cognitive faculties of the divine soul, which desires to connect and cleave to God. This comprehension has two components: a person's intellectual capacity and the supernal root of his soul. There are areas of Torah that many are incapable of comprehending strictly because of their intellectual limitations. Not every mind can understand the complexities of Talmud with the commentary of Tosafot. Every person has his limits as to how much he can comprehend of the four levels through which the Torah is interpreted, limits set by his intellectual ability. The second factor in the acquisition of Torah is the supernal root of a person's soul. Even someone who is intellectually able to understand a certain area of the Torah will not grasp it completely unless it relates to the root of his soul. Only then will its concepts resonate with him and have an impact on him to their fullest extent. To comprehend something requires intellectual ability, but it also requires an affinity with the concept, which derives from the soul's rootedness in this area of Torah. If a person lacks this identification with that part of the Torah, the matter might be explained to him or illustrated to him by means of metaphors and analogies, but he will not truly connect to it. Conversely, some possess a lofty soul, sensitive to great and lofty things, but lack the intellectual talent to fully understand them. Such a person relates to these things intuitively, even without the tools to rationally comprehend them.
וְהַמִּדּוֹת, שֶׁהֵן יִרְאָה וְאַהֲבָה וְעַנְפֵיהֶן וְתוֹלְדוֹתֵיהֶן, מְלוּבָּשׁוֹת בְּקִיּוּם הַמִּצְוֹת בְּמַעֲשֶׂה,
The emotive attributes, namely, fear and love and their offshoots and derivatives, are clothed within the fulfillment of the commandments in deed Although there are six emotive attributes, love and fear are considered the roots of them all since they exemplify the two affinities to which the attributes are associated: giving and drawing close versus preservation and distancing. These two faculties are the two spiritual energies that cause a person to either commit a particular act or refrain from doing it. In the context of the divine soul, love motivates the performance of positive commandments, while fear impels a person to abstain from violating a prohibition.
וּבְדִבּוּר, שֶׁהוּא תַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה שֶׁכְּנֶגֶד כּוּלָּן.
and in speech, referring specifically to Torah study, which is the equivalent of all the commandments. Though other examples of such mitzvot exist, such as the recitation of the Shema and Grace after Meals, the author of the Tanya singles out Torah study as the example of a mitzva that is fulfilled through the garment of speech because it is the most prestigious of the mitzvot, the equivalent of them all.
כִּי הָאַהֲבָה הִיא שֹׁרֶשׁ כָּל רמ״ח מִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה וּמִמֶּנָּה הֵן נִמְשָׁכוֹת וּבִלְעָדָהּ אֵין לָהֶן קִיּוּם אֲמִיתִּי, כִּי הַמְקַיְּימָן בֶּאֱמֶת הוּא הָאוֹהֵב אֶת שֵׁם ה׳ וְחָפֵץ לְדָבְקָה בּוֹ בֶּאֱמֶת,
For love is the root of all 248 positive commandments and the source from which they are drawn. Without this love, the commandments one fulfills have no true substance, for one who fulfills the commandments in truth is one who loves God's name and truly desires to cleave to Him, The 613 mitzvot consist of 248 positive commandments, such as giving charity or donning tefillin, and 365 prohibitions, such as murder or adultery. These correspond to the 248 organs and 365 sinews of the body and the corresponding limbs of the soul, as mentioned above. It is through the 248 positive commandments that a person expresses his love for God. Thus the positive commandments stem from the soul's love of God in the sense that love of God is the feeling that motivates and drives their observance. For the mitzvot to have enduring substance, a person has to perform them. Yet it is not enough to fulfill the mitzvot merely out of habit or simply because he was trained to do so from childhood. This is not a true fulfillment of the mitzvot, but a casual, extrinsic deed with no relation to the person's inner being. "One who fulfills [the commandments] in truth" is one who does so out of a genuine desire and love.
וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לְדָבְקָה בּוֹ בֶּאֱמֶת כִּי אִם בְּקִיּוּם רמ״ח פִּקּוּדִין,
and it is impossible to truly cleave to God except through the fulfillment of the 248 positive commandments, It is a frequently recurring question: How can one cleave to God? We know how to unite with something physical, such as a human being, but how can we unite with something infinite and undefinable, something that has no physical form – indeed, no form at all? A person may feel love for God, may yearn for God, may proclaim, "My soul thirsts for God!" (Ps. 42:3), but this only expresses his yearning. It does not consummate his love; it does not join him to God. At times, a person might feel attached to God, but such a feeling, by definition, is virtually never genuine. The way to attach oneself to God in truth is not by means of a self-generated feeling of yearning for God but, as the author of the Tanya states here, by fulfilling the 248 positive commandments. It is with this concept that he will explain Isaiah's statement "Ho, everyone thirsty, go to water" (Isa. 55:1).
שֶׁהֵם רמ״ח אֵבָרִין דְּמַלְכָּא כִּבְיָכוֹל, כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר.
which are the 248 "limbs" of the King, as it were, as explained elsewhere (chap. 23). The Tikkunei Zohar teaches that the 248 positive commandments correspond not only to the 248 organs of the human body but also to the metaphorical body of the supernal King.
וְהַיִּרְאָה הִיא שֹׁרֶשׁ לְשס״ה לֹֹא תַעֲשֶׂה,
The fear of God is the root of the 365 prohibitions, There are many factors that may prevent a person from committing a transgression, but the root of them all is fear. The essence of the emotion of fear is a movement inward, a withdrawal, self-retraction, and introversion, in contrast to love, which is the movement from the self outward in order to connect with another. Fear is when a person refrains from doing a certain thing and does not reach out for it.
כִּי יָרֵא לִמְרוֹד בְּמֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא.
for one who fears God is afraid to rebel against the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He. Fear can assume many forms. One of them is the fear of rebellion. A deliberate sin is an act of rebellion, a scorning of the divine authority, as indicated by the verse "The person that acts with a high hand…it is the Lord that he blasphemes…" (Num. 15:30). Man is prevented from sinning out of fear of rebelling against God, not merely fear of punishment and reprisal, but because the very thought of rebelling against the King of all kings is a frightening prospect.
אוֹ יִרְאָה פְּנִימִית מִזּוֹ, שֶׁמִּתְבּוֹשֵׁשׁ מִגְּדוּלָּתוֹ לַמְרוֹת עֵינֵי כְבוֹדוֹ
Alternatively, there exists a deeper level of fear, where one is ashamed in the face of God's greatness to defy the eyes of His glory This is a deeper, more internal level of fear, because the feeling that affects the person is not the dread of the King's might, but rather a feeling of awe in the face of God Himself. Because he is so aware of God's greatness, he is literally ashamed to contravene His will. He feels "the eyes of His glory" – that God is ever present, watching him.
וְלַעֲשׂוֹת הָרַע בְּעֵינָיו, כָּל תּוֹעֲבַת ה׳ אֲשֶׁר שָׂנֵא, הֵם הַקְּלִיפּוֹת וְסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא אֲשֶׁר יְנִיקָתָם מֵהָאָדָם הַתַּחְתּוֹן וַאֲחִיזָתָם בּוֹ הוּא בְּשס״ה מִצְוֹת לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה.
and do that which is evil in His eyes, all that is abominable and hateful to God, which is in the realm of kelippa and sitra aḥara , whose nourishment comes from man below and whose hold on him comes about through his transgression of the 365 prohibitions. An evil deed is not merely an act that is contrary to a system of conventions, that violates the rules of a game or some arbitrary set of laws. Evil is evil in essence. The evil deed is an act that nourishes the cosmic evil, a conduit that feeds power and vitality to kelippa. The existence of evil is inherent in the nature of creation, but its nourishment, its source of power and growth, comes from man down here on earth.
וְהִנֵּה שְׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשִׁים אֵלּוּ מֵהַתּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹתֶיהָ, אַף שֶׁנִּקְרָאִים לְבוּשִׁים לְנֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ וּנְשָׁמָה,
These three garments that are derived from the Torah and its commandments, although called mere garments for the nefesh , ruaḥ , and neshama , As explained above, the soul clothes itself in the mitzvot it fulfills, each of the 613 commandments enclothing one of the 613 limbs that constitute the human soul. Collectively, the 613 commandments form an overall garment that the Zohar refers to as the "garment of the sages,"
עִם כָּל זֶה, גָּבְהָה וְגָדְלָה מַעֲלָתָם לְאֵין קֵץ וְסוֹף עַל מַעֲלַת נֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ וּנְשָׁמָה עַצְמָן.
nevertheless possess an infinite and endlessly higher and greater stature than the stature of the nefesh , ruaḥ , and neshama themselves. The Torah and commandments serve as the soul's garments, the means by which it expresses its relationship with God, but they are more than auxiliary tools of the soul. Qualitatively, they are loftier than the soul itself. As the author of the Tanya will go on to explain, it is precisely because of their loftiness that the soul clothes itself in them in order to connect with God. Because the Torah is higher than the soul, it is able to serve as a bridge between the soul and God.
כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזֹּהַר (ב, ס, א) דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא וְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא כּוּלָּא חַד. פֵּירוּשׁ, דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא הִיא חָכְמָתוֹ וּרְצוֹנוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא,
As the Zohar ( 2:60a) states, the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one. This means that the Torah, which is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed be He, The Torah and God are one in the sense that the Torah is the supernal wisdom of God, and the commandments of the Torah reveal the divine will, expressing God's desire as to what should be done and what should not be done.
וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בִּכְבוֹדוֹ וּבְעַצְמוֹ כּוּלָּא חַד, כִּי הוּא הַיּוֹדֵעַ וְהוּא הַמַּדָּע וכו׳ כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר לְעֵיל בְּשֵׁם הָרַמְבַּ״ם.
and the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself in all His glory, are all one, since He is the knower, He is the known, and He is the knowledge itself, as explained above (chap. 2) in the name of Rambam. The Torah is God's wisdom, which, like all the sefirot, is synonymous with God Himself. Similarly, God's knowledge is His knowledge of Himself, so all three aspects of knowledge – the object of His knowledge, the knowledge He possesses, and He, the knower – are one and the same. In view of this, the person who studies Torah, fusing his own mind to its concepts, achieves a bond with the Divine and thereby with God Himself.
וְאַף דְּהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא נִקְרָא אֵין סוֹף, וְלִגְדוּלָּתוֹ אֵין חֵקֶר וְלֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בֵּיהּ כְּלָל,
Yet the Holy One, blessed be He, is referred to as Ein Sof, God's infinite being, and His greatness is unfathomable, and no thought can grasp Him at all, Not only is our earthly intellect an inadequate tool to comprehend God, but no thought at all, not even the spiritual perception of the angels on high, can possibly comprehend Him, because the infinite is, by definition, incomprehensible.
וְכֵן בִּרְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ, כְּדִכְתִיב: "אֵין חֵקֶר לִתְבוּנָתוֹ״ (ישעיה מ, כח), וּכְתִיב: "הַחֵקֶר אֱלוֹ־הַּ תִּמְצָא״ (איוב יא, ז), וּכְתִיב: "כִּי לֹא מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם״ (ישעיה נה, ח),
and the same applies with regard to His will and wisdom, as it is written, "There is no scrutinizing His understanding" (Isa. 40:28). It is also written, "Can you discover the understanding of God?" (Job 11:7), and it is written, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts" (Isa. 55:8). The author of the Tanya is raising a question: If God's wisdom and will are as infinite and unfathomable as Himself, how can the Torah, which we do comprehend, be the wisdom of God, and the mitzvot, which we enact in our daily lives, be His will? How can we possibly grasp and relate to His wisdom and will?
הִנֵּה עַל זֶה אָמְרוּ: "בְּמָקוֹם שֶׁאַתָּה מוֹצֵא גְּדוּלָּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שָׁם אַתָּה מוֹצֵא עִנְוְתָנוּתוֹ" (מגילה לא, א). וְצִמְצֵם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא רְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ בְּתַרְיַ״ג מִצְוֹת הַתּוֹרָה וּבְהִלְכוֹתֵיהֶן וּבְצֵירוּפֵי אוֹתִיּוֹת תָּנָ״ךְ וּדְרָשׁוֹתֵיהֶן שֶׁבְּאַגָּדוֹת וּמִדְרְשֵׁי חֲכָמֵינוּ ז״ל,
Regarding this conundrum, the Sages stated, "Wherever you find a reference to the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, you also find a reference to His humility" (Megilla 31a). The Holy One, blessed be He, constricted His will and wisdom within the 613 commandments of the Torah and their halakhot , and within the combination of letters in the verses of Tanakh and their homiletical expositions of these verses found in the aggadot and midrashic works of our Sages, No human being, whoever the person may be, can comprehend the divine wisdom itself in its purity. Yet the Talmud states, "Wherever you find His greatness"
בִּכְדֵי שֶׁכָּל הַנְּשָׁמָה אוֹ רוּחַ וְנֶפֶשׁ שֶׁבְּגוּף הָאָדָם תּוּכַל לְהַשִּׂיגָן בְּדַעְתָּהּ וּלְקַיְּימָן כָּל מַה שֶּׁאֶפְשָׁר לְקַיֵּים מֵהֶן בְּמַעֲשֶׂה דִּבּוּר וּמַחֲשָׁבָה, וְעַל יְדֵי זֶה תִּתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּכָל עֶשֶׂר בְּחִינוֹתֶיהָ בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשִׁים אֵלּוּ.
so that each neshama , or even the lower soul levels of ruaḥ and nefesh , within the human body may apprehend them with its own intellect and fulfill them as much they can possibly be fulfilled in action, speech, and thought. By this means, each soul level, with all its ten faculties, can become clothed within these three garments. The constriction of the divine will within the 613 commandments of the Torah is not meant for the pure soul as it exists in the higher worlds, but rather for the lower levels of the soul that are enclothed in a physical body and a physical world. When outside the body, existing in the abstract, spiritual realm, the soul itself is infinite and has no need for the constriction of the divine will within the Torah's words and action-related mitzvot. The soul's limitations stem from its bond with the body and its dependence on the body's tools for navigating this physical world, the senses, and the mind.
וְלָכֵן נִמְשְׁלָה הַתּוֹרָה לְמַיִם – מַה מַּיִם יוֹרְדִים מִמָּקוֹם גָּבוֹהַּ לְמָקוֹם נָמוּךְ, כָּךְ הַתּוֹרָה יָרְדָה מִמְּקוֹם כְּבוֹדָהּ שֶׁהִיא רְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, וְאוֹרַיְיתָא וְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא כּוּלָּא חַד וְלֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בֵּיהּ כְּלָל.
Therefore, the Torah is likened to water. Just as water descends from an elevated place to a lower one, so too the Torah descended from its place of honor, for it is God's will and wisdom, and the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one, and no thought can grasp Him at all. In its loftier incarnation, the soul is, like God, inherently unattainable and incomprehensible since the Torah is the wisdom of God. But it does not remain at this level. The entire point of the Torah is that the divine wisdom, while remaining inherently incomprehensible, should progressively be rearticulated, level after level, until it is rendered into a formulation to which every person can in some way relate. We cannot fully comprehend the former rearticulations, because they relate to the divine reality rather than to ours, but we can all relate to the version presented to us, each person on his own level.
וּמִשָּׁם נָסְעָה וְיָרְדָה בְּסֵתֶר הַמַּדְרֵגוֹת
From its place of honor, where it is unified with God, it traveled and descended through concealed stages The words beseter hamadregot, "through concealed stages," is a reference to the verse "My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the covert of the terrace [beseter hamadrega ]" (Song 2:14). "My dove" refers to the soul at its source, in its highest manifestation, united with God, and the Hebrew word for terrace in the verse, madrega, also means level or stage. The verse, then, may read, "God's'dove,' the Jewish soul, descends'through stages of concealment.'" That the soul descends from level to level means that it undergoes increasing constrictions, becoming more and more hidden. Another way to understand the soul's "concealed stages" is that the distance between the soul after it descends to the world of Asiya and the soul as it exists in the level above this realm is so immense that the higher level of soul is essentially invisible in the physical realm. Similarly, here below we learn the halakha – do this; don't do that – yet the divine wisdom and will that are behind it are hidden from our purview.
מִמַּדְרֵגָה לְמַדְרֵגָה בְּהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת הָעוֹלָמוֹת,
from level to level, through the progression of the worlds, The Torah is manifest in all the worlds, from its source in divine wisdom in the world of Atzilut throughout the worlds of Beria, Yetzira, and Asiya, step by endless step. Each world has a corresponding level of Torah that relates to the spiritual reality of that level, and the Torah reveals itself in each world according to its essence.
עַד שֶׁנִּתְלַבְּשָׁה בִּדְבָרִים גַּשְׁמִיִּים וְעִנְיְינֵי עוֹלָם הַזֶּה,
until it became clothed within physical things and worldly matters, In our material world, the Torah manifests itself in physical phenomena, and in the interrelationship between them, encompassing the whole gamut of this worldly existence. In this way, the Torah reveals divine wisdom within the context of our reality. And our reality is a reality that a person can grasp, a reality to which the body can relate so that the soul that dwells and operates within the body can experience it, resonate with it, and fuse with it. While the Torah constitutes infinite divine wisdom, it is also definitive and intelligible to man.
שֶׁהֵן רוֹב מִצְוֹת הַתּוֹרָה כְּכוּלָּם וְהִלְכוֹתֵיהֶן,
which comprise the majority of commandments of the Torah and their respective halakhot , While there are certain commandments that are fundamentally spiritual in nature, the vast majority of them entail physical action with the use of material objects. Even if a commandment does not entail a physical action per se, it still requires some interaction with the physical reality. Not only is the body required for the handling of a physical object, but even an intangible thought or feeling must be thought and felt by the body within this world.
וּבְצֵרוּפֵי אוֹתִיּוֹת גַּשְׁמִיּוֹת בִּדְיוֹ עַל הַסֵּפֶר, עֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה סְפָרִים שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה נְבִיאִים וּכְתוּבִים,
and within the physical letter combinations written with ink on parchment, comprising the twenty-four books of the Torah, Prophets, and Writings. Another example of the physical embodiment of the Torah, besides the physical actions of the mitzvot, is the Torah scroll, in which the books of the Written Torah are inscribed. Their content, their wording, the shape of the letters, and even the quality of the ink with which they are written (all of which is governed by a series of halakhot ) are all expressions of the divine will and wisdom.
כְּדֵי שֶׁתְּהֵא כָּל מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בָּהֶן.
This descent occurred in order that every human thought could grasp God's will and wisdom. When unified with God in the higher worlds, the supernal wisdom cannot be apprehended by any conceivable thought. But when the supernal wisdom is embodied in the Torah here in our world, in physical concepts and realities, every mind can apprehend it.
וַאֲפִילּוּ בְּחִינוֹת דִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁלְּמַטָּה מִמַּדְרֵגַת מַחֲשָׁבָה, תְּפִיסָא בָּהֶן וּמִתְלַבֶּשֶׁת בָּהֶן.
Even speech and action, which are lower than the level of thought, can grasp them and be clothed within them. The Torah clothes itself not only in concepts that relate to our world, but also in words we can speak and deeds we can do. We can relate to it not only through abstract thoughts but also through concrete speech and deeds. Not only can we understand the Torah, we can also speak it and do it, investing our very bodies in the very act of a mitzva.
וּמֵאַחַר שֶׁהַתּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹתֶיהָ מַלְבִּישִׁים כָּל עֶשֶׂר בְּחִינוֹת הַנֶּפֶשׁ,
Since the Torah and its commandments enclothe all ten facets of the soul, The ten faculties of the soul, which correspond to the ten sefirot, constitute a person's internal infrastructure.
וְכָל תַּרְיַ״ג אֵבָרֶיהָ, מֵרֹאשָׁהּ וְעַד רַגְלָהּ, הֲרֵי כּוּלָּהּ צְרוּרָה בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים אֶת ה׳ מַמָּשׁ,
as well as all its 613 limbs from head to foot, it, the soul, is literally bound completely within the bond of life, with God, Not only the soul's ten primary faculties but also each of its 613 particular limbs (which correspond to the 613 limbs and sinews of the body) has its corresponding mitzva in the Torah: There are 613 mitzvot for the soul's 613 components. Moreover, since such a perfect correlation exists between the soul and the Torah, the soul can clothe itself in the Torah to the point that "it is literally bound completely within the bond of life, with God."
וְאוֹר ה׳ מַמָּשׁ מַקִּיפָהּ וּמַלְבִּישָׁהּ מֵרֹאשָׁהּ וְעַַד רַגְלָהּ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "צוּרִי אֶחֱסֶה בּוֹ״ (תהלים יח, ג), וּכְתִיב: "כַּצִּנָּה רָצוֹן תַּעְטְרֶנּוּ״ (שם ה, יג),
and the light of God literally encompasses and enclothes it from head to foot, as it is written, "My mighty Rock, I take refuge in Him" (Ps. 18:3), and it is written, "Surrounding him with His will, like a shield" (Ps. 5:13), Hence, we have a bilateral relationship between the soul and the Torah: The soul is bound with God, entering the Torah – the light of God – and uniting with it, clothing its every limb in a divine command: "My mighty Rock, I take refuge in Him." At the same time, the divine light of the Torah embraces and envelops the soul like a protective fortress. Along the same lines, the soul is "surrounded with [God's] will, like a shield." The Torah originates in the divine will, which is even higher than the supernal wisdom. When one delves into the Torah, the divine will, which is the inner essence of Torah, surrounds the person and envelops him on all sides, like a shield.
שֶׁהוּא רְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ הַמְּלוּבָּשִׁים בְּתוֹרָתוֹ וּמִצְוֹתֶיהָ.
referring to God's will and wisdom, which are clothed within His Torah and its commandments. This will is the supernal will of God, which God enclothed in the Torah and its commandments. The Torah, then, is the divine will and wisdom at every level of its evolution. Although the Torah is not revealed to us in the full scope of its loftiest level, whatever is revealed to us is of the divine will itself, and its study and observance constitute the true and ultimate attachment to God, even if the form it has assumed is lowly and physical. Furthermore, it is precisely because the divine wisdom and will is expressed in such mundane and physical terms that man, who inhabits a material reality, can truly relate to it and unite with it. In this way, he is able to unite with the divine wisdom and will, which is fully present in the Torah's earthly manifestation.
וְלָכֵן אָמְרוּ: "יָפָה שָׁעָה אַחַת בִּתְשׁוּבָה וּמַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה מִכָּל חַיֵּי עוֹלָם הַבָּא״ (אבות פרק ד משנה יז). כִּי עוֹלָם הַבָּא הוּא שֶׁנֶּהֱנִין מִזִּיו הַשְּׁכִינָה, שֶׁהוּא תַּעֲנוּג הַהַשָּׂגָה, וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לְשׁוּם נִבְרָא, אֲפִילּוּ מֵהָעֶלְיוֹנִים, לְהַשִּׂיג כִּי אִם אֵיזוֹ הֶאָרָה מֵאוֹר ה׳,
Therefore, our Sages stated, "One hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is more precious than an entire lifetime in the World to Come" (Mishna Avot 4:17), for the World to Come is where one derives pleasure from a mere glimmer of the Divine Presence, which is the pleasure of apprehending the Divine, and it is impossible for any created beings, even those on high, to apprehend but a mere ray of God's light. Only in this physical world can one perform a mitzva and thus unite with the divine will and wisdom, which is a revelation of the divine essence. By contrast, though the World to Come is a spiritual world and thus on a higher plane than our physical reality, there one can only "derive pleasure from a glimmer of the Divine Presence." In the words of the Sages, "In the World to Come, there is no eating, no drinking, no procreation, no business negotiations.... Rather, the righteous sit with their crowns upon their heads, enjoying a glimmer of the Divine Presence" (Berakhot 17a). "Enjoying a glimmer of the Divine Presence," explains the author of the Tanya, refers to the pleasure derived from the apprehension of holiness, of the Divine. But any apprehension, be it intellectual or emotional, is by definition finite and definitive, even if we are speaking of apprehension by a wholly spiritual being, such as an angel or a disembodied soul that has achieved its ultimate level of purity and refinement. Every apprehension is still only a "mere ray of God's light." No thought can comprehend the actual luminary or even its light but rather only a glimmer of a glimmer of that light. When a person sees light but cannot see its source, when the light source does not reach him at all, then what he is viewing is not the light itself but rather the light refracting off of something else. If a person can attain a sufficient level of purity and refinement, he may be able to relate to these glimmers and reflections, but his mind will never be able to fathom the essence itself. On every spiritual level, what he grasps is but a "mere ray of God's light."
וְלָכֵן נִקְרָא בְּשֵׁם ‘זִיו הַשְּׁכִינָה׳. אֲבָל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בִּכְבוֹדוֹ וּבְעַצְמוֹ לֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בֵּיהּ כְּלָל.
It is therefore referred to as a "glimmer of the Divine Presence." However, with regard to the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself in all His glory, no thought can grasp Him at all. The pleasure of the righteous in the World to Come constitutes the apprehension of only a glimmer of the Divine Presence, a mere reflection of the divine reality, rather than the essence of the Divine itself. They cannot apprehend the luminary, the source of the light – God Himself – nor even the light, the direct and utter expression of the luminary's essence, but only a reflection of the light. This is the most that a created entity of the highest order can grasp, on its own, of the divine reality. Thought, no matter how refined, can grasp only the illumination of a particular projection of a thing as it is manifest in reality. Therefore, it grasps only an echo of the glimmer of the supernal essence, while the essence itself cannot be apprehended by the mind at all.
כִּי אִם כַּאֲשֶׁר תְּפִיסָא וּמִתְלַבֶּשֶׁת בַּתּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹתֶיהָ, אֲזַי הִיא תְּפִיסָא בָּהֶן* וּמִתְלַבֶּשֶׁת בְּהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַמָּשׁ, דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא וְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא כּוּלָּא חַד. * בכתב יד ליתא תיבת בהן
Only when the thought grasps and becomes enclothed within the Torah and its commandments, then it grasps them and literally becomes clothed within the Holy One, blessed be He, since the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one. The only way that a person can apprehend the divine essence itself and thus unite with it, surmounting the quantum boundary that no level of apprehension can cross, is through his assimilation of the concepts of the Torah and his involvement in the performance of mitzvot. When a person performs a mitzva, he becomes bound up in the mitzva. When he studies Torah, he unites with the Commander of the mitzva, with the Giver of the Torah. The Torah is not merely a compilation of God's directives to man but a manifestation of the divine essence. It is not a reflection of divine light, nor even a reflection of the Divine, but the Divine itself. Apprehending Torah, attachment and union with it, is an apprehension of and union with God Himself.
וְאַף שֶׁהַתּוֹרָה נִתְלַבְּשָׁה בִּדְבָרִים תַּחְתּוֹנִים גַּשְׁמִיִּים, הֲרֵי זֶה כִּמְחַבֵּק אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, שֶׁאֵין הֶפְרֵשׁ בְּמַעֲלַת הִתְקָרְבוּתוֹ וּדְבֵיקוּתוֹ בַּמֶּלֶךְ בֵּין מְחַבְּקוֹ כְּשֶׁהוּא לָבוּשׁ לְבוּשׁ אֶחָד בֵּין שֶׁהוּא לָבוּשׁ כַּמָּה לְבוּשִׁים, מֵאַחַר שֶׁגּוּף הַמֶּלֶךְ בְּתוֹכָם.
Although the Torah is clothed in lowly, physical things, one who studies Torah is likened, by way of analogy, to one who embraces the king. There is no distinction between the quality of one's closeness and attachment to the king whether one embraces the king when he is garbed in one garment or when he is garbed in multiple garments, since the king's body is inside them. One who studies Torah is like one who embraces a king. Is the number of garments that the king is wearing in any way relevant to the degree of intimacy and love that the embrace represents? Obviously not. What is significant is that he is embracing the king. When a person grasps the Torah, when he envelops the Torah in his mind, he is in effect embracing God, whose will and wisdom are implicit within it. True, the Torah is draped in many garments, its abstract essence garbed in various formulations and euphemisms, but the clothes are only clothes, and the King Himself is inside them.
וְכֵן אִם הַמֶּלֶךְ מְחַבְּקוֹ בִּזְרוֹעוֹ, גַּם שֶׁהִיא מְלוּבֶּשֶׁת תּוֹךְ מַלְבּוּשָׁיו, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "וִימִינוֹ תְּחַבְּקֵנִי״ (שיר השירים ח, ג),
The same is true if the king embraces him with his arm, although it too is garbed in the king's garments, as it is written, "His right embraces me" (Song 8:3), As the author of the Tanya will explain in the forthcoming chapter, one who studies Torah not only encompasses it with his mind but is also encompassed by it. In this sense, it is comparable to one who embraces the king while the king embraces him. He envelops the Torah, while at the same time the Torah envelops him.
שֶׁהִיא הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁנִּתְּנָה מִיָּמִין, שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת חֶסֶד וּמַיִם.
which refers to the Torah, given by God's right hand, which corresponds to the attribute of kindness and water. According to Kabbala, the "right hand" is a reference to the embodiment of kindness, which is analogous to water. The giving of the Torah "by [God's] right [hand]"