וּלְתוֹסֶפֶת בֵּיאוּר בַּאֵר הֵיטֵב לְשׁוֹן תְּפִיסָא שֶׁאָמַר אֵלִיָּהוּ "לֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בָּךְ״ כו׳:

To explain further and fully elucidate the expression tefisa , "grasp," stated by Elijah in the phrase "No thought can grasp You at all…": In the previous chapter, the author of the Tanya quoted a statement from the introduction to Tikkunei Zohar, which quotes Elijah as saying of God, "No thought can grasp You at all." The apprehension that this refers to is primarily intellectual, absorbed within the mind and the senses of a person.

הִנֵּה כָּל שֵׂכֶל כְּשֶׁמַּשְׂכִּיל וּמַשִּׂיג בְּשִׂכְלוֹ אֵיזֶה מוּשְׂכָּל, הֲרֵי הַשֵּׂכֶל

When any intellect intellectually perceives and apprehends in the mind a particular concept, the

תּוֹפֵס אֶת הַמּוּשְׂכָּל וּמַקִּיפוֹ בְּשִׂכְלוֹ,

mind grasps the concept and encompasses it with its intellect, The author of the Tanya uses the terms "encompasses" here figuratively. Clearly, the mind and the concept are not physical objects occupying specific points in space in such a way that one might be placed within the other. The grasping of the concept is the initial contact between the mind and the concept it conceives, the flash point of wisdom. The mind's encompassing of the concept, as opposed to merely touching the idea, occurs in the next stage, that of understanding. At this phase, it can be said that the object of the mind's interest, the concept being apprehended, exists within the mind, and is encompassed by it. At first, the mind only touches the concept tangentially. As comprehension develops, the mind covers more sides of the concept until it completely encloses it and relates to its every facet. At this stage, when the concept is encompassed by the intellect, it is internalized by the person and becomes part and parcel of him, essentially united with him. It is now his own understanding and knowledge; this is what he thinks.

וְהַמּוּשְׂכָּל נִתְפָּס וּמוּקָּף וּמְלוּבָּשׁ בְּתוֹךְ הַשֵּׂכֶל שֶׁהִשִּׂיגוֹ וְהִשְׂכִּילוֹ.

and the concept is grasped, encompassed, and clothed within the mind that apprehended and perceived it. This clause is somewhat perplexing: It appears to be completely superfluous. If the mind apprehends and encompasses a particular concept, it is obvious that the concept is apprehended and encompassed within the intellect. Yet there is reason to delineate this point, since one might think that this is the subjective experience of the mind alone. Perhaps it only appears to it that it has apprehended and encompassed the concept when in fact this is not the case. This additional statement comes to clarify that a characteristic and faculty of the intellect is its capacity to apprehend and encompass a particular concept truly and perfectly to the degree that it is as if the concept were actually enclosed within the mind.

וְגַם הַשֵּׂכֶל מְלוּבָּשׁ בַּמּוּשְׂכָּל בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁמַּשִּׂיגוֹ וְתוֹפְסוֹ בְּשִׂכְלוֹ. דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, כְּשֶׁאָדָם מֵבִין וּמַשִּׂיג אֵיזוֹ הֲלָכָה בַּמִּשְׁנָה אוֹ בַּגְּמָרָא לַאֲשׁוּרָהּ עַל בּוּרְיָהּ, הֲרֵי שִׂכְלוֹ תּוֹפֵס וּמַקִּיף אוֹתָהּ וְגַם שִׂכְלוֹ מְלוּבָּשׁ בָּהּ בְּאוֹתָהּ שָׁעָה.

Moreover, the mind is also clothed within the concept at the same time it apprehends it and grasps it intellectually. For example, when a person thoroughly and clearly understands and apprehends a particular halakha in the Mishna or Talmud, his mind grasps and encompasses that halakha, and his mind is also simultaneously clothed within it. There is yet another astounding phenomenon with regard to the mind's apprehension of a concept: At the very same moment that the mind clothes the concept and encompasses it within itself, the opposite process also takes place, in which the mind is itself clothed within the concept. Just as the mind serves as a garment for the concept – that is, as its medium of expression, as well as the screen that obscures its essence and allows only a certain expression of it to be manifest – so does the concept serve as the garment of the mind. When the mind is engaged and absorbed in a certain subject, it expresses itself at that moment through that concept. One can say that the mind is clothed in the concept it is contemplating because it is now manifesting itself through this particular garment, and the garment is obscuring its quintessential qualities. In other words, the mind is now not an independent mind per se but a mind as expressed through the particulars of the concept within which it has invested itself. The mind is not only pondering the idea, but it is also being "thought" by it, in the sense that the mind is now perceived exclusively in the context of the particular idea. This is true of every mind and every concept at any level, from the simplest to the most complex. The process of thought is always a process in which the mind and the object of its contemplation encompass and are encompassed by one another.

וְהִנֵּה הֲלָכָה זוֹ הִיא חָכְמָתוֹ וּרְצוֹנוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא,

This halakha is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed be He, When a person achieves an understanding of a concept in the Mishna or Talmud, or comprehends a ruling set forth by the halakhic authorities, this is no ordinary thought but the "wisdom and will" of God. The author of the Tanya is not speaking here about the halakha as practical instruction but about its essence, an expression of the divine wisdom and will.

שֶׁעָלָה בִּרְצוֹנוֹ שֶׁכְּשֶׁיִּטְעוֹן רְאוּבֵן כָּךְ וְכָךְ, דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, וְשִׁמְעוֹן כָּךְ וְכָךְ – יִהְיֶה הַפְּסָק בֵּינֵיהֶם כָּךְ וְכָךְ. וְאַף אִם לֹא הָיָה

for it arose in His will that when Reuven claims thus, for example, and Shimon thus, the ruling between them should be such and such. Even if such a situation, where litigants come to court on account of these claims and charges, never was and

וְלֹא יִהְיֶה הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה לְעוֹלָם לָבֹא לְמִשְׁפָּט עַל טְעָנוֹת וּתְבִיעוֹת אֵלּוּ, מִכָּל מָקוֹם, מֵאַחַר שֶׁכָּךְ עָלָה בִּרְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, שֶׁאִם יִטְעוֹן זֶה כָּךְ וְזֶה כָּךְ – יִהְיֶה הַפְּסָק כָּךְ,

never will occur, nevertheless since such a scenario arose in the will and wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, where should this person claim thus and this other person claim thus, the halakhic ruling will be such and such, In physics and mathematics, complicated systems are constructed to solve theoretical problems, and the question of whether such a situation could ever arise in practice is considered beside the point. The scientist is seeking to uncover a truth: What is the reality? What is the quintessential state of things in a given situation? The purpose is not to solve a practical problem but to gain a comprehensive understanding of a truth, to learn the nature of things. When the Talmud discusses a financial dispute between two parties, citing their arguments and counterarguments, it is not necessarily relating an actual case that occurred or ever will occur. Rather, it is presenting an abstract, theoretical model. It is endeavoring to discover what God's will would be in such a situation. The purpose is not to solve a particular dispute between two individuals but to see how this point relates to the universal order, to the inner life of creation, to learn what it is that God wants from us as we navigate His world.

הֲרֵי כְּשֶׁאָדָם יוֹדֵעַ וּמַשִּׂיג בְּשִׂכְלוֹ פְּסָק זֶה כַּהֲלָכָה הָעֲרוּכָה בְּמִשְׁנָה אוֹ גְּמָרָא אוֹ פּוֹסְקִים – הֲרֵי זֶה מַשִּׂיג וְתוֹפֵס וּמַקִּיף בְּשִׂכְלוֹ רְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא.

then, when a person knows and apprehends in his mind this ruling as the halakha set forth in the Mishna, Talmud, or the works of the halakhic authorities, this person apprehends, grasps, and encompasses in his mind the will and wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He, Obviously, one who comprehends a halakhic ruling does not assimilate the whole of the divine wisdom related to this matter. Even when he understands the entire array of legal principles and processes that relate to this law and how it all derives from the Torah, he comprehends the subject on only one plane. He does not understand the many strata of meaning that lie beyond the grasp of human reason or even the full significance of the law. But in understanding a particular aspect of it at a particular level, he grasps a point of truth, even if it is only a particle of the divine truth. By way of example, the equations A + B = C and 1 + 1 = 2 in effect say the same thing. The first is general and abstract, and the second is specific; the first sets up a principle, and the second provides a particular example of that principle. When teaching a small child, one teaches the specific case, because the child can learn and understand that specific example thoroughly, but he cannot comprehend the general principle. Yet, despite the fact that the abstract equation is beyond the child's comprehension, when he comprehends that an apple and another apple make two apples, he has grasped something of the truth of the formula. By the same token, when a person studies a halakha about an ox and a donkey, he is assimilating not a mere expression or analogue of the divine wisdom but something of its very essence.

דְּלֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בֵּיהּ וְלֹא בִּרְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ, כִּי אִם בְּהִתְלַבְּשׁוּתָם בַּהֲלָכוֹת הָעֲרוּכוֹת לְפָנֵינוּ,

for no thought can grasp Him at all, nor His will and His wisdom, unless they are clothed within the halakhot set forth before us. Since no thought can grasp God at all, there is no way to comprehend this particle of truth except by comprehending Torah. The divine wisdom cannot be attained by contemplating abstract truths. Such contemplation yields, at best, false visions and, in other cases, self-deception. Apprehending the truth of God's wisdom, if merely a tiny grain of truth on a particular level, practical or theoretical, is possible only through the comprehension of the Torah. The halakhot that have been spelled out to us in the Torah are that aspect of its divine wisdom that is humanly attainable. When a person comprehends a teaching of the Torah, even if it is not an inspirational teaching, it is an articulation of absolute truth, a point of divine wisdom related to a particular problem.

וְגַם שִׂכְלוֹ מְלוּבָּשׁ בָּהֶם.

At the same time, one's mind is also clothed within them. When a person's mind grasps and enclothes a concept of the Torah, when one apprehends something of the divine wisdom, his mind is simultaneously enclothed within the concept, as explained above. His mind envelops that divine wisdom, and the divine wisdom envelops his mind. The divine wisdom becomes a part of him, and he becomes part of it.

וְהוּא יִחוּד נִפְלָא שֶׁאֵין יִחוּד כָּמוֹהוּ וְלֹא כְּעֶרְכּוֹ נִמְצָא כְּלָל בַּגַּשְׁמִיּוּת, לִהְיוֹת לַאֲחָדִים וּמְיוּחָדִים מַמָּשׁ מִכָּל צַד וּפִנָּה.

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. When the thinking mind and the concept it is thinking about encompass each other, what happens is not just contact between them but reciprocal unity, a merging together of the mind and the concept. Whether it is an abstract concept, a story, or a legal ruling, when a person's mind is occupied with that thought, which he understands from every angle and from every side, his mind is fused with that thought in a wonderful union – a union that has no parallel to any of the other unions we know. In the material world, we encounter certain intrinsic barriers that we cannot surmount. The encloser and the enclosed, the self and the other, cannot be united because their inherent differences, which are part and parcel of a material existence, separate them. By contrast, in the sphere of conscious ideas, in the relationship between the one who comprehends and that which is comprehended, the encloser can also be the enclosed. The differences between them become diffused until they merge together from every angle in total union.

וְזֹאת מַעֲלָה יְתֵרָה גְּדוֹלָה וְנִפְלָאָה לְאֵין קֵץ אֲשֶׁר בְּמִצְוַת יְדִיעַת הַתּוֹרָה וְהַשָּׂגָתָהּ עַל כָּל הַמִּצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת

This is the infinitely superior, great, and wondrous quality that the commandment of knowing and apprehending Torah contains over all action-related commandments Although one establishes a connection with God through all the mitzvot, only the comprehension and knowledge of Torah achieves the wonderful union that occurs between a mind and the object of its contemplation.

וַאֲפִילּוּ עַל מִצְוֹת הַתְּלוּיוֹת בְּדִבּוּר וַאֲפִילּוּ עַל מִצְוַת תַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּדִבּוּר.

and even over speech-dependent commandments and even over the mitzva of oral Torah study, which is fulfilled through speech. The mitzva of Torah study has two aspects. One is the commandment to "speak of them" (Deut. 6:7) – to speak words of Torah, to articulate them with one's mouth even if one does not understand their meaning. In this sense, the mitzva of Torah study – that is, articulating the words of Torah, reciting them repeatedly, and elucidating them – is akin to other action-related mitzvot, such as donning tefillin or giving charity. But another aspect of this mitzva is knowing Torah – studying it and comprehending it in accordance with one's intellectual capacity. With regard to this aspect, the mitzva of Torah study is "infinitely superior, greater, and more wondrous" than all other mitzvot. It is this that allows for the wondrous union that is unique to the mitzva of Torah study.

כִּי עַל יְדֵי כָּל הַמִּצְוֹת שֶׁבְּדִבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה - הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַלְבִּישׁ אֶת הַנֶּפֶשׁ וּמַקִּיפָהּ אוֹר ה׳ מֵרֹאשָׁהּ וְעַד רַגְלָהּ.

For through all speech-and action-related commandments, the Holy One, blessed be He, clothes the soul and encompasses it in the light of God from its head to its toe. When a person is involved in the performance of a mitzva, it becomes the manner in which he expresses himself, and it can be said that he is enclothed in the mitzva. When he extends his hand to give charity, the faculty of action implicit in his hand is manifest in the form of a charitable deed: The mitzva of charity is enclothing his hand. The same applies to all other mitzvot. A certain faculty of the soul is manifest by a particular medium, that of a certain mitzva, and when a person reveals the faculties of his soul through the mitzva in which he is enclothed, the person, or a certain part of him, is essentially enclothed in the divine will and wisdom.

וּבִידִיעַת הַתּוֹרָה - מִלְּבַד שֶׁהַשֵּׂכֶל מְלוּבָּשׁ בְּחָכְמַת ה׳, הִנֵּה גַּם חָכְמַת ה׳ בְּקִרְבּוֹ,

As for the knowledge of Torah, aside from the mind being clothed within God's wisdom, God's wisdom is also within that person When it comes to knowing Torah, a person gains an additional advantage. As with every mitzva, when a person's mind is engaged in Torah, he is clothed within the wisdom of the Torah, which, at that very moment, is the arena in which his mind is functioning. The mind is now involved in the wisdom of Torah and is expressing its prowess through this medium. This is the quality that Torah study shares with all other mitzvot. In this sense, there is no difference whether the hand is enclothed in the act of charity, the head in tefillin, or the brain in a Torah idea. But when it comes to the mitzva to know Torah, there is something more, an aspect that is not found with regard to action-based mitzvot: The divine wisdom not only clothes the mind that is contemplating it, but at the same time, the mind enclothes it. When a person understands and grasps a concept of Torah, he encloses it within him.

מַה שֶּׁהַשֵּׂכֶל מַשִּׂיג וְתוֹפֵס וּמַקִּיף בְּשִׂכְלוֹ מַה שֶּׁאֶפְשָׁר לוֹ לִתְפּוֹס וּלְהַשִּׂיג מִידִיעַת הַתּוֹרָה אִישׁ כְּפִי שִׂכְלוֹ וְכֹחַ יְדִיעָתוֹ וְהַשָּׂגָתוֹ בְּפרד״ס.

in accordance with the mind's capacity to apprehend, grasp, and encompass with its intellect whatever it can grasp and apprehend of the knowledge of the Torah, each person according to his intellectual capacity and ability to know and apprehend of the peshat (plain meaning), remez (allusion), derush (homiletic exposition), and sod (mystical aspects) of the Torah. What is significant is not the magnitude of the concept that the mind has grasped, whether it is great or small, but the fact that it has grasped Torah. When a person acquires a knowledge of some item of Torah – a story, a complex halakha, or even a small detail – his mind is then clothed in this item of Torah and encompassed by it. At the same time, this item expresses itself through his mind, is encompassed by his mind, and becomes an integral part of it. A complete union is formed between the subject of the person's thoughts and his thought process. The thinker and the thought become one.

וּלְפִי שֶׁבִּידִיעַת הַתּוֹרָה הַתּוֹרָה מְלוּבֶּשֶׁת בְּנֶפֶשׁ הָאָדָם וְשִׂכְלוֹ וּמוּקֶּפֶת בְּתוֹכָם,

Since it is specifically through the knowledge of Torah, and not its performance, that the Torah is clothed within a person's soul and mind and is encompassed within them, When a person physically performs the commandments of the Torah, he becomes connected to it and associated with it. By contrast, when he uses his mind and intellect to know and apprehend the Torah, it literally becomes his very own. He does not merely enter the realm of the Torah he studies, but that knowledge of Torah now enters him and becomes, at that moment, his own thought, something unique to his soul. Now this piece of Torah constitutes his own thoughts. From now on, it is an expression of himself, and he can identify himself with it.

לָכֵן נִקְרֵאת בְּשֵׁם לֶחֶם וּמְזוֹן הַנֶּפֶשׁ.

the Torah is therefore referred to as the bread and nourishment of the soul. The Torah is compared to bread in several places in Tanakh, as in the verse "Come, partake of My bread" (Prov. 9:5). The Torah that a person learns is absorbed and assimilated by his mind, just as physical food is absorbed and assimilated by the body.

כִּי כְּמוֹ שֶׁהַלֶּחֶם הַגַּשְׁמִי זָן אֶת הַגּוּף כְּשֶׁמַּכְנִיסוֹ בְּתוֹכוֹ וְקִרְבּוֹ מַמָּשׁ וְנֶהְפַּךְ שָׁם לִהְיוֹת דָּם וּבָשָׂר כִּבְשָׂרוֹ, וַאֲזַי יִחְיֶה וְיִתְקַיֵּים, כָּךְ בִּידִיעַת הַתּוֹרָה וְהַשָּׂגָתָהּ בְּנֶפֶשׁ הָאָדָם, שֶׁלּוֹמְדָהּ הֵיטֵב בְּעִיּוּן שִׂכְלוֹ עַד שֶׁנִּתְפֶּסֶת בְּשִׂכְלוֹ ומִתְאַחֶדֶת עִמּוֹ וְהָיוּ לַאֲחָדִים,

Just as physical bread nourishes the body when one actually ingests it, whereupon it is transformed into blood and flesh of his own flesh and then the body can live and be sustained, so too with regard to the knowledge and apprehension of Torah by the soul of the person who studies it thoroughly, concentrating his intellect on it, until his mind grasps it and unites with it, so that the Torah knowledge and the person's soul become one. The process by which bread (or any food, for that matter) nourishes the body has two stages. First, the food enters the person and is digested. Second, it ceases to be a distinct entity and becomes "blood and flesh of his own flesh," whereupon it sustains and nourishes the body. The same applies to Torah knowledge. Here the author of the Tanya is not referring to the positive commandment to study Torah with one's speech, certainly a great mitzva, but rather the focus is on accruing Torah knowledge, on "ingesting" it by deeply apprehending it. The process through which a person apprehends Torah is similar to the process of ingesting food. In the first stage, the concept enters the mind and is chewed and digested. The idea is transferred from the form in which it existed outside the person to the form in which he absorbs it by breaking it down to its particulars and processing it in his mind. When a person digs deep as he studies Torah, toiling until his mind grasps it, he achieves the next stage, where the concept becomes part and parcel of the structure of his mind and thought processes, the mind and the Torah that he is studying becoming one.

נַעֲשֶׂה מָזוֹן לַנֶּפֶשׁ וְחַיִּים בְּקִרְבָּהּ מֵחַיֵּי הַחַיִּים אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא הַמְלוּבָּשׁ בְּחָכְמָתוֹ וְתוֹרָתוֹ שֶׁבְּקִרְבָּהּ.

The Torah then becomes nourishment for the soul and a source of life within it from the Bestower of life, Ein Sof , blessed be He, who is clothed within His wisdom and Torah that are within the soul of the one studying. When a person studies Torah and achieves an intellectual union with it, he not only unites with the revealed Torah as we understand it but also with the essence of the Torah, the divine light of Ein Sof.

וְזֶהוּ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "וְתוֹרָתְךָ בְּתוֹךְ מֵעָי״ (תהלים מ, ט).

This is the meaning of the verse "Your Torah is in my belly" (Ps. 40:9). The Torah becomes like food that a person has eaten and digested. It is no longer distinct from him, external to him, but something that has been absorbed by the body and has become a part of it.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּעֵץ חַיִּים שַׁעַר מ״ד פֶּרֶק ג׳, שֶׁלְּבוּשֵׁי הַנְּשָׁמוֹת בְּגַן עֵדֶן הֵן הַמִּצְוֹת,

Likewise, it is written in Etz Ḥayyim 44:3 that the garments of the souls in the Garden of Eden are the commandments, The soul relates to the reality in which it exists through its garments. In the physical world, the soul clothes itself in the physical faculties of the body in order to interact with the material reality within which it resides. But in a higher world, in the spiritual reality of the Garden of Eden, it has other garments, appropriate for relating to that environment. These spiritual garments are generated by the mitzvot that a person performed in this world. Ungraspable by our material senses, these garments become, in a higher and loftier reality, the sole garments of the soul, facilitating its interaction with its spiritual environment.

וְהַתּוֹרָה הִיא הַמָּזוֹן לַנְּשָׁמוֹת שֶׁעָסְקוּ בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה בַּתּוֹרָה לִשְׁמָהּ, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּזֹהַר וַיַּקְהֵל דַּף ר״י.

and the Torah is the nourishment for the souls of those who engaged in Torah study for its own sake in this world, as stated in the Zohar , Vayak'hel 210 a. The Torah that a person studied in this world becomes food for his soul in the Garden of Eden. The soul's food in the Garden of Eden, generated by the Torah it studied in the physical world, not only provides a way for the soul to interact with the reality in which it finds itself, as the garments do, but it serves a more intrinsic role: It allows the soul to internalize and assimilate the spiritual reality of the Garden of Eden into itself, literally making it a part of its own essence.

וְ׳לִשְׁמָהּ' – הַיְינוּ כְּדֵי לְקַשֵּׁר נַפְשׁוֹ לַה׳ עַל יְדֵי הַשָּׂגַת הַתּוֹרָה

Torah study for its own sake means study in order to bind one's soul to God through apprehending the Torah, There are various definitions for what constitutes Torah study "for its own sake." Here the author of the Tanya presents what, in a certain sense, is the most basic meaning of the term: study for the sake of "binding one's soul to God through apprehending the Torah" – His wisdom. The novelty presented here is that even this most basic level of studying Torah for its own sake suffices to unite the person's soul with the Torah studied, just as food is absorbed and united with the body. Yet if a person does not study Torah for its sake at all, his soul does not merit being united with God through the Torah study.

אִישׁ כְּפִי שִׂכְלוֹ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בִּפְרִי עֵץ חַיִּים (שער הנהגת הלימוד).

each person according to his intellect, as it is written in Pri Etz Ḥayyim (Sha'ar Hanhagat HaLimud ). Not all minds are created equal. One person's comprehension of Torah differs from that of another. But when one becomes united with the Torah commensurate with his soul's level of comprehension, and he does so "for its own sake" – that is, in order to thereby become united with God – then the Torah becomes food for his soul.

[וְהַמָּזוֹן הִיא בְּחִינַת אוֹר פְּנִימִי

(The nourishment of the soul constitutes the inner light, "Inner light" is the kabbalistic term for the light of the Divine, the aspect of God's will and wisdom embodied in the Torah, that a person may imbibe and internalize, that he can absorb and integrate into his being. Food is the analogy for this inner light because both are ingested and absorbed within.

וְהַלְּבוּשִׁים בְּחִינַת מַקִּיפִים.

while the garments constitute the surrounding light. Garments are the analogy for what Kabbala terms the "surrounding light." The garments are external to the person not only in the sense that they exist outside of him but also in terms of the manner in which they affect him. Their influence on the person is not direct and palpable; it is not internalized and consciously assimilated. Though they affect a person and the reality around him, it is a less intimate influence. A soul's garments facilitate the relationship between the soul and its environment, but they affect the soul and its functions without it being conscious of it.

וְלָכֵן אָמְרוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז״ל (פאה פרק א משנה א) שֶׁתַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה שָׁקוּל כְּנֶגֶד כָּל הַמִּצְוֹת, לְפִי שֶׁהַמִּצְוֹת הֵן לְבוּשִׁים לְבַד,

Therefore, our Rabbis stated that Torah study is equivalent to all the commandments (Mishna Pe'a 1:1), since the commandments are only garments, A physical mitzva, such as tzitzit, lulav, or tefillin, is an action that a person does but not something that merges with him and becomes a part of his being. A person can fulfill a mitzva out of deep, heartfelt feelings, out of love and awe of God, out of a yearning for a deep spiritual attachment to God, yet the mitzva itself remains external to the person, a reality distinct from himself, a surrounding reality. That reality envelops a person – he exists within it and deeply relates to it – but he cannot internalize it and assimilate its essence. For this reason, the Sages have said that a mitzva protects a person from harm only at the instant he is performing it, because no perceivable trace of the mitzva remains after the person performed it.

וְהַתּוֹרָה הִיא מָזוֹן וְגַּם לְבוּשׁ לַנֶּפֶשׁ הַמַּשְׂכֶּלֶת, שֶׁמִּתְלַבֵּשׁ בָּהּ בְּעִיּוּנָהּ וְלִימּוּדָהּ.

whereas the Torah constitutes both nourishment and also the garment of the rational soul, which becomes clothed within it by means of its in-depth study and scholarship. By contrast, the Torah is food for the soul, entering the being of the person who studies it and becoming part of his inner self, his essence. Furthermore, the Torah is not only food for the soul but also a garment for the soul. As the author of the Tanya explained at length in this chapter, when a person studies Torah, not only does his mind enclose the concept and make it a part of him, but the concept also clothes and encloses his mind. So the Torah serves as nourishment, being absorbed within and becoming a part of the soul's essence, and it also serves as a garment, since it enclothes the person who studies it, becoming the manner of the soul's expression at the time he is engaged in its study, as is the case with all mitzvot.

וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן כְּשֶׁמּוֹצִיא בְּפִיו בְּדִבּוּר,

All the more so when one articulates the words of Torah with his mouth and speech, In addition to all that has been said about the virtue of knowing and apprehending Torah, there is also the act associated with Torah study, which is the mitzva to "speak of them" (Deut. 6:7), to verbally discuss and recite words of Torah, as the verse states, "This book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth" (Josh. 1:8)

שֶׁהֶבֶל הַדִּיבּוּר נַעֲשֶׂה בְּחִינַת אוֹר מַקִּיף, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בִּפְרִי עֵץ חַיִּים.]

in which case the breath from the speech that emerges when he studies the Torah assumes the quality of the surrounding light of the soul, as it is written in Pri Etz Ḥayyim .) Torah acts as a garment for the soul even when it merely remains in one's thoughts, when the mind apprehends and knows Torah. But this is the case even more so when one articulates it verbally, introducing a dimension of action to the mitzva. Then the physical substance of the breath or air that carries the words at the time of study becomes a surrounding light for the soul. When a person performs a mitzva, the material substance of the mitzva is transformed into a spiritual light that envelops its performer – the surrounding light. When one studies Torah aloud, it is the physical air that carries the sound of his learning that constitutes the material substance of the mitzva, which in turn generates that surrounding light. On this basis alone (without even considering the special qualities of Torah study in their own right), we can explain why study of Torah is equal to all the mitzvot: All mitzvot serve only the role of garment for the soul, whereas Torah study is both food and garment. We acquire and grasp Torah through the mind, so that while it is tackling an idea, it encloses it and is enclosed by it. Thus, the Torah that a person learns is imbibed as food for the soul, as something that becomes a part of his inner self and at the same time envelops him as a garment. Furthermore, in studying Torah out loud, the breath that carries the words of Torah becomes a surrounding light, as is the case with all material substances with which a physical mitzva is performed. This chapter picked up the thread of the previous chapter and elaborated at length on the garments of the divine soul – the thoughts, speech, and actions in the Torah and its mitzvot. This chapter focused on the study, knowledge, and understanding of the Torah, which become nourishment for the divine soul and constitute the divine illumination that not only reaches man but enters the soul and unites with it, just as food enters the body. The importance of this topic, and the author of the