וְהִנֵּה בְּמַה שֶּׁנֶּאֱמַר לְעֵיל בְּעִנְיַן יִרְאָה תַּתָּאָה, יוּבָן הֵיטֵב מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב בַּגְּמָרָא (ברכות לג, ב) עַל פָּסוּק: "וְעַתָּה יִשְׂרָאֵל מָה ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ שׁוֹאֵל מֵעִמָּךְ כִּי אִם לְיִרְאָה אֶת ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ" (דברים י, יב), "אַטּוּ יִרְאָה מִילְּתָא זוּטַרְתִּי הִיא?

On the basis of what was stated earlier (chap. 41) about the lower fear of God, the reader may clearly understand the Talmud's comment (Berakhot 33b) on the verse "Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you? Only to fear the Lord your God" (Deut. 10:12). The Talmud asks, "But is the fear of God a minor matter?" The verse in Deuteronomy implies that the fear of God is a trivial matter. Yet anyone who has tried to attain it knows that it is no small matter at all, and that a person can strive to attain it his entire life without success. Moreover, the Talmud demonstrates from another verse (elided here in the Tanya ) that God Himself does not consider such fear inconsequential. That verse states: "The fear of the Lord is His treasure" (Isa. 33:6), meaning that it is so precious to God that He stores it away in His treasury. However, this question may be answered in light of the statement in the previous chapter that there are two types of fear of God. A person can attain the lower fear – which means that he does not do the opposite of God's will – simply by engaging in contemplation.

אִין, לְגַבֵּי מֹשֶׁה מִילְּתָא זוּטַרְתִּי הִיא" וכו'.

The Talmud answers, "Indeed, for Moses, [fear of God] is a minor matter..." (Berakhot 33b). The Talmud answers this question: Yes, the fear of God is a minor matter for Moses. The Talmud offers a parable: When a person is asked for something that he possesses, that request seems to him to be a small matter, whereas if he is asked for something that he does not possess, it seems to him to be substantial. Thus, since the verse in Deuteronomy is referring to the lower fear, which Moses possessed, it was a small matter for him. (In fact, as explained elsewhere, Moses was on the level of "higher fear," complete self-nullification, as expressed in the verse "And what are we" (Ex. 16:7). Therefore, lower fear was certainly a minor matter for him.

דְּלִכְאוֹרָה אֵינוֹ מוּבָן הַתֵּירוּץ, דְּהָא "שׁוֹאֵל מֵעִמָּךְ" כְּתִיב.

This answer apparently does not make sense, since the verse specifically states, "ask of you." Moses explicitly asks, "What does the Lord your God ask of you? Only…." God is asking this not only of Moses but of every Jew for whom even this lower fear of God is not a minor matter.

אֶלָּא הָעִנְיָן הוּא, כִּי כָּל נֶפֶשׁ וְנֶפֶשׁ מִבֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, יֵשׁ בָּהּ מִבְּחִינַת מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם.

Rather, the idea is that each soul of the house of Israel contains an aspect of Moses, our teacher, may he rest in peace. Moses is not just a historical figure. He is part of each Jew's current spiritual existence. Every Jew, by virtue of the fact that he is a Jew, possesses some level of illumination and influence from Moses.

כִּי הוּא מִשִּׁבְעָה רוֹעִים הַמַּמְשִׁיכִים חַיּוּת וֶאֱלֹהוּת לִכְלָלוּת נִשְׁמוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁלָּכֵן נִקְרָאִים בְּשֵׁם רוֹעִים.

This is because Moses is one of the seven shepherds who channel life force and divinity to the totality of the souls of Israel – for which reason these leaders are called shepherds. Just as a shepherd provides for his flock's physical needs, these shepherds provide sustenance for the spiritual needs of all Jewish souls in all generations by bestowing the divine life force upon them.

וּמֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם הוּא כְּלָלוּת כּוּלָּם,

Moses, our teacher, may he rest in peace, is the totality of them all, As has been stated, each of the seven shepherds nourishes Israel with one of the seven attributes: Gedula, Gevura, Tiferet, and so forth. But Moses is unique in that he encompasses all seven attributes, which includes the understanding of the reality in which emotions such as love and fear develop. (In a non-mystical sense, as well, Moses had a special status: during his lifetime, he was a prophet, king, and priest.)

וְנִקְרָא רַעְיָא מְהֵימְנָא.

and he is called the faithful shepherd. God Himself refers to Moses's faithfulness: "Not so My servant Moses; in all My house he is trusted" (Num. 12:7). There is another, related interpretation of the term "faithful shepherd": he shepherds faith. The inner being and character of Israel is faith. The person who leads them on that level is the faithful shepherd. He sustains the faith of the nation as a whole and of each individual, providing it with the conditions and nourishment it needs to grow and develop.

דְּהַיְינוּ שֶׁמַּמְשִׁיךְ בְּחִינַת הַדַּעַת

That is to say, he channels the faculty of knowledge Moses transmits the faculty of knowledge to the souls of the people of Israel. This knowledge is the intellect and consciousness within the seven attributes. It influences the attributes, modifying and cultivating them. Each of the other seven shepherds guides and nurtures one of the attributes. But Moses shepherds all of them with knowledge, which is their inner essence.

לִכְלָלוּת יִשְׂרָאֵל, לֵידַע אֶת ה', כָּל אֶחָד כְּפִי הַשָּׂגַת נִשְׁמָתוֹ ושָׁרְשָׁהּ לְמַעְלָה וִינִיקָתָהּ מִשֹּׁרֶשׁ נִשְׁמַת מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם, הַמּוּשְׁרֶשֶׁת בְּדַעַת הָעֶלְיוֹן שֶׁבְּעֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת דַּאֲצִילוּת, הַמְיוּחָדוֹת בְּמַאֲצִילָן בָּרוּךְ הוּא, שֶׁהוּא וְדַעְתּוֹ אֶחָד, וְהוּא הַמַּדָּע כו‘.

to the totality of the people of Israel, leading them to know God, each individual according to his soul's capacity, its root on high, and the degree to which it is nurtured from the root of the soul of Moses, our teacher, may he rest in peace, whose soul is rooted in the sefira of supernal Da'at (Knowledge) within the ten sefirot of the world of Atzilut , which are unified with the One who emanated them, blessed be He, since "He and His knowledge are one, and He is the knowledge…." The extent to which a person can know God in accordance with the soul's root is dependent on the level from which the root is quarried. The higher the root, the greater is the soul's perception and its nurturance from the root of the soul of Moses, and the greater the amount of holiness it can bear. As explained previously, Jewish souls derive nourishment from the seven shepherds. Thus, the da'at of every Jew derives its nourishment from the soul of Moses, which is rooted in the supernal da'at in the ten sefirot of Atzilut, which in turn are united in their Emanator. In the language of Rambam, "He and His knowledge and His life are one, and He is the knowledge" (an alternative reading: "He is the Knower and He is the known and He is the knowledge itself") (Sefer HaMadda, Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah 2:10; this is explained in the gloss in chap. 2, and in Sha'ar HaYiḥud VeHa'emuna, chap. 7). Thus, when an individual draws knowledge from Moses's soul, he is drawing it from supernal Da'at, which in essence is not only knowledge, but also the Knower and the known. It is knowledge about God, which is also God's knowledge. When the people of Israel stood at Mount Sinai – which included all Jewish souls, past and future – they said to Moses, "If we shall continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God, we shall die" (Deut. 5:22). They therefore suggested, "You approach, and hear everything that the Lord our God will say, and you speak to us everything that the Lord our God will speak" (5:24). From that moment on, Moses, the faithful shepherd, conveys divine knowledge to the souls of Israel.

וְעוֹד זֹאת יָתֵר עַל כֵּן,

Furthermore, In addition to the knowledge that every Jew receives from the root of his soul – which is the root of Moses's soul – he also receives knowledge from books, scholars, and the sages of the generation.

בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר יוֹרְדִין נִיצוֹצִין מִנִּשְׁמַת מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם וּמִתְלַבְּשִׁין בְּגוּף וְנֶפֶשׁ

in every generation, sparks descend from the soul of Moses, our teacher, may he rest in peace, and clothe themselves in the body and soul In every generation, sparks descend from the soul of Moses. They are clothed in a person's body and soul. The sparks are clothed in his body directly and not merely by first being clothed in his soul, because this process mirrors how sparks were clothed in Moses's body. Furthermore, as explained elsewhere, the higher something is, the lower the entity in which it clothes itself.

שֶׁל חַכְמֵי הַדּוֹר "עֵינֵי הָעֵדָה" (במדבר טו, כד) לְלַמֵּד דַּעַת אֶת הָעָם וְלֵידַע גְּדוּלַּת ה' וּלְעָבְדוֹ בְּלֵב וָנֶפֶשׁ.

of the sages of the generation, the "eyes of the congregation" (Num. 15:24), so that they may teach the people knowledge and teach them to know the greatness of God and to serve Him with heart and soul. In this sense, every Jewish spiritual leader is, to a greater or lesser extent, an aspect of "Moses." And the role of these leaders is to "teach the people knowledge and to [teach them] to know the greatness of God and serve Him with heart and soul."

כִּי הָעֲבוֹדָה שֶׁבַּלֵּב הִיא לְפִי הַדַּעַת, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "דַּע אֶת אֱלֹהֵי אָבִיךָ וְעָבְדֵהוּ בְּלֵב שָׁלֵם וְנֶפֶשׁ חֲפֵיצָה" (דברי הימים א כח, ט).

That is because a person's service of the heart functions in accordance with his knowledge. As it is written, "Know the God of your father and serve Him with a whole heart and with a willing mind" (I Chron. 28:9). Service of the heart depends upon one's knowledge. As stated elsewhere, "The mind rules over the heart." One's intellect and consciousness generate the contours and substance of his attributes, but here the author is speaking more specifically about knowledge. As will be explained below, a person loves and fears God in accordance with how much he "knows" God, not how much he understands intellectually.

וְלֶעָתִיד הוּא אוֹמֵר: "וְלֹא יְלַמְּדוּ אִישׁ אֶת רֵעֵהוּ לֵאמֹר דְּעוּ אֶת ה' כִּי כוּלָּם יֵדְעוּ אוֹתִי" וגו' (ירמיה לא, לג).

And with regard to the messianic future, the verse states, "No longer will they teach, each man his neighbor... saying:'Know the Lord,' because all of them will know Me…" (Jer. 31:33). At present, our knowledge of God is in accordance with what we learn from the "the sages of the generation, the'eyes of the congregation.'" But at the time of the full redemption, every individual will possess an inherent knowledge of God. Thus, it is possible to learn from that future state about the nature of knowledge in general, including the inner character of the knowledge that we seek at present, which is the root of all divine service (as will be explained below).

אַךְ עִיקַּר הַדַּעַת אֵינָהּ הַיְּדִיעָה לְבַדָּהּ, שֶׁיֵּדְעוּ גְּדוּלַּת ה' מִפִּי סוֹפְרִים וּמִפִּי סְפָרִים,

However, the essence of knowledge is not the knowledge itself, the knowledge of God's greatness from the teachings of scholars and books. The essence of knowledge is not primarily the information that a person acquires from the sages of the generation or from the books written by sages of previous generations. Of course, this does not mean that a person should not learn from them. On the contrary, it is essential that he do so. However, it is not enough for a person to know what others say. Just because a person is an expert in theology, well versed in all the works of the sages, or conversant with the kabbalistic texts does not mean that he knows God.

אֶלָּא הָעִיקָּר הוּא לְהַעֲמִיק דַּעְתּוֹ בִּגְדוּלַּת ה' וְלִתְקוֹעַ מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ בַּה' בְּחוֹזֶק וְאוֹמֶץ הַלֵּב וְהַמּוֹחַ, עַד שֶׁתְּהֵא מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ מְקוּשֶּׁרֶת בַּה' בְּקֶשֶׁר אַמִּיץ וְחָזָק, כְּמוֹ שֶׁהִיא מְקוּשֶּׁרֶת בְּדָבָר גַּשְׁמִי שֶׁרוֹאֶה בְּעֵינֵי בָשָׂר וּמַעֲמִיק בּוֹ מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ.

Rather, the main thing is that a person meditate on God's greatness and affix his thought on God with the strength and might of his heart and mind until his thought is bound with God with a mighty and strong bond, just as it is bound to a physical object that he sees with his corporeal eyes and that he thinks deeply about. A person's knowledge of God does not mean that he knows only what other people know. Therefore, a person must work on his own knowledge and understanding. He must invest time and effort until his knowledge of God will be at least of the same quality and level of conviction as his knowledge of himself and of the most basic aspects of his physical reality. Knowledge is connection: connection to what one knows and thinks about, leading to a clear sense of its tangible presence. Therefore, the first test of knowledge is always: Does a connection exist? Does a relationship – for instance, an attraction or rejection – exist? When a connection exists, one can add to it and fill it with feelings, ideas, and so forth. But if no connection exists, then all of these additions have no meaning and value.

כַּנּוֹדָע שֶׁדַּעַת הוּא לְשׁוֹן הִתְקַשְּׁרוּת, כְּמוֹ "וְהָאָדָם יָדַע" וגו' (בראשית ד, א).

As known, da'at , "knowledge," connotes connection, as in "And the man had been intimate [ yada ] with Eve, his wife…" (Gen. 4:1). Knowledge means connection, union, pairing. Just hearing about the existence of something does not mean that we know it. "Knowing" means being connected with something.

וְכֹחַ זֶה וּמִדָּה זוֹ לְקַשֵּׁר דַּעְתּוֹ בַּה', יֵשׁ בְּכָל נֶפֶשׁ מִבֵּית יִשְׂרָאֵל, בִּינִיקָתָהּ מִנִּשְׁמַת מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ עָלָיו הַשָּׁלוֹם.

This capacity and attribute of connecting one's mind to God is intrinsic to every soul of the house of Israel via the spiritual sustenance it derives from the soul of Moses, our teacher, may he rest in peace. The ability to know God exists in all Jews, including those who have little knowledge of other matters and those who do not generally grasp abstract concepts. Moses possessed this capacity completely and – as one of the shepherds of Israel – he conveyed it to every Jew, in accordance with each person's spiritual level and his deeds.

רַק מֵאַחַר שֶׁנִּתְלַבְּשָׁה הַנֶּפֶשׁ בַּגּוּף, צְרִיכָה לִיגִיעָה רַבָּה וַעֲצוּמָה

Yet since the soul is clothed within the body, it requires huge and immense exertion, A person must exert himself tremendously in order to bring forth his soul's innate capacity for knowledge. That is because his soul is clothed in the body. Even thoughts are not purely spiritual, because they go through the brain, which is just as much a part of the body as is the hand or foot. The body's envelopment of the soul imposes many significant limitations – in particular, on the soul's capacity to know God. A person must exert effort to remove this envelope and reveal the potential that lies beneath it. Breaking free of the limiting, concealing constructs of the body and its concepts requires "huge and immense exertion."

כְּפוּלָה וּמְכוּפֶּלֶת. הָאַחַת הִיא 'יְגִיעַת בָּשָׂר' לְבַטֵּשׁ אֶת הַגּוּף וּלְהַכְנִיעוֹ שֶׁלֹּא יַחְשִׁיךְ עַל אוֹר הַנֶּפֶשׁ כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר לְעֵיל בְּשֵׁם הַזֹּהַר (חלק ג קסח, א): "דְּגוּפָא דְּלָא סָלֵיק בֵּיהּ נְהוֹרָא דְּנִשְׁמָתָא – מְבַטְּשִׁין לֵיהּ"

which is twofold. First is exertion of the flesh. A person must crush and subdue his body so that it will not dim the soul's light, as explained above (chap. 29) in the name of the Zohar (3:168a): "A body in which the soul's light does not penetrate must be crushed." This exertion functions on two planes. The first is the "exertion of the flesh." That is exertion whose function is to remove the confines imposed by the body and the material reality in which we live. A body that is not imbued with the soul's light must be "broken," just as a thick log that does not catch fire must be split. One way to do this is by fasting and engaging in physical self-deprivation. Although there are situations in which this is effective, the author of the Tanya does not speak of this approach here. One reason is that this does not reach the root of the matter. The problem is not how much a person eats, but how he eats, not what the body does or does not do, but how the soul relates to that. Another problem with this approach discussed by the hasidic masters is that a person cannot impose on the body without imposing on the soul. Whereas a person can take off a garment in order to beat it and shake off the dust, he cannot remove his body from his soul. When he shakes and beats his body, his soul is also being shaken and beaten. When the body's strength and desires are weakened, the powers of the soul are likewise weakened. Because of the problematic nature of this approach, the author of the Tanya prefers to discuss other methods.

וְהַיְינוּ עַל יְדֵי הִרְהוּרֵי תְשׁוּבָה מֵעוֹמֶק הַלֵּב, כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר שָׁם.

This is achieved through thoughts of repentance from the depths of the heart, as explained there. Since it is impossible to weaken the body and its concealing forces by beating them without weakening the soul, one may attempt to do so by breaking the heart. Breaking the heart means breaking the sense of oneself as the center of the world. As a person deeply considers his sins, flaws, and imperfection, he breaks his heart. The body is a barrier to knowledge because a person constructs a world that is centered entirely around his body, a sense of "I" that is separate from the rest of reality. A person's growth and the development of his knowledge depend on his ability to forget himself, to reduce and nullify his self. In order to receive, he must be an empty receptacle. A full vessel has no room to receive. It can only pour out what it contains. A person who is filled with himself may travel all across the globe and remain provincial. He may pass through worlds without his own world changing at all. On the other hand, a person who is empty embraces the entire world even while sitting in a corner. Therefore, in order to attain knowledge – in particular, in order to know God – a person must break his feeling of "I and no other," the sense of self that stems primarily from his physical being. Sometimes such a breakthrough comes to a person from the outside, when events cause him such distress that he begins to see and feel things differently and on a different scale than he had before. This does not mean that one finds God as an attempt to escape adversity, but rather the adversity breaks the veil around his self. He now sees what he did not see before and connects with what he had not connected with before. However, a person may not deliberately attempt to cause himself this kind of anguish. Instead, the approach proposed here by the author of the Tanya is that a person engage in "thoughts of repentance from the depths of the heart," which cause him to feel that it would be better not to speak about himself or even think about himself. At that moment, the door is opened for the spark within him to connect to the transcendent Divine.

וְהַשֵּׁנִית הִיא יְגִיעַת הַנֶּפֶשׁ

And second is exertion of the soul The work of "exertion of the flesh," of breaking the barriers that pertain to the body, is mainly preparatory. After a person has removed the obstacles and neutralized external disruptions, he reaches a stage that involves more internal work: the "exertion of the soul." A person must know what this "exertion of the soul" requires. He must understand that he will be required to devote time and effort toward this goal. If he is not prepared to invest more effort in this than he puts into buying a theater ticket, he should not expect to receive more in return. It does happen on occasion that even without exertion a door suddenly opens. Everything grows clear, and a person feels that he can see from one end of the world to the other. Yet these illuminations, as brilliant as they are, do not really change anything. The person does not become another person, nor does he learn anything he did not know before. This is a gift, an illumination from above, but it does not become his. The significance of such an experience is similar to Rambam's metaphor for prophecy: A person is walking in the dark and does not know his way. A brief flash of lightning illuminates the entire landscape and then it is again swallowed up in darkness. What he sees during that split-second shows him the direction in which to walk, even in the dark. The lightning flash did not change his character or his path, it did not become his, but it opened up a new possibility for him. It helped him change direction. Another limitation of such a moment is that it does not depend on the person. It is gifted to him, perhaps only once in a lifetime, and does not return. Therefore, the author of the Tanya does not mention those fleeting moments of illumination. Rather, he discusses what a person can generate by himself at any time.

שֶׁלֹּא תִּכְבַּד עָלֶיהָ הָעֲבוֹדָה לְיַגֵּעַ מַחֲשַׁבְתָּהּ, לְהַעֲמִיק וּלְהִתְבּוֹנֵן בִּגְדוּלַּת ה' שָׁעָה גְּדוֹלָה רְצוּפָה.

so that it will not be overburdened by the work of exerting its thoughts in order to delve into and contemplate God's greatness for a lengthy, uninterrupted period of time. In order to connect to the knowledge of God, a person must engage in contemplation for "a lengthy, uninterrupted period." This is hard work, which requires a great deal of ability and practice so that the soul "will not be overburdened." Focusing one's thoughts for even one minute is hard, and extending that concentration is extremely difficult. Two great spiritual masters were once talking. One said, "I can bring fire down from heaven." The other retorted, "I can think about one matter for three days in a row." In other words, thinking about one topic for three days is inestimably harder than bringing down fire from heaven. But although engaging in such contemplation for a lengthy period of time is difficult, it is not impossible. For a person to genuinely do this so that he will be able to contemplate God, and even more so, so that the knowledge of God will constantly flood his consciousness, he must practice and work very hard, so that his soul "will not be overburdened." Then this knowledge will be drawn into his life and personality. This is the only way that anyone can, even when in this body, uncover the "knowledge of God" within himself, which the faithful shepherd, Moses, instills and reveals within him.

כִּי שִׁיעוּר שָׁעָה זוֹ אֵינוֹ שָׁוֶה בְּכָל נֶפֶשׁ. יֵשׁ נֶפֶשׁ זַכָּה בְּטִבְעָהּ, שֶׁמִּיָּד שֶׁמִּתְבּוֹנֶנֶת בִּגְדוּלַּת ה' – יַגִּיעַ אֵלֶיהָ הַיִּרְאָה וּפַחַד ה'. כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּשׁוּלְחָן עָרוּךְ אוֹרַח חַיִּים סִימָן א': "כְּשֶׁיִּתְבּוֹנֵן הָאָדָם שֶׁהַמֶּלֶךְ הַגָּדוֹל, מֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, אֲשֶׁר מְלֹא כָל הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ, עוֹמֵד עָלָיו וְרוֹאֶה בְּמַעֲשָׂיו – מִיָּד יַגִּיעַ אֵלָיו הַיִּרְאָה" וכו'.

The length of this period is not the same for every soul. There is a type of soul that is naturally refined. Immediately upon contemplating God's greatness, it is invested with fear and dread of God. As it is written in the Shulḥan Arukh, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, siman 1: "When a person contemplates how the great King, the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He, whose glory fills the entire world, stands over him and sees his deeds, immediately he will be invested with the fear of God.…" Every soul requires a measure of exertion in order to attain knowledge. However, the more sensitive and pure a soul is, the less exertion it requires. There are people with lofty souls who have a high level of sensitivity to holiness, as described by the Rema in his gloss to Shulḥan Arukh. When such people open their eyes in the morning, they immediately recall the King of kings and a great dread falls upon them, and they leap out of bed to serve the Creator.

וְיֵשׁ נֶפֶשׁ שְׁפָלָה בְּטִבְעָהּ וְתוֹלַדְתָּהּ, מִמְּקוֹר חוּצְּבָהּ, מִמַּדְרֵגוֹת תַּחְתּוֹנוֹת דְּעֶשֶׂר סְפִירוֹת דַּעֲשִׂיָּה, וְלֹא תּוּכַל לִמְצוֹא בְּמַחֲשַׁבְתָּהּ הָאֱלֹקוּת כִּי אִם בְּקוֹשִׁי וּבְחָזְקָה,

By contrast, there is a type of soul that is lowly in its nature and origin from the source from which it is hewn, that being from the lowest levels of the ten sefirot of the world of Asiya . It is not able to discover divinity in its thought without difficulty and forceful effort, This type of soul comes from a relatively low spiritual level. It has no deep perception, and "it is not able to discover divinity in its thought without difficulty and forceful effort." When such a person opens his eyes in the morning, he recalls other matters, and even if he does think of the greatness of the Creator, he is not moved, and he can go back to sleep. A person with such a low soul requires especial exertion to connect to holiness, to an image of holiness to which his soul can relate.

וּבִפְרָט אִם הוּטַּמָּאָה בְּחַטַּאת נְעוּרִים, שֶׁהָעֲווֹנוֹת מַבְדִּילִים כו' [כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּסֵפֶר חֲסִידִים סִימָן ל"ה].

especially if it has been defiled by the transgression of youth, since iniquities separate a person from God, and so on (as written in Sefer Ḥasidim , chap. 35). "The transgression of youth" refers to those sins that almost no one can avoid at a certain stage in his life. A sin has consequences on two planes. First, a person is judged and punished, whether in the heavenly court, in an earthly court, or in his everyday life. All factors are taken into account: the act, the intention, the awareness, his society and its influence on him. The outcome – called "punishment" – does not relate directly to the sin, but to these factors. Second, sin has an intrinsic effect on a person. It prevents his soul from functioning properly. It causes a stain, a fracture, interference, which prevents the soul from attaining certain achievements. Regarding forbidden food, the Sages explain (Yoma 39a) that the term venitmetem in the verse "And you shall not be rendered impure by them, and become impure [venitmetem ] through them" (Lev. 11:43) connotes a secondary meaning, foolishness (timtum ), because sin stupefies the soul and blocks (otem ) its access to holiness. Even if a person ate forbidden food unknowingly and is not subject to punishment, the sin affects his soul. Thus, a person's difficulties related to the low level of his soul plus the burden of his transgressions mean that he must invest much effort and time in order to "know" God.

וּמִכָּל מָקוֹם, בְּקוֹשִׁי וּבְחָזְקָה, שֶׁתִּתְחַזֵּק מְאֹד מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ בְּאוֹמֶץ וִיגִיעָה רַבָּה וְעוֹמֶק גָּדוֹל לְהַעֲמִיק בִּגְדוּלַּת ה' שָׁעָה גְּדוֹלָה,

Nevertheless, with difficulty and forceful effort, by greatly exerting his thoughts with immense effort and exertion, along with deep concentration in order to meditate on God's greatness for a lengthy period, Even a person with an inherently low soul or one who has sinned can, despite all obstacles, constraints, and concealments, achieve knowledge of God if he works hard. To do so, he must first resolve to set out on this difficult path from which, in a sense, there is no going back. Secondly, he must work with unremitting effort. He must implement his resolution day after day and hour after hour. He must practice constantly, and that practice requires not only a courageous decision but also the great effort needed to consistently pursue its aims.

בְּוַדַּאי תַּגִּיעַ אֵלָיו עַל כָּל פָּנִים הַיִרְאָה תַּתָּאָה הַנִּזְכֶּרֶת לְעֵיל.

he will certainly be invested with at least the lower level of fear discussed above (chap. 41). After all this, there is no guarantee that the person will reach the level of attaining an inner emotional connection to God. However, he will at least attain the lower fear of God. Even if he himself does not feel anything, he can still attain the fear of God.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז"ל: "יָגַעְתִּי וּמָצָאתִי – תַּאֲמִין" (מגילה ו, ב).

As our Rabbis stated, "If someone tells you,'I have exerted myself and I have found success,' believe him" (Megilla 6b). The complete talmudic passage is: "If someone tells you,'I have exerted myself and I have not found success,' do not believe him. [Similarly, if he says to you:]'I have not exerted myself but I have found success,' do not believe him. [If, however, he tells you:]'I have exerted myself and I have found success,' believe him." How should we understand the phrase "If someone tells you,'I have exerted myself and I have not found success,' do not believe him"? Why shouldn't he be believed? The answer is that we believe that he did not find success, but we do not believe that he exerted himself sufficiently. Of course, as in other matters of the soul, this does not apply to everyone in exactly the same way, and it is difficult to quantify what different individuals require. Some people exert themselves a little and find much success, whereas others exert themselves a great deal but find only limited success. The outcome depends on the individual's nature, ability, and background. The principle, however, is the same for everyone: As long as a person exerts himself sufficiently, he will attain success.

וּכְדִכְתִיב: "אִם תְּבַקְשֶׁנָּה כַכָּסֶף וְכַמַּטְמוֹנִים תַּחְפְּשֶׂנָּה אָז תָּבִין יִרְאַת ה'" (משלי ב, ד-ה). פֵּירוּשׁ: כְּדֶרֶךְ שֶׁמְּחַפֵּשׂ אָדָם מַטְמוֹן וְאוֹצָר הַטָּמוּן בְּתַחְתִּיּוֹת הָאָרֶץ, שֶׁחוֹפֵר אַחֲרָיו בִּיגִיעָה עֲצוּמָה – כָּךְ צָרִיךְ לַחְפּוֹר בִּיגִיעָה עֲצוּמָה לְגַלּוֹת אוֹצָר שֶׁל יִרְאַת שָׁמַיִם הַצָּפוּן וּמוּסְתָּר בְּבִינַת הַלֵּב שֶׁל כָּל אָדָם מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל.

This is also the meaning of the verse "If you will seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord" (Prov. 2:4–-5). Just as a person searches for hidden treasure buried deep underground, digging for it with immense exertion, so must a person dig with immense exertion to uncover the treasure of fear of Heaven, which is hidden and concealed in the inner understanding of every Jew's heart. The understanding of the heart is home to a person's deepest emotions, even if he is not consciously aware of them, and they are hidden, as they are in its silent root in bina ("understanding"), the sefira that is the mother of all feelings. Every Jew possesses, hidden in the understanding of his heart, the fear of Heaven. Although this treasure is concealed, whoever seeks it can find it. But a person must exert himself to do so. If a person says, "I have exerted myself and I have found success," believe him. If a person applies himself in a lackluster fashion, he will not succeed. If a person is not prepared to invest more in the fear of God than he does in paying for his groceries, he cannot complain if he achieves nothing. But if he invests effort, fervor, and persistence, then he will "understand the fear of the Lord." The fear of God exists within everyone, whether concealed or easily accessible. Therefore, a person may be certain that if he will search thoroughly for it he will find it. If he digs with exertion and persistence, utilizing the understanding of his heart, then he will find and understand the fear of God, just as a miner will find gold or silver when he knows where it is.

שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינָה וּמַדְרֵגָה שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה מֵהַזְּמַן, וְהִיא הַיִּרְאָה הַטִּבְעִית הַמְסוּתֶּרֶת, הַנִּזְכֶּרֶת לְעֵיל.

This quality and level of understanding of the heart transcends time. And this is the natural, hidden fear discussed above (chap. 41). Every Jew is prepared to fear God in the "understanding of his heart." This ability is not active on the plane of the regular life of the soul. It is above time in the sense that it does not proceed in consonance with the pace of our ordinary lives. Therefore, it cannot be integrated into the soul's normal, day-to-day operations unless a crisis should occur, which brings a person to a state of being without time and limits. However, as long as life goes on as usual, a person does not make contact with this layer of his soul. Someone can live for sixty or seventy years without discovering that he possesses understanding of the heart and fear of God, or that he even possesses a soul.

רַק שֶׁכְּדֵי שֶׁתָּבֹא לִידֵי מַעֲשֶׂה, בִּבְחִינַת 'יִרְאַת חֵטְא', לִהְיוֹת 'סוּר מֵרָע' בְּמַעֲשֶׂה דִּבּוּר וּמַחֲשָׁבָה, צָרִיךְ לְגַלּוֹתָהּ מִמַּצְפּוּנֵי 'בִּינַת הַלֵּב' שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה מֵהַזְּמַן, לַהֲבִיאָהּ לִבְחִינַת מַחֲשָׁבָה מַמָּשׁ שֶׁבַּמּוֹחַ,

Yet in order for that fear to be actualized as fear of sin, so that one may avoid evil in action, speech, and thought, it must be revealed from the hidden recesses of the understanding of the heart that transcends time, so as to bring it to the dimension of actual thought in the brain, as a

לְהַעֲמִיק בָּהּ מַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ מֶשֶׁךְ זְמַן מַה מַמָּשׁ,

person actually meditates on it for a substantial duration of time, In order for this hidden fear, which is disengaged from a person's this-worldly life, to be actualized as the fear of sin – a fear that comes to expression in a person's deeds when he turns away from evil in action, speech, and thought (the three garments of the soul in which the soul's powers are clothed and are revealed in the world (see chap. 4) – a person must transfer the concealed fear of Heaven from the inner, subconscious "understanding of the heart" to conscious thought in his mind. The "understanding of the heart" is the innermost point of the soul's existence, which does not depend on thoughts but lies concealed beyond them. It is the point where the heart understands but the mind does not, the point that is sometimes called "the heart's desire," the inner point that precedes even the attributes that lead to thought. In a sense, it is identical to the essence and character of the soul. Its essence is a person's ongoing and unexplainable connection with God. Every Jew is born with this ability, the ability to find his way, the "silver cord" that binds the soul to God. Since this ability is hidden in the "understanding of the heart," a person might fail to discover it. The author of the Tanya explains here and throughout the book how a person can draw this concealed connection, which transcends time, into his day-to-day existence. There is an almost impenetrable barrier between the "understanding of the heart" – the connection of a person's essential character with God – and the life that a person leads. One way in which this barrier may be broken is at a critical moment of unambiguous decisiveness. When this occurs, a powerful force within the Jewish soul is released, and nothing can stand before it. However, it concomitantly destroys the entire structure of life in a manner that does not allow for repair and the continuation of ordinary life. The author of the Tanya explains here that there is a way to channel this concealed force so that it can permeate everyday life, so that it does not appear in a onetime explosion that takes away life, but in a manner that sustains regular life. Some people naturally possess such a channel, which serves as a constant source of life for them. They do not require the great amount of effort described here. However, the author of the Tanya proposes a way for the ordinary person to attain this, a way that does not require him to develop a new ability, but only to transfer that which already exists, although it is not in use, from its place "above time" to "within time," to everyday life. To this end, the Tanya prescribes contemplation, thinking deeply and for as long as possible. That is the only way to transfer the matters concealed in the "understanding of the heart" to everyday life. With this, a person does not create something new but transforms a momentary spark into a permanent relationship. This does not involve waiting for a flash of illumination; rather, a person is striving to build a connection with his soul. The only way to accomplish this is by engaging in contemplation as much and as deeply as possible. God tells us, "Open a doorway of repentance to Me like the eye of a needle, and I will open doorways for you through which carts and wagons can enter" (Shir HaShirim Rabba 5:2). A large aperture is not necessary, but it must be permanently open at both ends. We must make the initial perforation ourselves. It can be as small as the eye of a needle, but it must allow passage from one side to the other.

עַד שֶׁתֵּצֵא פְּעוּלָּתָהּ מֵהַכֹּחַ אֶל הַפּוֹעַל מַמָּשׁ, דְּהַיְינוּ לִהְיוֹת "סוּר מֵרָע וַעֲשֵׂה טוֹב" בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה דִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה, מִפְּנֵי ה' הַצּוֹפֶה וּמַבִּיט וּמַאֲזִין וּמַקְשִׁיב וּמֵבִין אֶל כָּל מַעֲשֵׂהוּ, וּבוֹחֵן כִּלְיוֹתָיו וְלִבּוֹ,

until it truly emerges from the potential to the actual. This entails avoiding evil and doing good in thought, speech, and action, induced by the awareness of being before God, who watches and scrutinizes, hears and listens, understanding all of a person's actions and examining the thoughts of his inner being and the emotions of his heart. When a person's concealed fear traverses into the realm of his active thought, and when he focuses on this thought for an extended period of time, it can be fully actualized, so that he turns from evil and does good in his thought, speech, and deed. And that is because this person has a clear sense of God's presence. When a person clearly knows that God is here and is aware of his acts and thoughts, that person will inevitably fear sin.

וּכְמַאֲמַר רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז"ל: "הִסְתַּכֵּל בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה דְּבָרִים(אבות פרק ב משנה א).

As our Rabbis stated, "Apply your mind to three things and you will not come into the clutches of sin: Know what there is above you: an eye that sees, an ear that hears..." (Mishna Avot 2:1).

וְגַם כִּי אֵין לוֹ דְּמוּת הַגּוּף. הֲרֵי אַדְּרַבָּה, הַכֹּל גָּלוּי וְיָדוּעַ לְפָנָיו בְּיֶתֶר שְׂאֵת לְאֵין קֵץ מֵרְאִיַּית הָעַיִן וּשְׁמִיעַת הָאֹזֶן עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל.

Although God has no bodily form with which to see and hear, but rather, on the contrary, everything is revealed and known before Him with infinitely greater magnitude than, for example, could be gained by the physical sight of the eye and hearing of the ear. People are particularly concerned about being seen and heard by others. As Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai said to his disciples: "Know that when a person commits a transgression, he says [to himself: I hope] that no one will see me" (Berakhot 28b). However, everything is revealed and known to God, precisely because He does not have corporeal eyes and ears. Physical senses are limited, because they can perceive only finite, material experience. Even within the physical realm, they are extremely limited. For example, our eyes only see a very narrow range of wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum. But divine knowledge is not constrained.

רַק הוּא עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל: כְּמוֹ אָדָם הַיּוֹדֵעַ וּמַרְגִּישׁ בְּעַצְמוֹ כָּל מַה שֶּׁנַּעֲשָׂה וְנִפְעַל בְּאֶחָד מִכָּל רמ"ח אֵיבָרָיו, כְּמוֹ קוֹר אוֹ חוֹם, וַאֲפִילּוּ חוֹם שֶׁבְּצִפָּרְנֵי רַגְלָיו עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, אִם נִכְוֶה בָּאוּר

This may be conveyed through an analogy: Just as a person knows and senses anything that occurs with or is experienced by any of his 248 limbs, such as cold or heat – including even heat in his toenails, for example, if he is singed by fire – When any part of a person's body is singed, even if it is just a toenail, he does not need anyone to tell him that this has occurred, nor does he need to see it; he knows it independently and immediately. He also cannot ignore it because he is preoccupied with other parts of the body. Similarly, a Jew cannot sin, even in the most private setting, without God knowing and paying attention. Every individual is a part of the Jewish people. Therefore, even if an individual Jew is not worth more than a toenail, when he is damaged the Divine Presence feels pain.

וְכֵן מַהוּתָם וְעַצְמוּתָם וְכָל מַה שֶּׁמִּתְפַּעֵל בָּהֶם, יוֹדֵעַ וּמַרְגִּישׁ בְּמוֹחוֹ.

so too he knows and senses in his mind his limbs' character and essence, as well as all of their reactions. A person feels the very being and essence of his limbs. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menaḥem Mendel Schneerson, states that there may be a typographical error here, and that perhaps instead of "all of their reactions" the text should read, "all of his reactions," in other words, all the ways the individual is affected by his limbs. This is consistent with what is written below, that the relationship between the soul and body does not correspond perfectly to the relationship between God and the world because, whereas the soul is affected by the body, God is not affected by the world.

וּכְעֵין יְדִיעָה זוֹ עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, יוֹדֵעַ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כָּל הַנִּפְעָל בְּכָל הַנִּבְרָאִים, עֶלְיוֹנִים וְתַחְתּוֹנִים, לִהְיוֹת כּוּלָּם מוּשְׁפָּעִים מִמֶּנּוּ יִתְבָּרַךְ.

By way of analogy, with a knowledge similar to this the Holy One, blessed be He, knows all that transpires with all of the creations of both the higher and lower worlds, since they are all sustained by Him. Just as a person knows his own body, God knows everything that happens to all creatures.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "כִּי מִמְּךָ הַכֹּל" (דברי הימים א כט, יד). וְזֶה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: "וְגַם כָּל הַיְּצוּר לֹא נִכְחַד מִמֶּךָּ". וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב הָרַמְבַּ"ם (הלכות יסודי התורה פרק ב הלכה י) [וְהִסְכִּימוּ לָזֶה חַכְמֵי הַקַּבָּלָה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב הָרַמַ"ק בַּ'פַּרְדֵּס'], שֶׁבִּידִיעַת עַצְמוֹ כִּבְיָכוֹל יוֹדֵעַ כָּל הַנִּבְרָאִים הַנִּמְצָאִים מֵאֲמִיתַּת הִמָּצְאוֹ וכו'.

As it is written, "Everything comes from You" (I Chron. 29:14). This is the meaning of the statement "Even all that was formed is not concealed from You" (Rosh HaShana Musaf prayer). And this accords with the statement of Rambam (with which the sages of the Kabbala concurred, as Rabbi Moshe Kordevero wrote in Pardes Rimmonim , Sha'ar Mahut VeHanhaga 13), that by knowing Himself, as it were, He knows all the creations that exist by virtue of His existence, and so forth (Sefer HaMadda, Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah 2:10). All of creation comes only from God, since there is no reality separate from Him. Similarly, Shir HaYiḥud states, "Nothing in the world is separated from You; not even the slightest place exists in which You are absent." Therefore, by knowing Himself, God knows everything.

רַק שֶׁמָּשָׁל זֶה אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא לְשַׁכֵּךְ אֶת הָאֹזֶן.

Yet this analogy is only meant to attune the ear to what it is able to hear. This analogy comes from the Talmud: "Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, fills the entire world, so too the soul fills the entire body" (Berakhot 10a). Just as a person's soul perceives his body, so too God perceives and knows all the world's creatures. We require this analogy that stems from our world since we lack the ability to directly perceive the Divine.

אֲבָל בֶּאֱמֶת אֵין הַמָּשָׁל דּוֹמֶה לַנִּמְשָׁל כְּלָל. כִּי נֶפֶשׁ הָאָדָם, אֲפִילּוּ הַשִּׂכְלִית וְהָאֱלֹהִית, הִיא מִתְפַּעֶלֶת מִמְּאוֹרְעֵי הַגּוּף וְצַעֲרוֹ מֵחֲמַת הִתְלַבְּשׁוּתָהּ מַמָּשׁ בַּנֶּפֶשׁ הַחִיּוּנִית הַמְלוּבֶּשֶׁת בַּגּוּף מַמָּשׁ.

But in truth, the analogy of the soul and body does not correspond to the subject at hand whatsoever. That is because the human soul, including even the intellectual and divine soul, reacts to occurrences that transpire with the body and its distress, since the divine soul is actually clothed within the vital soul, which is actually clothed in the body. The analogy of the soul in the body sheds light on the concept that God knows about us because our very existence derives from Him and endures within Him. However, in an important respect, the analogy does not apply. The difference is that the human soul – and not only the animalistic, vital soul but even the intellectual soul and the divine soul – is affected by the circumstances of the body. Not only does the soul know what is going on in the body, it is also moved, activated, and changed by the circumstances of the body. That is because the divine soul and the intellectual soul are clothed in the vital soul, which is in turn clothed in the body. Thus, to a certain extent the divine soul unites with the body. As a result, not only does the soul animate the body, but the body animates the soul.

אֲבָל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֵינוֹ מִתְפַּעֵל חַס וְשָׁלוֹם מִמְּאוֹרְעֵי הָעוֹלָם וְשִׁינּוּיָיו, וְלֹא מֵהָעוֹלָם עַצְמוֹ, שֶׁכּוּלָּם אֵינָן פּוֹעֲלִים בּוֹ שׁוּם שִׁינּוּי חַס וְשָׁלוֹם.

But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not affected, God forbid, by occurrences and changes in the world, nor by the existence of the world itself. None of these effect any change in Him, God forbid. God brings about everything that happens in the world, and these events have no effect on Him. Nor is He affected by the very existence of the world. Unlike the mutual connection between the body and soul, the connection between God and the world is unidirectional. Rambam explains: "'The Lord God is true' (Jer. 10:10) [means that] He alone is the truth, and no other being possesses a truth like His truth. As the Torah states,'There is no other than He' (Deut. 4:35). That is to say, there is no true being like Him other than He" (Sefer HaMadda, Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah 1:4). In the presence of God, the world has no objective existence. Our existence and that of the entire world are real only by virtue of the truth of God's existence. But the truth of His existence does not have any need of us. As our Sages state, "He is the place of the world, and His world is not His place" (Bereshit Rabba 68:9).

וְהִנֵּה כְּדֵי לְהַשְׂכִּיל זֶה הֵיטֵב בְּשִׂכְלֵנוּ, כְּבָר הֶאֱרִיכוּ חַכְמֵי הָאֱמֶת בְּסִפְרֵיהֶם.

In order to help us conceptualize this well intellectually, the sages of the Kabbala have treated this subject in their works at length. The kabbalists have addressed at length these relationships between God – the Encompasser who is not encompassed, the Creator who is not affected by His creations – and the world. This fundamental topic constitutes the basis for all of the frameworks of relationship between the Divine and the human. This dynamic incorporates a paradox intrinsic to all of these connections: because the gulf between God and the world is not bidirectional and cannot be bridged, we can speak of closeness to God, of attachment to Him, and of serving Him.

אַךְ כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל מַאֲמִינִים בְּנֵי מַאֲמִינִים, בְּלִי שׁוּם חֲקִירַת שֵׂכֶל אֱנוֹשִׁי, וְאוֹמְרִים: "אַתָּה הוּא עַד שֶׁלֹּא נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם" וכו‘,

Yet all Jews are believers, descendants of believers, who do not resort to any human intellectual inquiry, and they recite in the morning prayers, "You are He from before the universe was created; You are He after the universe was created," This is one of the most difficult and complex ideas addressed in the kabbalistic literature. Since there is nothing similar to God in our realm of existence, He is incomprehensible to ordinary human cognition. Nevertheless, all Jews are "believers, descendants of believers" (Shabbat 97a), who know and accept this kabbalistic secret, and each day Jews recite the passage from the prayer book that expresses this idea. As emphasized in the hasidic works, God's relationship with the world causes no change in God at all. Just as He was before the world was created, so is He now after the world exists. And all Israel, who are "believers, the children of believers," know this secret. They know of God's existence within the world and His separateness from the world, and the fact that His existence within the world does not in any way impinge upon His separate existence, and they express this every day when they recite the words "You are He from before the universe was created; You are He after the universe was created."

כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל פֶּרֶק כ'.

as mentioned above in chapter 20. Chapter 20 explained the relationship between God and the world as being analogous to the relationship between a statement a person makes and his essential character. First, God "speaks" the world, which is absolutely dependent on Him, into existence, and second, the existence of the world is nothing in relation to Him. Thus, God's absolute oneness is established; the existence of the world is of no consequence with respect to it, as expressed by the phrase "You are He from before the universe was created; You are He after the universe was created."

וְהִנֵּה כָּל אָדָם מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, יִהְיֶה מִי שֶׁיִּהְיֶה, כְּשֶׁיִּתְבּוֹנֵן בָּזֶה שָׁעָה גְּדוֹלָה בְּכָל יוֹם:

When any Jew, no matter who he is, contemplates this for a lengthy period of time every day, A Jew should engage in contemplation in accordance with the level of his soul and its sensitivity, and with whatever knowledge he possesses. The amount of contemplation, time, and effort required is inversely related to the strength and sensitivity of his soul. The less capable the soul, the more the person must engage in contemplation. But at any rate, every soul needs a "lengthy period every day" to engage in such contemplation. That is because the goal is not to gain an abstract grasp of the idea of God but to strive to blend one's abstract knowledge with simple, "real" awareness. The process is not just one of learning but one of internalization and actualization, because not everything a person knows in theory is received with simple understanding in his heart. In order to reach this level of understanding regarding God, a person must exert himself and meditate a great deal, thinking and contemplating deeply for repeated lengthy periods until the matter is truly settled in his heart.

אֵיךְ שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מָלֵא מַמָּשׁ אֶת הָעֶלְיוֹנִים וְאֶת הַתַּחְתּוֹנִים, וְאֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת הָאָרֶץ מַמָּשׁ, מְלֹא כָל הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ מַמָּשׁ,

how the Holy One, blessed be He, literally fills the upper and lower worlds, as well as the heavens and earth, earth literally, how "the entire world is filled with His glory" in actuality, The word mamash, "literally," is repeated here three times to emphasize that this must be as palpable to a person as the most significant realities in his life. This sense of tangibility is the starting point; the process cannot go on if the beginning is not real. As long as a person does not have this tangible sense, then everything that follows is only an approximation.

וְצוֹפֶה וּמַבִּיט וּבוֹחֵן כִּלְיוֹתָיו וְלִבּוֹ, וְכָל מַעֲשָׂיו וְדִבּוּרָיו וְכָל צְעָדָיו יִסְפּוֹר –

and how God watches and scrutinizes, examining the thoughts of a person's inner being and the emotions of his heart, and all his actions and speech, and how God counts a person's every step, God scrutinizes a person's inner being and his heart, his emotions, and the concealed expressions of his soul, as well as his deeds and words, which are the soul's external garments. God knows everything, and watches and examines everything. When a person contemplates God's greatness on the one hand and His closeness on the other hand, then the idea of divine providence – that God sees all of a person's actions and knows all his thoughts – ceases to be a distant, abstract concept, and becomes "real."

אֲזַי תִּקָּבַע בְּלִבּוֹ הַיִּרְאָה לְכָל הַיּוֹם כּוּלּוֹ, כְּשֶׁיַּחְזוֹר וְיִתְבּוֹנֵן בָּזֶה אֲפִילּוּ בְּהִתְבּוֹנְנוּת קַלָּה.

then the fear of God will be affixed in his heart throughout the entire day, whenever he will resume contemplating this, even casually. Even when a person goes on to engage in other matters, the fear of God will remain fixed in his heart. Once a person has contemplated properly so that the object of his contemplation has become established within him as an experience of reality, he need not repeat the process again, at least that day. Rather, it is enough for him to recall his earlier experience and consciousness, and he will return to that same awareness.

בְּכָל עֵת וּבְכָל שָׁעָה, יִהְיֶה "סוּר מֵרָע וַעֲשֵׂה טוֹב" בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה דִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה,

As a result of engaging in such contemplation, at all times and in all hours, he will avoid evil and do good in thought, speech, and action If it were always necessary to repeat the process of extended contemplation before taking any action, it would be almost impossible to accomplish anything. Rather, once such an awareness has been reached, a slight trigger will restore it. This may be compared to the formation of a conditioned reflex. Initially, there must be a clear and complete awareness, which results in a reaction. After that, it is not necessary to reach the same depth; rather, it is sufficient to have one thought about the matter for the same reaction to occur. After a person has experienced something once, something of it remains within him. Subsequently, if he does not consciously try to ignore it, and even more so if he actively tries to remember it, the power of the initial experience remains alive and real within him.

שֶׁלֹּא לַמְרוֹת חַס וְשָׁלוֹם עֵינֵי כְבוֹדוֹ, אֲשֶׁר "מְלֹא כָל הָאָרֶץ", וּכְמַאֲמַר רַבָּן יוֹחָנָן בֶּן זַכַּאי לְתַלְמִידָיו, כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.

so that he will not rebel, God forbid, against the "eyes" of His glory, which "fills the entire world," in accordance with Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai's statement to his disciples, as cited above (chap. 41). When a person recognizes experientially that "His glory fills the entire world" (Isa. 6:3), he cannot commit a transgression, because of the shame that doing so would cause him. Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai told his students, "May it be His will that the fear of Heaven be upon you like the fear of a mortal" (Berakhot 28b). Once a person reaches a state in which his fear of Heaven is as real and clear to him as his fear of human beings, then, at least for a short while, he no longer needs to go through the whole process again from the beginning. He requires only a moment to recall that "God is present," and then the awakening of experiential enlightenment will return.

וְזֶה שֶׁאוֹמֵר הַכָּתוּב: "כִּי אִם לְיִרְאָה אֶת ה' אֱלֹהֶיךָ לָלֶכֶת בְּכָל דְּרָכָיו" (דברים י, יב), שֶׁהִיא יִרְאָה הַמְבִיאָה לְקִיּוּם מִצְוֹתָיו יִתְבָּרַךְ בְּסוּר מֵרָע וַעֲשֵׂה טוֹב.

This is the fear referred to in the verse "Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways" (Deut. 10:12). That is a fear that leads a person to keep God's commandments through avoiding evil and doing good. The author of the Tanya now returns to the question raised at the beginning of the chapter. The verse states, "What does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God," implying that this is a minor matter. Yet how can the fear of God be considered something minor? The answer, states the author of the Tanya, is implicit in the following words of the verse: "to walk in all of His ways." It is true that the type of fear of God that is a deep, inner experience is not a minor matter. But the fear of God discussed here, a simple sense of the Divine Presence that leads a person to go in His ways, is a minor matter.

וְהִיא יִרְאָה תַּתָּאָה הַנִּזְכֶּרֶת לְעֵיל

This is the lower level of fear discussed above (chap. 41), This is the type of "fear" – which means simply having a sense of God's presence – that the verse is referring to. That is in contrast to a higher fear, which is a sense of divine exaltedness.

וּלְגַבֵּי מֹשֶׁה, דְּהַיְינוּ לְגַבֵּי בְּחִינַת הַדַּעַת שֶׁבְּכָל נֶפֶשׁ מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל הָאֱלוֹהִית, מִילְּתָא זוּטַרְתִּי הִיא, כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל

and relative to Moses – that is to say, relative to the level of knowledge that embodies the aspect of Moses in every Jew's divine soul – the lower fear of God is in fact a minor matter, as stated above. This sentence is not referring to Moses the individual but to the aspect of Moses in every Jew. And the fear discussed here is not higher but lower fear. In the context of the living connection to God and recognition of His presence that every Jew possesses, lower fear is not a great and lofty matter, but something minor and easily attainable.

[שֶׁהַדַּעַת הוּא הַמְקַשֵּׁר מַצְפּוּנֵי בִּינַת הַלֵּב אֶל בְּחִינַת גִּילּוּי בְּמַחְשָׁבָה מַמָּשׁ, כַּיָּדוּעַ לְיוֹדְעֵי חֵן].

(That is because the faculty of knowledge binds the hidden recesses of the understanding of the heart to its actualized revelation in thought, as is known to those who are initiated in the esoteric wisdom of Kabbala.) The role of Da'at, knowledge, both in the sefirot and in the human soul, is to connect the internal aspect of Bina, understanding, which is hidden in the fiftieth gate of Bina, with the external aspect of Bina, called tevuna, which is revealed in thought. Every Jew possesses knowledge of God by virtue of the aspect of Moses within him. In the context of this knowledge, lower fear is a minor matter, because the faculty of knowledge can go far beyond it. God demands the level of lower fear from everyone because, by virtue of the knowledge that each person possesses, he can easily attain that lower fear by transferring to God the fear of authority in general that he already possesses. And this can be required of even the lowliest individual. Of course, a degree of toil and exertion is required in order to achieve "knowledge," in order to reach a clear sense, even momentarily, of God's presence. The remainder of the chapter will address how a person attains this sense of God's presence through the process of contemplation.

וְעוֹד זֹאת יִזְכּוֹר, כִּי כְּמוֹ שֶׁבְּמֶלֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם עִיקַּר הַיִּרְאָה הִיא מִפְּנִימִיּוּתוֹ וְחַיּוּתוֹ וְלֹא מִגּוּפוֹ, שֶׁהֲרֵי כְּשֶׁיָּשֵׁן אֵין שׁוּם יִרְאָה מִמֶּנּוּ.

One should also bear in mind that this is comparable to a person's essential fear of a mortal king. That is a fear of the king's inner self and life force and not of his body, as may be seen from the fact that when the king sleeps a person is not afraid of him. An individual's fear of a human king is due to the king's personality and awareness, not his body or clothing. Thus, when the king is asleep and unaware, one does not fear him.

וְהִנֵּה פְּנִימִיּוּתוֹ וְחַיּוּתוֹ אֵין נִרְאֶה לְעֵינֵי בָשָׂר, רַק בְּעֵינֵי הַשֵּׂכֶל עַל יְדֵי רְאִיַּית עֵינֵי בָשָׂר בְּגוּפוֹ וּלְבוּשָׁיו, שֶׁיּוֹדֵעַ שֶׁחַיּוּתוֹ מְלוּבָּשׁ בְּתוֹכָם.

The king's inner self and life force cannot be seen by corporeal eyes, but only by the mind's eye, which comes as a result of his corporeal eyes seeing the king's body and garments, following which a person then realizes that the king's life force is clothed in them. When a person sees a king, he experiences fear. However, when we analyze this, we see that the person is afraid of what he does not see, and he is not afraid of what he does see. He is not afraid of the king's body, just as he is not afraid of the king's clothes hanging in his closet. Rather, he is afraid of the king's inner essence, which remains invisible. The same is true concerning God. The process of contemplation begins with the external. But the fear of God concerns the internal realm that this externality expresses.

וְאִם כֵּן, כָּכָה מַמָּשׁ יֵשׁ לוֹ לִירָא אֶת ה'

If that is the case with a mortal king, then literally in the same way one should fear God The author of the Tanya speaks mainly about fear in the context of the initial relationship between a person and God. This is because fear is the simplest and most basic way of relating. It involves just feeling another's presence; nothing else is required. On the other hand, in order to love, there must be something more. There must be a reason to love. Thus, the relationship proceeds in steps rising from level to level. When we go in order and step by step, we must start with the essential tangibility of the Divine Presence. This is lower fear. It is not a terror that paralyzes a person's ability to respond (a fear that only a person of great stature can live with). Rather, it is a simple level of fear, whose one clear sign is that it leads to the avoidance of sin. In this-worldly terms, it is a person's feeling that he is not alone: it appears to him that someone is present or that someone is about to enter the room, and that is enough to prevent him from acting in certain ways or to motivate him to perform certain actions. At this first stage, there is the sense of being watched by God. On the next level, which a person can attain by searching diligently and studying well, he gains an appreciation of God who is watching him, and his awareness is more clear and developed.

עַל יְדֵי רְאִיַּית עֵינֵי בָשָׂר בַּשָּׁמַיִם וָאָרֶץ וְכָל צְבָאָם, אֲשֶׁר אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְלוּבָּשׁ בָּהֶם לְהַחֲיוֹתָם.

as a result of seeing with eyes of flesh the heavens and earth and all their host, in which the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, is enclothed in order to grant them life. Just as it is possible to relate to a person although one sees only his body and not his soul, so too we do not need to see God in order to relate to Him; it is enough for us to see His "garment." And what is His garment? It is here, all around us. The entire world is His garment. Therefore, we cannot say that we do not see God. Certainly, we never see His inner being. But we see the garment. And just as we experience fear when we see the garment of a king or a policeman, so too must we fear God when we see the world and recognize that it clothes the divine light.

הַגָּהָה: (וְגַם נִרְאֶה בִּרְאִיַּית הָעַיִן שֶׁהֵם בְּטֵלִים לְאוֹרוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ בְּהִשְׁתַּחֲוָואָתָם כָּל יוֹם כְּלַפֵּי מַעֲרָב בִּשְׁקִיעָתָם. כְּמַאֲמַר רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז"ל (בבא בתרא כה, א)

Gloss: Also, the eye can see with its vision that the heavens and their host are subsumed in God's light when they prostrate themselves every day toward the west – i.e., when they set, as our Rabbis (Bava Batra 25a) stated

עַל פָּסוּק "וּצְבָא הַשָּׁמַיִם לְךָ מִשְׁתַּחֲוִים" (נחמיה ט, ו).

regarding the verse "And the host of the heavens prostrates itself to You" (Neh. 9:6). The world, the garment of God, is not an inanimate object that God's power sustains. Rather, when we look at the host of Heaven, we see that they all move toward the west until they are swallowed up and disappear into it; it is as though they are bowing toward the west.

שֶׁהַשְּׁכִינָה בַּמַּעֲרָב.

That is because the Divine Presence resides in the west. The source of the divine power in the world (the Divine Presence), which constitutes all reality, giving it life, is in the west (Bava Batra 25a). The entire host of the heavens, which, in a sense, guides the rest of the world, bows down to it and is subsumed into it.

וְנִמְצָא הִילּוּכָם כָּל הַיּוֹם כְּלַפֵּי מַעֲרָב הוּא דֶּרֶךְ הִשְׁתַּחֲוָואָה וּבִיטּוּל.

Hence, their passage the entire day toward the west is a form of prostration and self-nullification. This prostration and self-nullification occur not only as they set, but during their entire daily trajectory toward the west, which is the opposite of their nature.

וְהִנֵּה גַּם מִי שֶׁלֹּא רָאָה אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ מֵעוֹלָם וְאֵינוֹ מַכִּירוֹ כְּלָל, אַף עַל פִּי כֵן כְּשֶׁנִּכְנָס לַחֲצַר הַמֶּלֶךְ, וְרוֹאֶה שָׂרִים רַבִּים וְנִכְבָּדִים מִשְׁתַּחֲוִים לְאִישׁ אֶחָד, תִּפּוֹל עָלָיו אֵימָה וָפַחַד.

Even someone who has never seen the king and does not recognize him at all will nevertheless be overcome with trepidation and fright when he enters the king's court and sees many noble ministers prostrating themselves to one man. Although this person does not sense the presence of the king, when he sees all those around him, including wise and prominent individuals, feeling awe and trepidation, he feels it as well. In this gloss, the author of the Tanya adds that is possible not only to see heaven and earth with "corporeal eyes" and learn from them about the existence of God who sustains them, but it is possible to perceive divine guidance with his eyes of flesh as he sees externality nullify itself before the inner, divine existence, and he thus perceives God's action, sovereignty, and providence.

וְאַף שֶׁהוּא עַל יְדֵי הִתְלַבְּשׁוּת בִּלְבוּשִׁים רַבִּים, הֲרֵי אֵין הֶבְדֵּל וְהֶפְרֵשׁ כְּלָל בְּיִרְאַת מֶלֶךְ בָּשָׂר וָדָם בֵּין שֶׁהוּא עָרוֹם וּבֵין שֶׁהוּא לָבוּשׁ אֶחָד וּבֵין שֶׁהוּא לָבוּשׁ בִּלְבוּשִׁים רַבִּים.

Even though the light of Ein Sof is enclothed in many garments so that one does not perceive the divine vitality within every creation, there is, in fact, no difference or distinction whatsoever – when it comes to fearing a mortal king – whether he is naked, clothed in a single garment, or clothed in a multitude of garments. Although a person does not see the essence of a king or policeman but only his body and garments, he fears them. The same should be true about God, and yet, as we see, it is not so. One reason is that a human being is not covered with as many garments as God. Our world consists of multiple layers covering the divine light (in accordance with the order of progression that the Kabbala describes). The author of the Tanya comments, however, that there should be no difference between many garments and few. He brings the example of a mortal king. To a person who is aware of the presence of the king, whether the king is wearing five garments or fifty is unimportant. Likewise, when a person knows that this world constitutes the outer garments of the divine king, it should not matter how many garments there are. Since God is enclothed within them, He is present in the reality of this world.

אֶלָּא הָעִיקָּר הוּא הַהֶרְגֵּל, לְהַרְגִּיל דַּעְתּוֹ וּמַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ תָּמִיד לִהְיוֹת קָבוּעַ בְּלִבּוֹ וּמוֹחוֹ תָּמִיד. אֲשֶׁר כָּל מַה שֶּׁרוֹאֶה בְּעֵינָיו – הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ וּמְלוֹאָהּ – הַכֹּל הֵם לְבוּשִׁים הַחִיצוֹנִים שֶׁל הַמֶּלֶךְ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא.

Rather, the main thing is habituation; a person must habituate his mind and thought constantly so that he has an awareness that is permanently affixed in his heart and mind that everything he sees with his eyes – the heavens, the earth, and all its fullness – all constitute the outer garments of the King, the Holy One, blessed be He. The way to see beyond these many garments is to engage in contemplation for sustained periods of time. A person must engage in ongoing effort so that the view that everything he sees constitutes the outer garments of the King is not just something that he affirms or thinks on an external level but is part of his inner consciousness. Just as God asked Adam, "Where are you?" (Gen. 3:9), humanity asks God the same question, and He replies, "I am here, with you and all around you. In all that you see, you are seeing Me." The question of why we do not perceive is a separate issue that is discussed elsewhere, but it is certainly not because God does not want us to. God shows Himself everywhere, on every level, and to whatever extent a person can appreciate. However, for a person to see God, he must maintain this thought and engage in the process of connecting the inner to the outer, of connecting what he sees with his corporeal eyes to what he sees with his mind's eye.

וְעַל יְדֵי זֶה יִזְכּוֹר תָּמִיד עַל פְּנִימִיּוּתָם וְחַיּוּתָם.

In this way, he will constantly be aware of their inner essence and life force. Through contemplation, a person will become conscious of the inner essence and life force of the heavens, the earth, and everything in them: that they are merely the outer garments of God, the King. Consequently, his faith will no longer be a totally abstract concept but an abstraction of his corporeal sight, which is the essential experience of a person's awareness of his surroundings.

וְזֶה נִכְלָל גַּם כֵּן בִּלְשׁוֹן אֱמוּנָה,

This contemplation is also implicit in the word emuna , faith, Likewise, at the end of chapter 33, the author concludes that the contemplation described there relates to faith. Yet the connection between faith and contemplation is unclear. Contemplation is a matter of understanding, and faith and understanding apparently negate each other: when a person understands, there is no need for faith. Nevertheless, the author of the Tanya asserts that contemplation is part of faith.

שֶׁהוּא לְשׁוֹן רְגִילוּת, שֶׁמַּרְגִּיל הָאָדָם אֶת עַצְמוֹ, כְּמוֹ אוּמָּן הַמְאַמֵּן יָדָיו וכו'.

which connotes that a person habituates himself, as in the word uman , "craftsman," which refers to someone who trains [ me'amen ] his hands, and so forth. Therefore, the habituation and practice involved in contemplation are alluded to in the term "faith" [emuna ]. Even though a craftsman possesses a natural talent for his craft, he must nevertheless train [me'amen ] his hands so that he will be able to put his knowledge into practice. In the conclusion of this chapter, which has dealt with lower fear, the author of the Tanya speaks of an especially external stage of this fear, the most basic stage, which can be expressed through action alone. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menaḥem Mendel Schneerson, explains, "That which was said [in this chapter] about the fear and faith that result from this contemplation applies only to a person whose intellect rules and guides him. Also, not everyone can always engage in intellectual contemplation, and for some people such contemplation is ineffective. [Nevertheless,] a person must always have the fear [of God]."

וְגַם לִהְיוֹת לְזִכָּרוֹן תָּמִיד לְשׁוֹן חֲכָמֵינוּ ז"ל: קַבָּלַת עוֹל מַלְכוּת שָׁמַיִם, שֶׁהוּא כְּעִנְיַן: "שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ" (דברים יז, טו), כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר וכו'.

Also, a person should constantly bear in mind the wording of our Sages in the phrase "accepting the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven," which corresponds to the commandment "You shall surely set a king over you" (Deut. 17:15), as explained elsewhere, and so on (chap. 41). Just like the lower fear – the tangible awareness of the Divine Presence, of the fact that He sees, watches, and scrutinizes – so too the higher fear of accepting God's sovereignty is not a onetime affirmation but requires continuous reinforcement. Analogously, the verse "You shall surely set [som tasim ] a king over you" doubles the verb to indicate that this is a repeated, ongoing, and continuously renewed process. There are moments of crisis or change in a person's life when he decides to accept God's kingship, a decision that interrupts and changes the course of his life. Here the author is discussing a person's life after he has made that decision. This is an ongoing resolution that a person constantly renews as he accepts God's authority constantly. This is not the psychology of a person who secludes himself and engages in lofty ideas. Rather, it is a person's feeling that he must apply these ideas in reality. The verse states, "What does the Lord your God ask of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways." What kind of fear does God require of a person? The answer is: a fear that leads him to walk in all of God's ways. Once an individual makes this decision, he must constantly return to this contemplation and each time accept God's sovereignty on a different level, in a different situation and frame of mind. This may be compared to a person who has decided to go on a diet. Once he makes that decision, he must accept a regimen and maintain it by means of a continuous resolution that hinges on restraint, habit, training, and persistence.

כִּי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַנִּיחַ אֶת הָעֶלְיוֹנִים וְהַתַּחְתּוֹנִים וּמְיַיחֵד מַלְכוּתוֹ עָלֵינוּ וכו' וַאֲנַחְנוּ מְקַבְּלִים וכו'.

This is because the Holy One, blessed be He, sets aside the upper and lower worlds in order to confer His kingship upon us, and so forth. And we in turn accept His yoke, and so on. God created all worlds, and He maintains and gives them life. Yet He expressly establishes His kingship over us: He is called "the God of Israel…the Rock of Israel" (II Sam. 23:3) and "King of Israel and its Redeemer" (Isa. 44:6). And we in turn accept the yoke of His kingdom.

וְזֶהוּ עִנְיַן הַהִשְׁתַּחֲוָואוֹת שֶׁבִּתְפִלַּת שְׁמוֹנֶה עֶשְׂרֵה

This is the significance of the prostrations that we perform in the Shemoneh Esrei prayer The prostrations in the Shemoneh Esrei are an expression of the self-nullification that a person is meant to reach while reciting this prayer (see also chap. 39). The Talmud says that ordinarily a person bows four times during the Shemoneh Esrei, the High Priest bowed with each of its blessings, and a king would bow only once, but he would remain bowed over until the end of the prayer (Berakhot 34b). This indicates that the more authority a person has, the more he must nullify himself before God.

אַחַר קַבָּלַת עוֹל מַלְכוּת שָׁמַיִם בְּדִבּוּר, בִּקְרִיאַת שְׁמַע, לַחֲזוֹר וּלְקַבֵּל בְּפוֹעַל מַמָּשׁ, בְּמַעֲשֶׂה וכו', כְּמוֹ שֶׁיִּתְבָּאֵר בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר.

after orally accepting the yoke of Heaven's kingship through the recitation of the Shema . In the Shemoneh Esrei prayer, a person accepts the yoke again, actually and literally, by performing the action of prostration, and so on, as explained elsewhere. The purpose of reciting the Shema is to accept God's kingship through speech, specifically when reciting the first verse "Hear, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one" (Deut. 6:4). And the purpose of the prostration in the Shemoneh Esrei is to accept God's kingship through action.