כִּי הִנֵּה כְּתִיב: ״כִּי שֶׁמֶשׁ וּמָגֵן ה׳ אֱלֹהִים״ (תהלים פד, יב).

It is written, "For the Lord [ Havaya ] God [ Elokim ] is a sun and a shield" (Ps. 84:12). This chapter opens by relating to the question posed at the end of the previous chapter: If in the presence of the sun, the sun's rays are subsumed, why isn't the entirety of creation, which is constantly immersed in its divine source, subsumed in God's existence? The author of the Tanya will answer his question by focusing on the parallel structure of this verse. The sun corresponds to the name of Havaya, the four-letter name of God, and the shield parallels the name Elokim.

פֵּירוּשׁ ״מָגֵן״ הוּא נַרְתֵּק לַשֶּׁמֶשׁ לְהָגֵן שֶׁיּוּכְלוּ הַבְּרִיּוֹת לְסָבְלוֹ, כְּמַאֲמַר רַבּוֹתֵינוּ ז״ל: ״לֶעָתִיד לָבֹא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מוֹצִיא חַמָּה מִנַּרְתְּקָהּ, רְשָׁעִים נִידּוֹנִין בָּהּ״ כו׳ (עבודה זרה ג, ב). וּכְמוֹ שֶׁהַנַּרְתֵּק מָגֵן בְּעַד הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ, כָּךְ שֵׁם אֱלֹהִים מֵגִין לְשֵׁם הוי״ה בָּרוּךְ הוּא.

The word "shield" refers to a sheath around the sun to protect the creatures of this world so that they can bear it. As the Rabbis stated, "In the World to Come, the Holy One, blessed be He, will remove the sun from its sheath. The wicked will be punished by it... " (Avoda Zara 3b). Just as the sheath shields us from the sun, so the divine name Elokim shields the divine name of Havaya. The sun does not heat and illuminate the world with its full intensity due to its protective layer (akin to the atmosphere). If the world would receive too much of the sun's radiation, it would burn up and disintegrate.

דְּשֵׁם הוי״ה פֵּירוּשׁוֹ שֶׁמְּהַוֶּה אֶת הַכֹּל מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ.

The name of Havaya denotes that God brings everything forth from nothingness into existence. The name of Havaya stems from the root hoveh, being, denoting that God is the mehaveh, the Creator and Sustainer who brings everything into being.

וְהַיּוֹ״ד מְשַׁמֶּשֶׁת עַל הַפְּעוּלָּה שֶׁהִיא בִּלְשׁוֹן הֹוֶה וְתָמִיד, כִּדְפֵירֵשׁ רש״י עַל פָּסוּק: ״כָּכָה יַעֲשֶׂה אִיּוֹב כָּל הַיָּמִים״ (איוב א, ה).

The prefix letter yod , which has been added to the root word heh-vav-heh, modifies the verb, so that the name of Havaya is converted into the present perfect, intimating that it continuously brings into existence, as Rashi explains with regard to the verse "So would Job do always" (Job 1:5). Although the letter yod is in the letter group alef, yod, tav, and nun, which change a verb's tense to future when placed at the beginning of the word, it is also used to designate the present perfect in the Torah. The verse that the author of the Tanya quotes – "So would Job do always" (Job 1:5) – illustrates this principle. Rather than indicate what Job would do in the future, the function of the yod in the verb ya'aseh, "so he would do," denotes that this was his ongoing practice.

וְהַיְינוּ הַחַיּוּת הַנִּשְׁפָּע בְּכָל רֶגַע מַמָּשׁ בְּכָל הַבְּרוּאִים מִמּוֹצָא פִּי ה׳ וְרוּחוֹ וּמְהַוֶּה אוֹתָם מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ בְּכָל רֶגַע, כִּי לֹא דַּי לָהֶם בַּמֶּה שֶׁנִּבְרְאוּ בְּשֵׁשֶׁת יְמֵי בְּרֵאשִׁית לִהְיוֹת קַיָּימִים בָּזֶה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב לְעֵיל.

This refers to the life force that is flowing literally every moment within all the creations from that which emanates from God's mouth and His breath, bringing them forth from nothingness into existence every moment, since their creation during the six days of Creation is not sufficient to sustain their existence, as stated above (chap. 2). Creation was not a onetime event, but an ongoing act that will continue as long as the universe exists. The world and each individual creation receive new life force every instant, essentially recreating them anew every moment. The divine name encapsulating this ongoing creative power is the name of Havaya.

וְהִנֵּה בְּסִידּוּר שְׁבָחָיו שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא כְּתִיב הַגָּדוֹל, הַגִּבּוֹר, כו׳,

And so, in the order of praises of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the Amida, it is written, "The great one, the mighty one.... " This order of praises appears in the Torah, in the Prophets, and in the eighteen blessings of the Amida prayer and corresponds to the order of the sefirot, the divine attributes: Ḥesed (Kindness), Gevura (Restraint), Tiferet (Beauty), and so on.

וּפֵירוּשׁ ״הַגָּדוֹל״ הִיא מִדַּת חֶסֶד, וְהִתְפַּשְּׁטוּת הַחַיּוּת בְּכָל הָעוֹלָמוֹת וּבְרוּאִים לְאֵין קֵץ וְתַכְלִית, לִהְיוֹת בְּרוּאִים מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ וְקַיָּימִים בְּחֶסֶד חִנָּם, וְנִקְרֵאת גְּדוּלָּה כִּי בָּאָה מִגְּדוּלָּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בִּכְבוֹדוֹ וּבְעַצְמוֹ.

"The great one" refers to the attribute of Ḥesed (Kindness) and the expansion of life force into all the worlds and creations without limit so they may be created from nothingness and brought forth into existence and sustained through gratuitous kindness. It is referred to as "great" because it stems from the vastness of the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself in all His glory. The attribute of Ḥesed does not necessarily denote altruism or any bestowal of good, as is commonly conceived. The essence of Ḥesed is expansion and flow, a movement from the inside out. Its nature is to be absolutely gratuitous without taking into account the capacity of the recipient.

כִּי גָּדוֹל ה׳ וְלִגְדוּלָּתוֹ אֵין חֵקֶר, וְלָכֵן מַשְׁפִּיעַ גַּם כֵּן חַיּוּת וְהִתְהַוּוּת מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ לְעוֹלָמוֹת וּבְרוּאִים אֵין קֵץ,

For God is great, and His greatness is unfathomable, and therefore He also bestows life and existence from nothingness to countless worlds and creations, The expansive flow from the one who is infinitely great is likewise infinite, creating and sustaining worlds without limit.

שֶׁטֶּבַע הַטּוֹב לְהֵטִיב.

since the nature of that which is good is to bestow good. This formulation, adopted from the medieval philosophers, affirms that the creation of the world and its investiture with life stems from the goodness of God. Since God is good, He must have created the world in order to bestow good upon it. The underlying conception of this principle is that there is no such thing as a good person who never did good for someone else. One who loves the whole world only in theory does not actually love anyone. In order to be good, the goodness must be expressed outwardly. In this sense, God's greatness, His boundless attribute of Ḥesed, is defined by His creation of infinite worlds.

וְהִנֵּה כְּמוֹ שֶׁמִּדָּה זוֹ הִיא שִׁבְחוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא לְבַדּוֹ שֶׁאֵין בִּיכוֹלֶת שׁוּם נִבְרָא לִבְרוֹא יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן וּלְהַחֲיוֹתוֹ,

Just as this attribute of Ḥesed or greatness is a praise of the Holy One, blessed be He, exclusively, as no creature has the ability to create an entity from nothingness and sustain it, The ability to create a defined entity from the realm of the infinite escapes the limited capacity of all created beings. Only God's infinite power can create existence from nothingness. Creation is entirely a manifestation of the Divine, so when we praise the Creator, it is exclusively His acclaim.

וְגַם מִדָּה זוֹ הִיא לְמַעְלָה מֵהַשְׂכָּלַת כָּל הַבְּרוּאִים וְהַשָּׂגָתָם. שֶׁאֵין כֹּחַ בְּשֵׂכֶל שׁוּם נִבְרָא לְהַשְׂכִּיל וּלְהַשִּׂיג מִדָּה זוֹ וִיכָלְתָּהּ לִבְרוֹא יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן וּלְהַחֲיוֹתוֹ, כִּי הַבְּרִיאָה יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן הוּא דָּבָר שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה מִשֵּׂכֶל הַנִּבְרָאִים.

this attribute is also beyond the intellect of any creature and their comprehension. No created being has the intellectual prowess to conceive or comprehend this attribute and its capacity to create an entity from nothingness and sustain it, because creation from nothingness is a concept beyond the intellect of any creation. Not only are the creations incapable of imitating the act of creation, they are also incapable of comprehending it. Our creative capacity is limited to changing one existing form into another. The same is true in the realm of our cognitive faculty. Our thinking process is linear, comprised of stages of cause and effect, in which one construct develops from another. We constantly ask, "Where did this come from?" We are incapable of conceiving something that is neither a cause nor an effect of that which we already know. Therefore, the concept of creating an entity out of nothingness is beyond the comprehension of created beings.

כִּי הִיא מִמִּדַּת גְּדוּלָּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וּמִדּוֹתָיו אַחְדוּת פָּשׁוּט, כִּדְאִיתָא בַּזֹּהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ (הקדמת תיקוני זהר) ״דְּאִיהוּ וְגַרְמוֹהִי חַד״.

For it stems from the attribute of greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the Holy One, blessed be He, and His attributes are a perfect unity, as stated in the holy Zohar : "He and His attributes are one" (Tikkunei Zohar 3b). God and His sefirot, through which He reveals Himself, are not two distinct entities. The sefirot are one with Him, and therefore, like Him, they cannot be comprehended, unlike human attributes, which are differentiated from a person's essence and self and can be viewed as independent concepts. Accordingly, we cannot understand His attributes, just as we cannot grasp His essence, His infinite transcendence.

וּכְשֵׁם שֶׁאֵין בִּיכוֹלֶת שׁוּם שֵׂכֶל נִבְרָא לְהַשִּׂיג בּוֹרְאוֹ, כָּךְ אֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהַשִּׂיג מִדּוֹתָיו.

Just as no created intellect whatsoever has the capacity to comprehend its Creator, so too it cannot comprehend His attributes. God's attributes are infinite, just as He is. The gap between the finite, no matter how vast, and the infinite is infinite. "No created intellect whatsoever," neither human nor angel, can span that gulf. A person's very existence as a limited creation places him at the edge of an unbridgeable divide in relation to the infinite. Every created being, created out of ayin, nothingness, perceives the Creator as ayin, inconceivable in both His attributes and His essence. Our discussion of the divine attributes (Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, and so on) serves solely as a point of reference. We anthropomorphize the Divine by projecting these concepts into our own dimensions at the cost of accuracy, since we do not even possess the vocabulary to describe them. We can never escape that gaping gulf between the infinite Creator and His limited creations.

וּכְמוֹ שֶׁאֵין בִּיכוֹלֶת שׁוּם שֵׂכֶל נִבְרָא לְהַשִּׂיג מִדַּת גְּדוּלָּתוֹ, שֶׁהִיא הַיְּכוֹלֶת לִבְרוֹא יֵשׁ מֵאַיִן וּלְהַחֲיוֹתוֹ כְּדִכְתִיב ״עוֹלָם חֶסֶד יִבָּנֶה״ (תהלים פט, ג), כָּךְ מַמָּשׁ אֵין בִּיכָלְתּוֹ לְהַשִּׂיג מִדַּת גְּבוּרָתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא,

And just as no created intellect whatsoever has the capacity to comprehend God's greatness, which is the ability to create an entity from nothingness and sustain it, as it is written, "The world is built with kindness" (Ps. 89:3), so it literally does not have the capacity to comprehend the attribute of Gevura (Restraint) of the Holy One, blessed be He, As limited creatures, we cannot grasp the unlimited attributes of our infinite Creator. In the very same way that we cannot comprehend His attribute of Ḥesed, or greatness – His boundless expansiveness – we also cannot comprehend His attribute of Gevura, His boundless capacity for concealment and restraint. The concealment of the infinite must be derived from the infinite attributes of God, since only the infinite can conceal the infinite. Only God can conceal Himself, and only the attribute of divine Gevura is capable of limiting the divine attribute of Ḥesed.

שֶׁהִיא מִדַּת הַצִּמְצוּם וּמְנִיעַת הִתְפַּשְּׁטוּת הַחַיּוּת מִגְּדוּלָּתוֹ מִלֵּירֵד וּלְהִתְגַּלּוֹת עַל הַנִּבְרָאִים לְהַחֲיוֹתָם וּלְקַיְּימָם בְּגִילּוּי כִּי אִם בְּהֶסְתֵּר פָּנִים

which is the attribute of the constriction and restraint of the expansion of the life force that stems from His attribute of greatness, preventing it from descending and becoming manifest in the creations, granting them life and sustaining them openly but rather with a concealed countenance. The attributes of greatness and restraint, which correspond to the kabbalistic terms Ḥesed and Gevura, are two opposite energies. Ḥesed is the ultimate attribute of giving and expansiveness, as opposed to Gevura, the ultimate constriction and concealment of the Divine. Greatness, or Ḥesed, expands outward, while might, or Gevura, contracts inward.

שֶׁהַחַיּוּת מִסְתַּתֵּר בְּגוּף הַנִּבְרָא, וּכְאִילּוּ גּוּף הַנִּבְרָא הוּא דָּבָר בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ וְאֵינוֹ הִתְפַּשְּׁטוּת הַחַיּוּת וְהָרוּחָנִיּוּת כְּהִתְפַּשְּׁטוּת הַזִּיו וְהָאוֹר מֵהַשֶּׁמֶשׁ אֶלָּא הוּא דָּבָר בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ.

That is, the life force is concealed in the body of the creation, giving the appearance that the body of the creation is an independent entity and is not merely the expansion of the life force and spirit, analogous to the diffusion of the sun's rays of light, but rather it is an independent entity. The expanse of the divine life force is hidden from the eye, cloaked within existence. Blind to the brilliance of the divine light, we perceive everything as retaining an independent existence. Creatures exist, walk about, and seem to act autonomously, or at least in accordance with the laws of nature. We do not perceive the Divine that gives them existence. Our perception of existence begins with the object and not with the divine light concealed within it. We assume physicality to be the real existence and the primary basis for further contemplation, whereas the spiritual aspects are regarded as secondary. Therefore, all inquiry originates from the perceived physical world, and only then, through contemplation, do we extrapolate abstract and spiritual gleanings. The critical distinction lies not between the physical and the spiritual, and not even between the finite and the infinite. The only relevant distinction is between existence perceived as independent, whether physical or spiritual, and existence that is entirely divine. Divine light assumes different forms, both physical and spiritual, equally. The great marvel is that the divine light, which is the primary element that grants life to everything in existence, is so hidden that we do not detect it. Moreover, its existence lacks any meaning for us. The author of the Tanya would cleverly connect the Hebrew word teva, nature, with the word tove'a, drowns, to suggest that God is submerged in the natural order of the world. When we view the world, we see myriad objects but fail to detect a trace of the Divine. And when there is a revelation of the Divine in the world, we refer to it as a miracle. The question of whether there are miracles or whether one believes in them is inconsequential. The real question is, how is it that divine reality is not constantly apparent in everything?

וְאַף שֶׁבֶּאֱמֶת אֵינוֹ דָּבָר בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ אֶלָּא כְּמוֹ הִתְפַּשְּׁטוּת הָאוֹר מֵהַשֶּׁמֶשׁ, מִכָּל מָקוֹם הֵן הֵן גְּבוּרוֹתָיו שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֲשֶׁר כֹּל יָכוֹל לְצַמְצֵם הַחַיּוּת וְהָרוּחָנִיּוּת הַנִּשְׁפָּע מֵרוּחַ פִּיו וּלְהַסְתִּירוֹ שֶׁלֹּא יִבָּטֵל גּוּף הַנִּבְרָא בִּמְצִיאוּת.

Although in truth it is not an independent entity, but rather it is like the dissemination of light from the sun, nevertheless, this is precisely the powerful restraint of the Holy One, blessed be He, who is omnipotent and able to constrict the spiritual life force flowing from the breath of His utterance and conceal it so that the substance of the creation will not be subsumed in divine reality. At the end of the previous chapter, the author of the Tanya asked why the world is not subsumed in the divine source in which it is immersed, just as a sunbeam disappears in the presence of its celestial source. Here he answers that God, the source of the light, not only radiates with no limit but also conceals to no end. The creative force and the concealing force are both attributes of God. As the verse states, "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the might" (I Chron. 29:11), meaning that the attribute of greatness, of infinite expansiveness, is an attribute of God, and so is the might that conceals it. The concealment of the Creator's light serves as a necessary condition to enable the existence of creation. For the creation to not be subsumed in its source, the source must be hidden to the extent that the creation perceives itself as independent. This perception of independence should not be confused with the capacity for free will. Rather, it is the root and origin of existence itself. A creation exists as long as it maintains consciousness that it is not divine. The creation's perception of independence, despite the fact that its entire spiritual and physical existence continues to be sustained by the grace of the Creator and His ongoing generosity, constitutes the mind-boggling wonder of the concealment.

וְזֶה אֵין בְּשֵׂכֶל שׁוּם נִבְרָא לְהַשִּׂיג מַהוּת הַצִּמְצוּם וְהַהֶסְתֵּר, וְשֶׁיִּהְיֶה אַף עַל פִּי כֵן גּוּף הַנִּבְרָא נִבְרָא מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ,

This cannot be comprehended by the intellect of any creation : The essence of the constriction and concealment of the life force and how, nevertheless, the substance of the creation is created from nothingness and brought forth into existence, The divine concealment engenders a baffling paradox. While existence is sustained by and immersed in the Divine, it does not sense God and even potentially denies His existence. It is a totally divine reality that fails to see the Divine. The creations are constantly being created anew and yet are not conscious that they are created at all.

כְּמוֹ שֶׁאֵין יְכוֹלֶת בְּשֵׂכֶל שׁוּם נִבְרָא לְהַשִּׂיג מַהוּת הַבְּרִיאָה מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ.

just as there is no created being whose intellect has the capacity to comprehend the essential nature of creation from nothingness. We can appreciate the true nature of creation only in negative terms, since we lack the capacity to comprehend anything that has been brought into existence from absolute nothingness. Likewise, we cannot comprehend the nature of divine concealment, the enigma that enables a creature to see itself as a substantial entity. This enigma, which allows a human being to debate, doubt, and even deny the existence of God, is in itself a divine revelation. This manifestation of God's infinite divine essence creates the possibility for free will, while at the same time nothing exists outside the purview of the Divine. Therefore, we have here not one mystery but two: the secret of creation from nothingness on one hand, and the secret of the concealment and constriction on the other. Both are from God: "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the might" (I Chron. 29:11). Just as greatness is attributed exclusively to God, so too gevura, might – concealment and constriction – are expressions of God alone. From here until the end of the chapter, the author of the Tanya explains concepts that were until now expressed in an abstract way in the language of kabbalistic symbolism.

[וְהִנֵּה בְּחִינַת הַצִּמְצוּם וְהֶסְתֵּר הַחַיּוּת נִקְרָא בְּשֵׁם כֵּלִים, וְהַחַיּוּת עַצְמוֹ נִקְרָא בְּשֵׁם אוֹר. שֶׁכְּמוֹ שֶׁהַכְּלִי מְכַסֶּה עַל מַה שֶּׁבְּתוֹכוֹ, כָּךְ בְּחִינַת הַצִּמְצוּם מְכַסֶּה וּמַסְתִּיר הָאוֹר וְהַחַיּוּת הַשּׁוֹפֵעַ.

(And so, the concept of constriction and concealment of the life force is referred to by the term "vessels," whereas the life force itself is referred to by the term "light." Just as the vessel hides its contents, so too the constriction covers and conceals flow of the light and life force. "Light" and "vessels" are classic metaphors used in Kabbala. "Light" represents the inner life force, and "vessel" depicts the concealment that constricts the light, lending it form.

וְהַכֵּלִים הֵן הֵן הָאוֹתִיּוֹת,

The vessels are the very letters comprising the ten utterances of Creation, The letters of the ten utterances of Creation are the vessels for the creative light. God uses the framework of these vessels to manifest and simultaneously hide His infinite essential being. The ten utterances are comprised of letters that serve as the basic units for the many manifestations of the divine light, for the many "lights" that stem from the primary utterances. Each light has a vessel, a letter, that sculpts it and enables the actualization of its own unique facet of the Divine.

שֶׁשָּׁרְשָׁן ה׳ אוֹתִיּוֹת מנצפ״ך שֶׁהֵן ה׳ גְּבוּרוֹת

whose origin are the five letters mem , nun , tzadi , peh , and khaf [ mantzepakh ], which all have a different form when they appear at the end of a word. These are the five aspects of Gevura , restraining forces, According to the works of Kabbala, the five final letters allude to the roots of all twenty-two letters. The final letters, which appear only at the end of a Hebrew word, express, in the language of Kabbala, "the five gevurot," or restraining forces. These letters do not express a unique sound, different from the rest of the alef-bet. The final mem sounds exactly like a regular mem does. The function of the final letter is to indicate the end of a word. Since their essential purpose is to delineate a limit, they parallel the function of the divine attribute of Gevura.

הַמְחַלְּקוֹת וּמַפְרִידוֹת הַהֶבֶל וְהַקּוֹל בְּה׳ מוֹצְאוֹת הַפֶּה לְהִתְהַוּוֹת כ״ב אוֹתִיּוֹת.

that separate and differentiate the breath and the voice through the five organs of articulation in order to bring forth the twenty-two letters. This can be illustrated in terms of human speech. Speech is comprised of two elements: the formless breath emerging from the lungs and the various ways that the throat, palate, tongue, teeth, and lips constrict the air as it is pushed through them. These organs mold the amorphous breath by constricting it in varying ways in order to fashion it into the twenty-two distinct sounds of the letters. Similarly, the process of creation entails the manifestation of the formless primordial, all-encompassing divine creative energy that encompasses all entities. The manifestation of creation comes about through various constrictions applied by the five gevurot. Just as each distinct sound is produced by a particular degree and manner of contraction of sound in general, every entity in the universe is produced through a specific degree and manner of constriction of the all-encompassing existence that constitutes everything in creation. This is the general function of Gevura and the role of the vessel in relation to the light.

וְשֹׁרֶשׁ הַה׳ גְּבוּרוֹת הוּא ״בּוֹצִינָא דְּקַרְדּוֹנִיתָא״,

The root of the five aspects of Gevura is the "candle of darkness," The candle of darkness is an evocative metaphor that appears in the Zohar. Just as a regular candle radiates light, the candle of darkness emits darkness and is the primal source of all constriction, darkness, and concealment. As discussed above, the concealment of the Divine is not merely a negation but a positive force that in and of itself has a part in bringing about the existence of creation. Just as a black-and-white picture is generated by the interplay between light and shadow, so too the reality of the world is comprised of the hidden and the manifest, both of which stem from the same infinite source.

שֶׁהִיא גְּבוּרָה עִילָּאָה דְּעַתִּיק יוֹמִין,

which is the supernal Gevura of Atik Yomin [Ancient of Days], Atik Yomin is the realm that lies beyond any concept of world whatsoever. The word atik is derived from the word ne'etak, meaning detached from its place. Yomin means days. Atik Yomin, then, is that which transcends the dimension of time. Even in the realm of Atik Yomin, there is reference to a nascent foundation point, the root of the ten sefirot  – that is, the prototypes of the sefirot before their actual manifestation. The proto-attribute of Gevura that exists in the realm of Atik Yomin is the candle of darkness, the original source of all aspects of Gevura and constriction.

וְשֹׁרֶשׁ הַחֲסָדִים הוּא גַּם כֵּן חֶסֶד דְּעַתִּיק יוֹמִין, כַּיָּדוּעַ לְיוֹדְעֵי חֵן.]

and the root of the aspects of Ḥesed is also Ḥesed of Atik Yomin , as known to those initiated in the esoteric wisdom of Kabbala.) The Ḥesed and Gevura that exist on the plane of Atik Yomin are the primal source of unbridled giving and limitless concealment. Both are equally manifestations of the infinite divine force. This point, that the root of these attributes is found in this transcendent realm, bears importance not just on a theoretical level but also as a central axis in the human struggle with good and evil. The concept that the same God present in the goodness of life is equally immanent in evil is a fundamental principle of Judaism. The Sages waged a fierce battle against the doctrine of dual powers, where one power is the source of all good and creative energy while another power is the source of all evil and entropy. In line with this, the Mishna teaches, "If one says in his prayers,'May the good bless You,' this is a path of heresy" (Megilla 25a), since one mentions only the good. We do not attribute to God only goodness and light. Even the day that the prophet called "darkness and not light" (judgment day) is also referred to as "the day of the Lord" (Amos 5:18). Ḥesed and Gevura are not black-and-white existence and its negation: Yes, it exists, or no, it does not. They are both positive manifestations of God. Just as giving expresses revelation, so does withdrawal and restriction. Darkness is not the absence of light, but rather the manifestation of concealment. When God is "silent," concealing the light of His countenance, He reveals His will no less than when He "speaks" and bestows loving-kindness. In the words of Sefer Yetzira (6:2), "the good distinguishes the evil, and the evil distinguishes the good." Good and evil are analogous to the use of black and white in a painting. The black alone does not create a picture, and neither does the white. It is the contrasts between the black and the white that create the lines and figures. This conception is applied to the form of the written letter (in Sefer Yetzira and in other sources). Is the letter framed by the black or by the white, characterized by that which is – or that which is not? Much more than a mere intellectual exercise, this articulates the question of the very nature of the universe: What constitutes the universe? The light or the dark? The concealed or the revealed? The Midrash states that the Torah was written in black fire on white fire. Those words are not comprised of ink on a background of blank space, of a substance on the backdrop of the absence of the substance, but rather of two dynamic colors, two interwoven modes of revelation, playing off each other, accentuating one another, and the Divine illuminates through them – through the white just as much as through the black. We cannot and need not flee from the darkness, as the author of the Tanya explains elsewhere. The Divine is present in the dark to the same degree as in the light. Just as we recite a blessing on God's manifestation in the good, so too we say, "Blessed is the true Judge," on the expression of the Divine veiled in darkness, in the moments of harsh judgment and concealment. It is true that concealment of the divine countenance causes suffering. However, the core of the problem is not so much the concealment, but rather the concealment of that concealment. The Ba'al Shem Tov interpreted the double language in the verse "And I, I will conceal [haster astir ] My face" (Deut. 31:18) to mean that God will hide the fact that He is hiding so that one will not even realize that God is concealed. As long as a person is aware of the concealment, though the situation may not be pleasant, it does not disrupt his ability to cope with the pain. The core problem of suffering stems not only from the concealment, but from the inability to detect the concealment, from being totally unaware of the light concealed beneath the surface of the darkness. Often, one who sees others suffering recognizes the concealment, and he may urge them to accept their difficulties with joy. However, when suffering comes his way, he fails to do the same, not because he is a hypocrite, but rather because the concealment bereaves him not only of revealed good but also of the capacity to bear the pain. As long as a person can recite a blessing on misfortune, the pain cannot affect him. The Sages taught that a complete tzaddik is a tzaddik for whom everything is good. A complete tzaddik, by definition, cannot suffer. For him, every situation is necessarily good, not because everything goes his way, but because he does not experience his difficulties as bad. The story is told of two brothers, the famous scholars Rabbi Shmuel "Shmelke" HaLevi Horowitz of Nikolsburg and Rabbi Pinḥas HaLevi Horowitz, author of the work Hafla'a, who went to the great hasidic master, the Maggid of Mezeritch. Among other questions, they asked him how a person could possibly recite a blessing on misfortune with the same joy as he recites the blessing on good tidings. The Maggid told them, "In the house of study sits a Jew called Reb Zusha. Go ask him." Reb Zusha had spent his entire life in abject poverty, suffering abuse and misfortune from all sides. The rabbis approached Reb Zusha and asked their question. Reb Zusha looked at them and said, "I wonder why the Maggid sent you to me. How can someone who never had a bad day in his life answer such a question?" For a person of Reb Zusha's stature, the concealment is not hidden. Not only that, but it is a revelation. For him, if God touches him, it makes no difference whether He does so with His left hand or His right. Nevertheless, in our prayers, we ask God to cleanse us of sin, "but not through suffering and painful disease." It is as though we are saying, "Since it's all the same to You, we prefer it this way." Sometimes God accepts the request, and sometimes He doesn't. Either way, once a person knows that both aspects are divine revelation, that not only the good but also the bad comes from Him, he relates to his situation differently. It may not hurt less, but the second, more painful layer of concealment dissipates. In the previous chapters, the author of the