וְהִנֵּה אַף כִּי פְּרָטֵי בְּחִינַת הַהֶסְתֵּר וְהַהֶעְלֵם אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא, בְּהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת הָעוֹלָמוֹת עַד שֶׁנִּבְרָא עוֹלָם הַזֶּה הַגַּשְׁמִי – עָצְמוּ מִסַּפֵּר,

Although the intricate details entailed in the concealment and obscuring of the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, by means of the devolvement of the worlds, culminating in the creation of this physical world, are too numerous to describe, Each world constitutes a concealment of the Divine, of the light of Ein Sof, and the succession of the worlds, one beneath the other, is the process of this concealment, whereby the light is constricted one step at a time. This process takes place through myriad layers of concealment, and the number of worlds, concealments, and transitions that exist between the light of Ein Sof and this material world is incalculable.

וּמִינִים מִמִּינִים שׁוֹנִים,

and are comprised of a multitude of diverse types, Constriction does not refer only to a reduction in size, but to the concealment and obscuring of the inner light. Each world has its own, unique way of constricting, in accordance with its nature and level.

כַּיָּדוּעַ לַטּוֹעֲמִים מֵעֵץ הַחַיִּים,

as is known to those who have tasted from the tree of life, There is a double meaning here. Tasting from the tree of life generally refers to individuals who study Kabbala. It can also be referring to Etz Ḥayyim, the title of Rabbi Ḥayyim Vital's well-known work that means "Tree of Life," which summarizes the teachings of the Arizal and focuses specifically on the order of the worlds' devolvement. The kabbalistic works do indeed detail the succession of the worlds extensively, but the concepts involved are highly abstract, and the average person finds them difficult to grasp. Only the few individuals who devote most of their time and energy to studying them are able to truly apprehend them.

אַךְ דֶּרֶךְ כְּלָל הֵם שְׁלֹשָׁה מִינֵי צִמְצוּמִים עֲצוּמִים כְּלָלִיִּים, לִשְׁלֹשָׁה מִינֵי עוֹלָמוֹת כְּלָלִיִּים, וּבְכָל כְּלָל יֵשׁ רִבּוֹא רְבָבוֹת פְּרָטִיִּים.

they are generally categorized as three types of immense, overarching constrictions of the divine light to constitute three types of comprehensive worlds, and each category consists of myriads upon myriads of specific constrictions. The author of the Tanya does not go into detail here about this subject, because it is essentially theoretical. He focuses mainly on the general concepts that have practical implications and meaning in relation to the individual's divine service. He goes on to explain how every world is one form of constriction that is a composite of many specific constrictions and layers of concealment. In this sense, the Hebrew word for world, olam, is related to the word he'elem, concealment. Since there are three worlds that occupy three planes of reality, there are three general levels of constriction.

וְהֵם שְׁלֹשָׁה עוֹלָמוֹת: בְּרִיאָה, יְצִירָה, עֲשִׂיָּה. כִּי עוֹלַם הָאֲצִילוּת הוּא אֱלֹהוּת מַמָּשׁ.

These constitute the three worlds of Beria , Yetzira , and Asiya , for the world of Atzilut is one of actual divinity. Although four worlds are usually mentioned in the description of the succession of worlds, only three are mentioned here. This is because the world of Atzilut, the highest of the four worlds, is not a world that emerged through constriction and creation of existence from nothingness. Rather, it is a world that constitutes an extension of God, so to speak, that emanates directly from God's essence, the word atzilut denoting emanation. Relative to the worlds of created beings, it constitutes a pure revelation of actual divinity.

וּכְדֵי לִבְרוֹא עוֹלַם הַבְּרִיאָה, שֶׁהֵן נְשָׁמוֹת וּמַלְאָכִים עֶלְיוֹנִים, אֲשֶׁר עֲבוֹדָתָם לַה' בִּבְחִינַת חָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת, הַמִּתְלַבְּשִׁים בָּהֶם, וְהֵם מַשִּׂיגִים וּמְקַבְּלִים מֵהֶם,

In order to create the world of Beria , which is the world of the souls and the supernal angels whose service of God is in the intellectual sphere of the sefirot of Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at , which are clothed in them, and they apprehend and receive their sustenance from those sefirot, In the world of Beria, the Divine is revealed on the level of the divine intellect. The created beings that exist in this world perceive the Divine in an intellectual manner, through the cognitive sefirot of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at and thus receive their vitality and sustenance through these sefirot. This is the realm of the supernal angels, for regular angels exist in the world of Yetzira. The world of Atzilut constitutes a transparent revelation of the Divine, and is divinity itself, in the sense that the divine essence is found there without any concealment, partition, or distance, and everything that is created there has no existence that is separate from Him. Therefore, there are no limits to their perception of divinity. By contrast, in the world of Beria, there are limits to the understanding and awareness of the Divine of the created beings that exist in that realm. While this apprehension is far beyond human understanding, it is still a limited understanding that is attained in the intellectual sphere of the sefirot of Ḥokhma, Bina, and Da'at.

הָיָה תְּחִלָּה צִמְצוּם עָצוּם כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.

there had to first be an immense constriction, as stated above (chap. 48). The immense constriction necessary to form the essence of the world of Beria constricted God's presence to nothingness. From that point, the process of bringing forth existence from nothingness could then begin. This constriction took place in the transition from the world of Atzilut to the world of Beria.

וְכֵן מִבְּרִיאָה לִיצִירָה. כִּי אוֹר מְעַט מִזְּעֵר הַמִּתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּעוֹלַם הַבְּרִיאָה, עֲדַיִין הוּא בִּבְחִינַת אֵין סוֹף לְגַבֵּי עוֹלַם הַיְּצִירָה, וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בּוֹ אֶלָּא עַל

Similarly, from the world of Beria to the world of Yetzira there was an immense constriction, because even the minuscule amount of light enclothed within the world of Beria is still considered infinite relative to the world of Yetzira , and it is impossible

יְדֵי צִמְצוּם וְהֶעְלֵם. וְכֵן מִיְּצִירָה לַעֲשִׂיָּה

for it to become enclothed within the world of Yetzira except through constriction and concealment. Likewise, the progression from the world of Yetzira to the world of Asiya entailed an additional stage of constriction. There is also an immense constriction in the transition between the world of Beria and the world of Yetzira, even though the world of Beria itself has undergone constriction. The world of Yetzira cannot contain any of the light of the world of Beria. It cannot be perceived in the world of Yetzira, nor enclothed within it, until it undergoes further constriction. The same is true of the transition between the world of Yetzira and the world of Asiya, which entailed another immense constriction.

[וּכְמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר בֵּיאוּר שְׁלֹשָׁה צִמְצוּמִים אֵלּוּ בַּאֲרִיכוּת, לְקָרֵב אֶל שִׂכְלֵינוּ הַדַּל].

(These three constrictions are explained elsewhere at length in order to acclimate our meager intellect to these lofty concepts.) Our intellect is weak and limited when it comes to grasping these concepts since they refer to beings and worlds that are beyond our reality and understanding. We cannot grasp their essence directly, but only through metaphor.

וְתַכְלִית כָּל הַצִּמְצוּמִים הוּא כְּדֵי לִבְרוֹא גּוּף הָאָדָם הַחוֹמְרִי

The ultimate purpose of all these constrictions was to create the material human body The human body is where the soul is enclothed. Even if we cannot comprehend the nature of all these constrictions, we can grasp their purpose, for the reality of a soul within a body is a part of the human experience.

וּלְאַכְּפַיָּיא לְסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא

so that he might subdue the sitra aḥara , The purpose of combining the physical body and the divine soul within man is so that the soul would be able to subdue and subjugate the sitra aḥara to the side of holiness. On a higher level, one can even transform the sitra aḥara, turning it into a force for good.

וְלִהְיוֹת "יִתְרוֹן הָאוֹר מִן הַחוֹשֶׁךְ" (קהלת ב, יד)

thus achieving the advantage of light that emerges from darkness. The author of the Tanya compares the subjugation of the sitra aḥara, which is the purpose of all the constrictions, to the advantage of light that emerges from darkness. This does not refer only to the objective advantage of light over darkness, but to the relative advantage of light that emerges from within darkness. This is the same advantage of the soul within the body and within the material world. In a certain sense, it is also the advantage described with the words of the Mishna: "One hour of tranquility in the World to Come is better than an entire lifetime in this world" (Mishna Avot 4:17).

בְּהַעֲלוֹת הָאָדָם אֶת נַפְשׁוֹ הָאֱלֹהִית

This is accomplished when a human elevates his divine soul, When one subdues the sitra aḥara, it does not cease to exist in the person or in the world. It is not even hidden. It is still present and active, yet it acts, though unwillingly, on behalf of holiness. At that point, not only is there a light that repels the darkness, but there is also the advantage of a light that comes from within the darkness and together with it.

וְהַחִיּוּנִית וּלְבוּשֶׁיהָ וְכָל כֹּחוֹת הַגּוּף כּוּלָּן – לַה' לְבַדּוֹ, כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל בַּאֲרִיכוּת,

along with his vital soul and its garments, as well as all the body's faculties, to God alone, as explained above at length (chap. 37), The darkness that comes with the light, with the person's ascending divine soul, is the vital, animal soul and its garments: thought, speech, and action. Through actions that he performs for the sake of Heaven, the individual, who contains both a divine soul and an animal soul within a physical body, elevates the entire range of the material world from his divine soul, which is a portion of God on high, to his physical body. He, together with every part of the world with which he comes into contact while performing a mitzva, ascends to God alone.

כִּי זֶה תַּכְלִית הִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת הָעוֹלָמוֹת.

because this was the purpose of the succession of the worlds. The succession of the worlds, beginning from the highest realm, ultimately leads to the creation of the complex human reality. On one hand, there is the holy soul, which originates from the loftiest plane, and on the other, man has a physical body that exists in the lowest, material realm. In other words, there is a reality of evil and darkness, and within it there is a seed, or code, of potential elevation. The purpose of the succession of the worlds is the realization of this potential. This unique, complex reality is ostensibly a balance between good and evil. By choosing good over evil, by performing good deeds in this dark, evil world, one overcomes the sitra aḥara and elevates himself, as well as the entire world, to the side of holiness. A person who does this successfully provides justification for the existence of the worlds. He gives meaning to each world and to every element that led at the end of the entire order of succession, to that bottommost reality in which he exists and impacts. The higher worlds are constructed on established laws, and as a result, they serve only as vessels and transitions for the succession and not as ends in themselves. Only in our world, though it is the lowest, most physical, and most concealed realm, can there be a created being who is capable of free choice. By means of this free choice, through overcoming the sitra aḥara, through the advantage of light that emerges from darkness, one can give meaning to the whole of reality and change the direction of the flow and illumination so that they go from below to above. This is the purpose of the succession of the worlds. This concludes the author of the Tanya's description of God's immense love for us that began in the previous chapter. This love was expressed when He brought us out of Egypt and gave us the Torah and is magnified by descriptions of His greatness on the one hand and His descent to us, who exist in the lowest possible realm, by way of innumerable constrictions and worlds on the other. The author of the Tanya now goes on to discuss the individual's response to this love and how to reciprocate it.

וְהִנֵּה, "כַּמַּיִם הַפָּנִים לַפָּנִים" (משלי כז, יט):

"As water reflects a face to the face" (Prov. 27:19), so should a person reflect God's conduct toward him: As explained in the previous chapters, when a person contemplates God's disposition toward him, he should relate to God in the same way. This is akin to water reflecting the image of the face peering into it.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כִּבְיָכוֹל הִנִּיחַ וְסִילֵּק לְצַד אֶחָד, דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, אֶת אוֹרוֹ הַגָּדוֹל הַבִּלְתִּי תַּכְלִית, וּגְנָזוֹ וְהִסְתִּירוֹ, בְּג' מִינֵי צִמְצוּמִים שׁוֹנִים,

Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, as it were, figuratively speaking, laid down and set to one side His great, endless light and hid and concealed it through the three aforementioned different forms of constrictions This dual phrasing, "as it were" and "figuratively speaking," emphasizes that the descriptions used to explain the concept of constriction, particularly when one uses imagery, are only metaphors. Constriction itself is not the simple idea that the analogies seem to convey. The constriction is not meant to be understood literally but rather the light was concealed from the created beings in the lower realms.

וְהַכֹּל בִּשְׁבִיל אַהֲבַת הָאָדָם הַתַּחְתּוֹן לְהַעֲלוֹתוֹ לַה',

all for the sake of His love for mortal man, in order to elevate him to God, All these constrictions and concealments were effected only in order to make space for human beings in this world. A human being cannot exist as a soul inside a body unless the divine light is concealed and not in evidence. In view of this, it is as though God squeezes Himself into a corner in order to make room for us to exist.

כִּי 'אַהֲבָה דּוֹחֶקֶת הַבָּשָׂר' (בבא מציעא פד, א),

for "love compresses the flesh" (Bava Metzia 84a), It is human nature to diminish oneself out of love, to make room for that which a person desires, for the love to "compress the flesh." Similarly, it is as though God's love for us squeezes His essence into Himself so that He can connect to humankind.

עַל אַחַת כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה, בְּכִפְלֵי כִפְלַיִים לְאֵין קֵץ, כִּי רָאוּי לָאָדָם גַּם כֵּן לְהַנִּיחַ וְלַעֲזוֹב כָּל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ, מִנֶּפֶשׁ וְעַד בָּשָׂר,

how much more so, to an exponentially infinite degree, is it proper for a person to also set aside and relinquish all that he has, whether of the soul or of the flesh, When a person contemplates this concept in depth, how God constricted Himself to such an extent that he, a mortal man, could exist, he should respond in kind. The words "as water reflects a face to the face" indicate a relationship between equals. But in a relationship where one side is far greater than the other, as is the case with our connection to God, this expectation is infinitely more applicable. If God, who is infinitely greater, could do this for us, then surely we should renounce all our concerns, whether they are spiritual, physical, familial, social, financial, or material.

וּלְהַפְקִיר הַכֹּל בִּשְׁבִיל לְדָבְקָה בּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, בִּדְבִיקָה חֲשִׁיקָה וַחֲפִיצָה,

and forego everything in order to cleave to God with attachment, longing, and desire, If God has constricted Himself to the point that He has altered His essential, infinite nature in order to descend to the individual down below, then he too should take action for God. Since God has done so much in order to move toward him, he must likewise leave everything behind and cling to God.

וְלֹא יִהְיֶה שׁוּם מוֹנֵעַ מִבַּיִת וּמִבַּחוּץ, לֹא גּוּף וְלֹא נֶפֶשׁ וְלֹא מָמוֹן וְלֹא אִשָּׁה וּבָנִים.

so that there will be no hindrance from within or without, neither from body nor soul, neither from money, wife, nor children. These are the main factors tying a person to this world, and he should be willing to disengage from all of them for the sake of his love of God. Everything else is inconsequential in the face of that love, just as all else is inconsequential to God in comparison to His immense love for us.

וּבָזֶה יוּבָן טוּב טַעַם וָדַעַת לְתַקָּנַת חֲכָמִים, שֶׁתִּקְּנוּ בִּרְכוֹת קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע, שְׁתַּיִם לְפָנֶיהָ כו',

This provides an understanding and reasoning regarding an enactment of the Sages, where they instituted the recitation of two blessings before the Shema and so forth. The first blessing that precedes the Shema is Yotzer Or in the morning prayer, and its counterpart in the evening prayer, Ma'ariv Aravim, which speaks of the creation of the worlds and God's authority over them. The second blessing is Ahavat Olam, which tells of God's love for us.

דְּלִכְאוֹרָה אֵין לָהֶם שַׁיָּיכוּת כְּלָל עִם קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכּוֹתֵב הָרַשְׁבָּ"א וּשְׁאָר פּוֹסְקִים.

On the surface, it seems that they have no relevance whatsoever to the recitation of the Shema , as Rashba (She'eilot U'Teshuvot HaRashba 1:47, cited by Beit Yosef, Oraḥ Ḥayyim 46) and other halakhic authorities have noted. In terms of content, there is no connection between the blessings of the Shema and the Shema itself. Other blessings that are recited before the performance of a mitzva mention and explain the essence of the mitzva, but the blessings said before the recitation of the Shema do not appear to be related to the mitzva at all; they do not even mention it.

וְלָמָּה קָרְאוּ אוֹתָן 'בִּרְכוֹת קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע'? וְלָמָּה תִּקְּנוּ אוֹתָן לְפָנֶיהָ דַּוְוקָא?

Why did the Sages call them "blessings of the Shema ," and why did they institute their recitation specifically before the Shema? One cannot claim that these blessings constitute a separate matter altogether, because both according to their title and their place in the prayers, they are connected to the Shema. Moreover, according to the halakha, they are not merely adjoined to the Shema, but rather they are an essential part of this mitzva. The blessings recited on mitzvot are meant to prepare a person to be a worthy vessel for the observance of the particular mitzva. The blessings of the Shema too constitute a preparation for the observance of the mitzva of reciting the Shema. The author of the Tanya goes on to explain what this preparation is and how these blessings provide it.

אֶלָּא מִשּׁוּם שֶׁעִיקַּר קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע לְקַיֵּים "בְּכָל לְבָבְךָ" כו' (דברים ו, ה) בִּשְׁנֵי יְצָרֶיךָ כו' (ברכות פרק ט משנה ה), דְּהַיְינוּ לַעֲמוֹד נֶגֶד כָּל מוֹנֵעַ מֵאַהֲבַת ה'.

It is because the primary objective of reciting the Shema is to fulfill the commandment to love God "with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). "With all your heart" means "with your two inclinations..." (Mishna Berakhot 9:5), which entails withstanding any hindrance to loving God. The "two inclinations" are our good inclination and our evil inclination. Loving God "with your two inclinations" means that there is no other love in one's heart. The evil inclination tempts a person to pursue other desires, to love other things. This is the "hindrance" that the author of the Tanya mentions. It is a reference to the other kind of love, a love of other things, which stems from the evil inclination. Loving God with all your heart, then, means that even the place in the heart that wants to love other things is filled entirely with love of God.

וּ'לְבָבְךָ' – הֵן "הָאִשָּׁה וִילָדֶיהָ", שֶׁלְּבָבוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם קְשׁוּרָה בָּהֶן בְּטִבְעוֹ,

Specifically, "your heart" alludes to one's wife and her children, since a person's heart is naturally bound to them, Loving with all one's heart means even with the part of the heart that loves and is intrinsically attached to other things. In a certain sense, it is the ability to give up those other things for the sake of love of God. These things are not insignificant. It is easy to forgo something that does not truly matter to a person, but giving up something important, to which one's heart is attached, such as one's wife and children, to whom he is naturally and essentially connected, is the true ramification of the commandment to love God with all one's heart. This does not mean that a person should not love anything that is found in this world, such as his wife and children, but that these other loves should not be independent or separate from his love of God. Certainly they should not be in conflict with it. All the love that a person feels should be encompassed within his love of God and unified with it.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁאָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז"ל (שבת קנב, א) עַל פָּסוּק (תהלים לג, ט): "הוּא אָמַר וַיֶּהִי" – זוֹ אִשָּׁה, "הוּא צִוָּה וַיַּעֲמוֹד" – אֵלּוּ בָּנִים.

As the Rabbis stated (Shabbat 152a) regarding the verse (Ps. 33:9): "For He spoke and it was done": This is a woman that a man marries. "He commanded and it took form": These are the children whom one works hard to raise." The Sages explain that one's connection to his wife and children is not rational or acquired but is basic and inherent to human existence. It is part of the essence of humankind that God created when He "spoke and it was done." It is thus a strong and solid bond that is extremely difficult to break.

וְ"נַפְשְׁךָ" וּ"מְאֹדֶךָ" – כְּמַשְׁמָעוֹ, חַיֵּי וּמְזוֹנֵי,

"Your soul" and "your might" are to be understood literally as your life and livelihood, The Mishna goes on to explain the next words of the Shema: "'With all your soul' [means] even if God takes your soul.'With all your might' [means] with all your money." In other words, "with all your soul" refers to life itself, and "with all your might" relates to one's possessions and means of sustenance in this world.

לְהַפְקִיר הַכֹּל בִּשְׁבִיל אַהֲבַת ה'.

so that one foregoes everything for the love of God. Essentially, the verse "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" refers to all those things that are truly important to a person, and to which he is attached in varying degrees, depending on the nature of the thing. It includes a person's wife and children, his health and livelihood, even his life itself. All of it should be considered completely forfeit relative to his love of God.

וְאֵיךְ יָבוֹא הָאָדָם הַחוֹמְרִי לְמִדָּה זוֹ?

Yet how can a corporeal person attain this lofty standard of love? The requirement to disassociate from all things material, from connections and feelings that bolster a person's existence in this world, all the markers of his reality, is an ambitious one. Moreover, it does not pertain only to externalities but even to the bonds of his soul. How can a human being, who is part of the physical world, sever these ties?

לְכָךְ סִידְּרוּ תְּחִלָּה בִּרְכַּת 'יוֹצֵר אוֹר',

That is why the Sages introduced the blessing of Yotzer Or before the recitation of the Shema. This blessing is not part of the recitation of the Shema itself but rather constitutes a level of preparation for the soul in order to free a person from his connections to the material world and enables him to perceive the divine realm. Rather than seeing only his own daily existence, he embraces existence of the wondrous, divine life force that burgeons within him at that very moment. He recognizes God's kindness and love for him, and, in turn, he is able to reflect back that love and fulfill the words he recites in the Shema: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might."

וְשָׁם נֶאֱמַר וְנִשְׁנָה בַּאֲרִיכוּת עִנְיַן וְסֵדֶר הַמַּלְאָכִים הָעוֹמְדִים בְּרוּם עוֹלָם, לְהוֹדִיעַ גְּדוּלָּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֵיךְ שֶׁכּוּלָּם בְּטֵלִים לְאוֹרוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, וּמַשְׁמִיעִים בְּיִרְאָה כו', וּמַקְדִּישִׁים כו' וְאוֹמְרִים בְּיִרְאָה: "קָדוֹשׁ" כו'.

There this blessing describes and expounds at length the account of the order of angels who stand on the pinnacle of the world to proclaim the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, how all the supernal angels, the seraphim, are subsumed in God's light, "and fearfully declare...and sanctify...and assert with fear,'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.'" The blessing of Yotzer Or "describes and expounds at length," because contemplation requires a person to say the words repeatedly and to spend a lengthy amount of time on such repetition. This blessing describes how the supernal angels stand on the lofty heights of the universe in order to make us aware of God's greatness. Contemplating the supernal angels, who are in awe of God's greatness and completely subsumed in the divine light, allows us to join them, so to speak. We too feel His greatness and holiness, and we too sing God's praises.

כְּלוֹמַר, שֶׁהוּא מוּבְדָּל מֵהֶן וְאֵינוֹ מִתְלַבֵּשׁ בָּהֶן בִּבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי,

"Holy" means that He is separate from them and is not overtly enclothed in them, The concept of holiness indicates that which is separate or distinct, and that which is beyond all limits and definitions. When the angels declare, "Holy, holy, holy," they are saying that God's reality is distinct and sublime, that He is on a much higher level than the angels and all the worlds, distant and separate from them at all times and on all planes.

אֶלָּא "מְלֹא כָל הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ" הִיא 'כְּנֶסֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל' לְמַעְלָה, וְ'יִשְׂרָאֵל' לְמַטָּה, כַּנִּזְכָּר.

but rather, as they continue and proclaim, "His glory fills the entire world," which refers both to the congregation of Israel on high and the Jewish people below, as explained above (chap. 46). After the angels proclaim, "Holy, holy, holy," they say, "His glory fills the entire world [ha'aretz ]." According to the teachings of Kabbala, ha'aretz, which the Sages refer to as the Divine Presence and the kabbalists refer to as Malkhut, is the congregation of Israel, the source of all Jewish souls in the upper world. God's glory is likewise found in the lower realm, within the body of a Jew in this world, and it is revealed when they engage in Torah study and mitzvot. The angels say, "Holy," because relative to them God is holy and distinct. If that is the case, where is God to be found? The angels answer, "His glory fills the entire world." His glory is revealed on earth, in the lowest and most material realm, because that is where He chose to dwell, within the Torah and mitzvot that the Jewish people fulfill in this physical world.

וְכֵן הָאוֹפַנִּים וְחַיּוֹת הַקּוֹדֶשׁ "בְּרַעַשׁ גָּדוֹל וכו' בָּרוּךְ כְּבוֹד ה' מִמְּקוֹמוֹ". לְפִי שֶׁאֵין יוֹדְעִים וּמַשִּׂיגִים מְקוֹמוֹ,

Likewise, "the angels known as ophanim and holy ḥayot raise themselves with a great clamor opposite the seraphim, and facing them, they offer praise and declare,'Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place,'" since they do not know or apprehend where His place is, The ophanim and holy ḥayot are angels that are on a lower level than the seraphim. They do not grasp how God is holy and distinct from them, how "His glory fills the entire world," with the same level of clarity. The seraphim have an intelligent, orderly worldview; they understand that God is holy and distinct, and that they cannot truly apprehend or perceive Him. They comprehend that there is a "place" in the lower realm where God has chosen to dwell. This is why they say: "Holy, holy, holy," and "God's glory fills the entire world." The ophanim and holy ḥayot, on the other hand, do not possess an intelligent picture of God's holiness but rather a strong feeling that He is present. Consequently, they rise up "with a great clamor opposite the seraphim," which are on a higher level than they are. Since they do not understand where the place of God's holiness is, they say: "Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place," wherever that place may be.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁאוֹמְרִים "כִּי הוּא לְבַדּוֹ מָרוֹם וְקָדוֹשׁ".

as we say in the continuation of the blessing: "For He is alone, exalted, and holy." There are three elements to this phrase: "He is alone" means He exists and is an entity in and of Himself, "exalted" means that He is above reality, and "holy" means that He is distinct from all else. The general theme of the Yotzer Or blessing is God's greatness, if not in terms of His infiniteness, then at least in relation to the enormous scope of the universe. The blessing describes the sun and the moon, and above them, the angels and seraphim, and how they all proclaim the same thing: God is above and beyond all planes of reality. After saying these words and contemplating how the entire universe and all its contents, all the way to the highest possible realm, exist and live by means of His power alone and are insignificant in relation to Him, one can gain some grasp of God's greatness.

וְאַחַר כָּךְ בְּרָכָה שְׁנִיָּה: "אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם אֲהַבְתָּנוּ ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ".

Then one recites the second blessing: "You have loved us with an everlasting love, Lord, our God." The first blessing of the Shema speaks of God's greatness and exaltedness above everything else. The second blessing focuses on His closeness. Only by grasping both His greatness and loftiness on the one hand, and His closeness on the other, can our connection to God be formed, overcoming all other desires and bonds for the sake of love of God alone.

כְּלוֹמַר, שֶׁהִנִּיחַ כָּל צְבָא מַעְלָה הַקְּדוֹשִׁים וְהִשְׁרָה שְׁכִינָתוֹ עָלֵינוּ, לִהְיוֹת נִקְרָא אֱלֹהֵינוּ,

This means that He set aside all the holy supernal hosts and bestowed His Divine Presence on us so that He is referred to as "our God" Although God is the Creator of all the luminaries and worlds, as we expressed in the Yotzer Or blessing, He chooses to be called Elokeinu, "our God." He is not called "God of the higher worlds and angels" but rather "our God." He left the higher worlds, so to speak, and brought Himself closer to the Jewish people, who are in this world, and attached Himself to us.

כְּמוֹ "אֱלֹהֵי אַבְרָהָם" כו' כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.

in the same sense as the phrase "God of Abraham…," as stated above (chap. 46). The term Elokeinu, "our God," may be understood in the same sense as the phrase "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob." Our forefathers were chariots of God, vehicles for the Divine in this world so that they were subsumed and encompassed in His light. Since they were completely subsumed within Him, and possessed no element that was separate from Him, He is called "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob."

וְהַיְינוּ כִּי 'אַהֲבָה דּוֹחֶקֶת הַבָּשָׂר' (בבא מציעא פד, א),

This is because "love compresses the flesh" (Bava Metzia 84a), All love contracts and minimizes the individual before his beloved. Even God, as it were, compresses His infinite self, as a result of His love for us, of being "our God."

וְלָכֵן נִקְרָא 'אַהֲבַת עוֹלָם', שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת צִמְצוּם אוֹרוֹ הַגָּדוֹל הַבִּלְתִּי תַּכְלִית לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בִּבְחִינַת גְּבוּל הַנִּקְרָא עוֹלָם, בַּעֲבוּר אַהֲבַת עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל, כְּדֵי לְקָרְבָם אֵלָיו, לִיכָּלֵל בְּיִחוּדוֹ וְאַחְדוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ.

and thus this love is called ahavat olam , world-centered love, which constitutes a constriction of His great, endless light so that it may become enclothed in the limitation that is called "world" for the sake of His love for His nation, Israel, in order to bring them close to Him so that they may become incorporated in His unity and oneness. This love that God has for us is called ahavat olam, love for the world in which He constricts Himself in order to come close to us. The Hebrew term for world, olam, has the same root as the term for concealment, helem, conveying the concealment of the infinite Creator within a finite, limited time and space. Ahavat olam means "world-centered love," a love that creates a world, that causes God to constrict Himself within its confines. This love is God's love for the Jewish people. Through this world, through Torah study and the fulfillment of mitzvot, the Jewish people are able to come extremely close to God and become incorporated within His unity.

וְזֶה שֶׁאוֹמְרִים: "חֶמְלָה גְּדוֹלָה וִיתֵירָה", פֵּירוּשׁ: יְתֵירָה עַל קִרְבַת אֱלֹהִים שֶׁבְּכָל צְבָא מַעְלָה.

This is the meaning of what we say in the continuation of the blessing: "You have bestowed on us a great and exceeding compassion," meaning God's compassion for us exceeds God's closeness to all the heavenly hosts, The Ahavat Olam blessing goes on to state that God has a great and exceeding compassion for us. "Great" compassion refers to His compassion for all of reality, encompassing both the higher and lower worlds. For God, there is no difference between the smallest earthworm and the archangel Michael. Both are on the level of the "world," which exists on account of His compassion for its creations. Yet His compassion for His nation, the Jewish people, exceeds His compassion for the rest of the world. Not only does He sustain us, but He also brings us closer to Him than any of the supernal angels, though they exist on a higher plane and possess a greater apprehension of the Divine.

"וּבָנוּ בָחַרְתָּ מִכָּל עַם וְלָשׁוֹן", הוּא הַגּוּף הַחוֹמְרִי, הַנִּדְמֶה בְּחוֹמְרִיּוּתוֹ לְגוּפֵי אוּמּוֹת הָעוֹלָם.

"and You have chosen us from among all the nations and languages," which refers to the corporeal body of a Jew, which resembles the bodies of the nations of the world in its physicality. Choosing one object among equivalent objects is an arbitrary action that simply favors one particular object over everything else. True free choice is possible only between comparable objects, where there is no apparent advantage of one over another. If one thing is significantly more beneficial or detrimental, there really is no choice at all. Likewise, God does not "choose" the souls of Israel, which are a portion of the Divine on high and are therefore inherently holy. Therefore, the phrase "and You have chosen us" refers to the bodies of Israel, which are essentially no different from the bodies of all the other nations. One cannot say that a particular body, brain, or arm is better than that of another person. God's choice, then, concerns only a Jew's physical body, which is not unique and is no better than that of a gentile.

"וְקֵרַבְתָּנוּ וכו', לְהוֹדוֹת" וכו'. וּפֵירוּשׁ הוֹדָאָה יִתְבָּאֵר בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר.

The blessing continues, " And You brought us close to Your great name to give thanks to You…," and the explanation of this thanks will be explained elsewhere, The Talmud uses a similar term, modeh, to say that one Rabbi concedes to another. This does not involve understanding and accepting the other person's approach but only acknowledgment with regard to his conclusion. When one person concedes to another, this means that he accepts the other person's opinion even though according to his own understanding, the outcome should be different. In the same way, we must concede that God chose us from among all the nations. Hoda'a is like a choice. It is not that one of the options possesses an obvious advantage, but on the contrary, we thank because we were chosen despite the fact that there is no obvious benefit of one over the other. The essence of giving thanks to God with glory and praise occurs when everything is not as clearly understood and felt as it should be. One may see things differently, or even understand and feel the exact opposite, yet he concedes that God is right.

"וּלְיַחֶדְךָ" כו', לִיכָּלֵל בְּיִחוּדוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.

"and proclaim Your unity…," meaning, to be incorporated in God's unity, as stated above. Proclaiming God's unity, making Him "one" in the full depth and extent of the term means recognizing that everything, which seems separate from Him, is all encompassed within the One. Most importantly, the person himself who is proclaiming God's unity is included in that oneness. He, his possessions, his thoughts, and his feelings are all subsumed within the divine unity. Thus the theme of the second blessing of the Shema, Ahavat Olam, is that God brought us closer to Him than He brought any of His other creations. His relationship to us is one of choice and concession, of hoda'a, which is beyond all emotion and reason, so that we may be incorporated within His unity.

וְהִנֵּה, כַּאֲשֶׁר יָשִׂים הַמַּשְׂכִּיל אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֶל עוּמְקָא דְּלִבָּא וּמוֹחָא,

When the intelligent person reflects on these matters in the depths of his heart and mind, The blessings that precede the Shema, Yotzer Or and Ahavat Olam, were instituted in order to inspire the individual to love God with all his heart, soul, and might. For this to occur, it is not enough to merely recite the words without thought. One must contemplate them in the depths of his heart and mind.

אֲזַי מִמֵּילָא, "כַּמַּיִם הַפָּנִים לַפָּנִים", תִּתְלַהֵט נַפְשׁוֹ וְתִתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּרוּחַ נְדִיבָה, לְהִתְנַדֵּב לְהַנִּיחַ וְלַעֲזוֹב כָּל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ מִנֶּגֶד,

then inevitably, "as water reflects a face to the face" (Prov. 27:19), his soul will be ignited and enveloped in a generous spirit to willingly disregard and forego all that he possesses, After contemplating God's love of for us, which is described in the blessings of the Shema, the individual's soul will be ignited with love of God in turn, and he will offer up something that belongs to him, an object that has value and importance to him. The author of the Tanya is not talking about a person who already recognizes that there is nothing else but God, because to someone like that, nothing is important except God, and he does not need to give up anything of his own. This discussion concerns a person who wants to achieve love of God and has even begun to feel something, yet he is still attached to the world, to people, actions, and objects. This person is told to contemplate how God constricts Himself out of His love for him, which is greater than His love of all the higher worlds, and how He breaks down all barriers in order to come close to him. Subsequently, the person's love is also ignited, and he willingly abandons all he has and clings beyond all measure and limitation to God alone.

וְרַק לְדָבְקָה בּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ, וְלִיכָּלֵל בְּאוֹרוֹ בִּדְבִיקָה חֲשִׁיקָה וכו'

so that he may cleave only to God and be incorporated in His light with an attachment, longing, and desire Thus, the individual contemplates what he has said in the blessings of Shema, about God's greatness and holiness on the one hand, and about the fact that He leaves all the higher worlds for us on the other hand. When he instills these matters deep within his heart and mind, he attains such a tremendous feeling of gratitude and love that he is prepared to give up everything he has for the sake of this love, for the sake of his attachment to God.

בִּבְחִינַת נְשִׁיקִין, וְאִתְדַּבְּקוּת רוּחָא בְּרוּחָא כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.

in a manner of kissing and the fusion of spirit with spirit, as explained above (chaps. 45, 46). A kiss is a metaphor for the union between the soul and the Divine, the merging and unification of spirit with spirit, which results when a person utters the word of God with God, so to speak – a unification of breath with breath. As will be explained below, when a person studies Torah and utters the words, a union takes place, a fusing of spirit with spirit. The person's spirit merges with God's spirit, his essence with the essence of the Divine.

אַךְ אֵיךְ הִיא בְּחִינַת 'אִתְדַּבְּקוּת רוּחָא בְּרוּחָא'?

Yet how is this fusion of spirit with spirit achieved? What is the author of the Tanya asking here? It would seem that once a person contemplates God's love for him and attains love of God in turn, the outcome will occur automatically. Yet even though the work of contemplation was undertaken in order to achieve love of God, the love itself is not the answer. Love of God is an awakening within the person, and accordingly, the blessings of the Shema and the contemplation of these blessings are an awakening to an awakening. Yet just as the awakening that constituted the contemplation is not the goal, neither is the love of God. Thus far, the individual has achieved love of God; he desires to cling to Him and is willing to give up everything for Him, with all his heart, soul, and might. Yet this is not the end. It is merely the longing that is supposed to draw the person forward, toward the "fusion of spirit with spirit." This raises one of the toughest questions with regard to the essence of Judaism: How can we actualize an attachment to God, the fusing of spirit with spirit, in a way that expresses and sustains a love that is felt "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might"?

לָזֶה אָמַר: "וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה כו' עַל לְבָבְךָ, וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם" כו'.

For this reason, the next passage of the Shema states, "These matters that I command you today shall be upon your heart.... You shall inculcate them in your children, and you shall speak of them..." (Deut. 6:6–7). The Hebrew word bam, in the phrase "and you shall speak of them [bam ]," literally means "in them," implying that one speaks within the words, because they are God's words. In other words, even as one says the words, one senses that they exist in a reality that is beyond him yet in which he now finds himself. The Maggid of Mezeritch comments on the verse "It was as the musician played, and the hand of the Lord was upon him" (II Kings 3:15) that although a musical instrument emits the sounds, it is not the creator of the tune but merely a vessel for its production. Similarly, one who speaks words of Torah should see himself only as a medium for God's words, an instrument for the words that God places in his mouth. The person's task is merely to try not to ruin them by negating himself and being as much as possible. A perfect vessel is one that is itself completely nullified to that which it contains, so that it can hold a thing as it is, intact, without adding, removing, or changing it. If one achieves this level of perfection, then when he speaks words of Torah, it is as though they emanate directly from God.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּ'עֵץ חַיִּים' (שער ל דרוש ב) שֶׁ'יִחוּד הַנְּשִׁיקִין', עִיקָּרוֹ הוּא יִחוּד חָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת בְּחָכְמָה בִּינָה דַּעַת וְהוּא עִיּוּן הַתּוֹרָה,

This may be understood in accordance with what is stated in Etz Ḥayyim (30:2), that the union of kissing is primarily a unification of a person's faculties of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge with God's attributes of Ḥokhma , Bina , and Da'at , which is achieved through study of Torah, The author of the Tanya explains how the "union of kissing," the fusion of spirit with spirit, between man and God, is achieved. When a person employs his faculty of wisdom to study Torah, "these matters that shall be upon your heart," which is God's wisdom, this constitutes joint thinking. The individual is thinking what God is thinking, so to speak, and is united with Him in thought and wisdom. This is the union of spirit with spirit.

וְהַפֶּה הוּא מוֹצָא הָרוּחַ וְגִילּוּיוֹ, בִּבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי, וְהַיְינוּ בְּחִינַת הַדִּבּוּר בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה,

and the mouth, is the outlet of the breath and its emergence into a revealed state, which corresponds to the category of speech employed in speaking words of Torah, Just as in the physical realm the mouth releases the breath and the sounds that make up speech, so too in the spiritual realm the mouth is the revelation of the union of spirit with spirit. Speech is the revelation of thought, and the mouth is the vessel for that speech, revealing the union of spirit with spirit, which is achieved through Torah study and thoughts of Torah. Thus, the "union of kissing" is attained through Torah study through the cognitive faculties of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, and this union is revealed through speaking words of Torah. When a person speaks words of Torah, which are the words of God, with his own mouth, he is saying them together with God. At that moment, he is joined with God mouth to mouth, so to speak.

"כִּי עַל מוֹצָא פִי ה' יִחְיֶה הָאָדָם" (דברים ח, ג).

"for it is by everything that emanates from the mouth of the Lord that man lives" (Deut. 8:3). The words of Torah that a person speaks "emanate from the mouth of the Lord," and the person receives his life force from them. The union that results from speaking words of Torah, the "union of kissing," is the most spiritual of all connections. The person is completely unified with the holiness contained within him and the holiness that encompasses him.

וּמִכָּל מָקוֹם, לֹא יָצָא יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ בְּהִרְהוּר וְעִיּוּן לְבַדּוֹ, עַד שֶׁיּוֹצִיא בִּשְׂפָתָיו

At any rate, one does not fulfill his obligation of Torah study with thought and deliberation alone unless he pronounces the words with his lips The union that results from the study and understanding of Torah is deeper and more complete than the bond that forms through the performance of mitzvot. Thoughts of Torah are entirely bound up within the Torah, and at the same time, the Torah is bound up within one's thoughts. A thought about an object acts upon that object and is acted upon by the object; it both surrounds it and is surrounded by it. This kind of union is incomparable to any other known relationship model. As the author of the Tanya states above: "This constitutes a wondrous union, of which no likeness or [equal] estimation can be found at all in the physical realm, [a union where the human intellect and divine wisdom of the Torah] are literally one and the same from every side and angle." In light of this, the author of the Tanya emphasizes that studying Torah aloud, actually uttering the words of Torah that one is studying, has its own inherent value in addition to revealing the union formed within the thoughts of Torah. One hasidic master provides an analogy to illustrate this concept. When two drops of mercury coalesce to form one larger drop, we cannot say that one drop has absorbed or incorporated the other. Rather, a new entity has been created, and the distinction between the two drops no longer exists. This is the fusion of spirit with spirit of which the author of the Tanya speaks.

כְּדֵי לְהַמְשִׁיךְ אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמַטָּה, עַד נֶפֶשׁ הַחִיּוּנִית, הַשּׁוֹכֶנֶת בְּדַם הָאָדָם,

in order to draw down the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, until it reaches the vital soul that resides in a person's blood, The vital soul gives life to the human body, as explained in chapter 1. Speech and action are bodily processes that are activated by the vital soul. Thus, when a person speaks words of Torah, he includes his body in his attachment to God.

מִתְהַוֶּה מִדּוֹמֵם צוֹמֵחַ חַי, כְּדֵי לְהַעֲלוֹת כּוּלָּן לַה', עִם כָּל הָעוֹלָם כּוּלּוֹ,

which is produced from inanimate, vegetative, and living matter in order to elevate them all to God, along with the entire world, Whatever a person eats is absorbed and incorporated into his blood, his body, with which he is able to speak. In that case, along with the body, which speaks words of Torah, all the inanimate, vegetative, and living matter that gives life to the body ascends too. Furthermore, they do not ascend alone. They signify the entire world and raise it up together with them.

וּלְכָלְלָן בְּיִחוּדוֹ וְאוֹרוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ אֲשֶׁר יָאִיר לָאָרֶץ וְלַדָּרִים בִּבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי, "וְנִגְלָה כְּבוֹד ה' וְרָאוּ כָל בָּשָׂר" וכו' (ישעיה מ, ה), שֶׁזֶּהוּ תַּכְלִית הִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת כָּל הָעוֹלָמוֹת – לִהְיוֹת כְּבוֹד ה' מָלֵא כָּל הָאָרֶץ הַלֵּזוּ דַּוְקָא, בִּבְחִינַת גִּילּוּי

and incorporate them in God's unity and light, which will shine on the earth and on those that dwell on it in a revealed manner, as the verse states, "The glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all flesh will see together that the mouth of the Lord has spoken" (Isaiah 40:5). This is the ultimate purpose of the devolvement of all the worlds: so that the glory of God may specifically fill this physical earth in a manifest state The purpose of the existence of all the worlds, which is for God's glory to shine, is not rooted in the higher, spiritual worlds but in this physical world. In light of this, though the connection to God that is found within Torah thoughts is sublime and spiritual, it is for this very reason that it is not a fulfillment of God's intent when He created the world, for it does not touch upon the world; the world remains outside of it. By contrast, the unity formed through speech, through speaking words of Torah, is generated within the physical reality. Sound is formed by means of a person's muscles, and the activation of each muscle employs the body's energy and resources, which are themselves generated through all that the person has eaten, gathered, and interacted with in the material world. When speech constitutes Torah, not only does it give meaning to the spirit but also to physical matter, and not only to physicality of the individual, but to all matter in existence. Human beings are not self-contained. One lives within the world and is connected to it, just as all objects within the world are interconnected and interdependent. When a person speaks words of Torah and connects with God, he draws the whole world along with him. When his body is elevated, it is not elevated alone because his life in this world is dependent on an immense system involving the sun's light, the earth, and innumerable other components that enable each muscle in his body to move and his mouth to speak words of Torah. When he ascends to the Divine by means of a particular word, he does not rise alone. He lifts up the entirety of the physical world together with him through countless concealed threads. This does not apply only to material objects. A person's soul, with its faculties and experiences, is not detached or isolated from everything. Rather, it is interwoven with other souls and all the spiritual worlds as a whole. When one performs a holy act, that holiness is connected to and stems from the worlds and spiritual processes that led him to that place. Holiness that a person creates is connected, materially and spiritually, not only to him but also to his parents and grandparents, and through it he justifies not only his own existence but also the existence of all generations that came before him. This idea is related to the significance of saying Kaddish for a person who has died, and it is related to the concept that "the son confers merit upon the father" (Sanhedrin 104a). The source for the recitation of Kaddish is a story in one of the minor tractates: A man who had died appeared to Rabbi Akiva and said that his soul could not be rectified until his son would recite words of holiness amid a quorum of Jews. The deceased had not performed even one act of holiness in his life, so it would seem that his soul could not be rectified or elevated at all. This story teaches that if a person performs an act of holiness, he can confer merit on his father. Just as the child's body is bound to his parents, who gave him life, his soul is likewise bound to them. Even if the father's soul is no longer in his body, he is able to receive merit from the child. The Talmud states regarding the verse "For that is all of man" (Eccles. 12:13): "The entire world was created [to serve] as companions for him" (Berakhot 6b). The entire world was created just for the individual, just so that he would have company. Similarly, the Mishna describes the virtues of a person who studies Torah, among them that "he is worth the whole world" (Avot 6:1). All of creation was worthwhile because of that individual. It may be said that the moment any person performs a mitzva, he justifies the existence of the entire world, the physical and the spiritual, in the present and in the past. We have no way of measuring the value of a mitzva, just as we have no way of measuring the value of a human being. Nonetheless, it is important to recognize that each mitzva, or word of Torah, is connected to a complex array of other elements, and that it penetrates and illuminates the entire world. A dark, meaningless, unfathomable world can suddenly begin to shine brightly when a holy act or thought lights it up and fills it with meaning.

לְאַהַפְּכָא חֲשׁוֹכָא לִנְהוֹרָא וּמְרִירָא לְמִיתְקָא, כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל בַּאֲרִיכוּת.

and transform darkness into light and bitterness into sweetness, as explained above at length (chaps. 36–37). This is the advantage of light that comes from darkness. When bitterness is transformed into sweetness, darkness into light, this has a much greater impact than something that was sweet or light to begin with.

וְזֶהוּ תַּכְלִית כַּוָּונַת הָאָדָם בַּעֲבוֹדָתוֹ, לְהַמְשִׁיךְ אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְמַטָּה.

This is the ultimate intention of a person in his service of God, namely to draw the light of Ein Sof below. The purpose of the creation of the world is not the fusing of spirit with spirit, of the divine soul with God, but rather it is the drawing down of the divine unity into the world. It is not the elevation of the individual to a higher world but the bringing down of God's glory into this lower world.

רַק שֶׁצָּרִיךְ תְּחִלָּה 'הַעֲלָאַת מַיִין נוּקְבִין' לִמְסוֹר לוֹ נַפְשׁוֹ וּמְאוֹדוֹ, כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.

But in order to achieve this purpose, it is necessary first to cause feminine waters to ascend by sacrificing his soul and everything material that he possesses to Him, as explained above. "Feminine waters" is a kabbalistic concept that refers to the lower reality, that of the creative worlds, which have the quality of receiving, a feminine quality. Elevating the feminine waters, then, refers to the elevation of the receiver toward the giver, which corresponds to the upper realms. More specifically, the author of the Tanya is referring to the spiritual work of contemplating the blessings of the Shema and the Shema itself in order to attain love of God "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." A person's ultimate purpose, what constitutes his divine service, is the drawing down of God's glory into the world, and it is the purpose of the existence of all the worlds. Yet this cannot happen without raising the feminine waters, without the individual down below making an effort to reach out to the Divine. Without self-sacrifice on his part, he cannot become a vessel and conduit worthy of having the divine light flow through him, illuminating both the physical and the spiritual realms as a result. Ultimately, revelation and lifegiving sustenance comes from above. But it cannot issue forth unless the individual breaks through the wall below. In this vein, the Sages said, "Open for Me an opening of repentance like the eye of a needle, and I will open for you openings through which carts and wagons can enter" (Shir HaShirim Rabba 5:2). Only when one performs a mitzva below will God perform similar acts in turn, so to speak. Only when a person gives up his soul and his material possessions for the sake of God does God move into his world. In order for this world to exist, there is necessarily a screen between this reality and God. If that screen were removed, there would be no world. Yet the purpose of the world is to reveal God's glory in the world, specifically there, where it is profoundly concealed. It is a paradox, and it seems impossible to achieve. Nevertheless, there is one way to accomplish it, and that is when the world approximates infinity. There are many examples where there is no connection between two domains, and the only way to link them is to create something in one of the domains that contains a trace of the essence of the other. When there is some common denominator between them, the two can be joined together. There is no tangible contact between the Divine, that which is infinite, and the world, which is limited. In order to forge a connection between them, the world must construct something that marginally resembles that which is infinite. There is only one way to achieve this: when a person in the lower, limited world breaks through the boundaries of his own essence and creates within himself an opening to infinity. When one gives up his soul and his material possessions, when he sacrifices what he has beyond natural limits, God in turn goes beyond His limits, so to speak, and reveals the Divine within the world. This is indeed an impossible phenomenon as long as the individual has not created this possibility, but once he has done so, it becomes all too possible. This concept is manifest in the process of repentance. Regarding the repentance of Manasseh, king of Judah, the verse states, "He prayed to Him, and He acceded [vaye'ater ] to his entreaty" (II Chron. 33:13). The Talmud reads the word vaye'ater as if it says vayeḥater, with the letter ḥet replacing the ayin. It states: "'And He made an opening [vayeḥater ] for him': This teaches that the Holy One, blessed be He, crafted for him a type of opening in Heaven in order to accept him in repentance" (Sanhedrin 103a). From God's perspective, repentance means accepting the penitent. He breaches the entire system of time and causality and creates a new being for whom all that occurred in the past does not exist. This cannot happen unless the penitent himself does a comparable act, breaking down the structures of his very being. When one is able to "make an opening," performing an act that is beyond his own limitations, God too can "make an opening" in Heaven, breaking the structure of reality and accepting the person's repentance, ostensibly without the knowledge of the attribute of justice. The author of the Tanya concludes this chapter by saying that in order to raise "feminine waters," in order to reach out to the Divine from this lower reality, one must sacrifice his soul and everything he possesses, literally his "might." There is no fixed measure to such a sacrifice. It depends on the individual's heart and soul, and it changes like the horizon. Every time a person achieves love for God with all his heart and soul, no matter how high he has reached, there is always a little more to go. That is what is referred to as "with all your might." Even if all your energy has been exhausted, and it seems you have nothing left to give, yet still you make a supreme effort, "with all your might," you will find you can go further and achieve more. The author of the Tanya is striving to unlock the secret of how to go one step further. These are the feminine waters that rise up and open the gate from above.