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Shaar Hayichud Vehaemuna
Chapter 7וּבָזֶה יוּבָן מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב בַּזֹּהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ (ח״א יח, א. ח״ב קלד, א ועוד) דְּפָסוּק ״שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל״ (דברים ו, ד) הוּא יִחוּדָא עִילָּאָה וּ״בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד״ הוּא יִחוּדָא תַּתָּאָה,
Based on the previous discussion, the statement of the holy Zohar (1:18a, 2:134a) cited above will be understood. The Zohar states that the verse "Hear, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one" (Deut. 6:4) is yiḥuda ila'a , the higher unification, and the phrase "Blessed is the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever" is yiḥuda tata'a , the lower unification, The author of the Tanya now begins to address the statement of the Zohar that he cited in chapter 1 above. This precept of the Zohar actually serves as a basic theme for this entire book. The Zohar teaches that the verse "Hear, Israel... " and the words that follow in the prayers, "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever," are two facets of the same reality involving our perception of God in this world. The author of the Tanya now goes on to elucidate these two facets, which the Zohar refers to as the higher unification and the lower unification.
כִּי ״וָעֶד״ הוּא ״אֶחָד״ בְּחִלּוּפֵי אַתְּוַון.
for the word va'ed (ever) is equivalent to the word eḥad (one) through the exchange of letters. This exchange of letters may be explained in several ways. One explication employs a mode of Hebrew-letter exchange where alef is interchangeable with the letter vav according to the principle that the letters alef, heh, vav, and yod are interchangeable with each other. In addition, the ḥet can be replaced with ayin according to the principle that the guttural letters (alef, ḥet, heh, and ayin ) are also interchangeable with each other. The letter dalet remains the same.
כִּי הִנֵּה סִיבַּת וְטַעַם הַצִּמְצוּם וְהַהֶסְתֵּר הַזֶּה שֶׁהִסְתִּיר וְהֶעְלִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת הַחַיּוּת שֶׁל הָעוֹלָם כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּהְיֶה הָעוֹלָם נִרְאֶה דָּבָר נִפְרָד בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ.
Indeed, the reason and rationale for this constriction and concealment, through which the Holy One, blessed be He, concealed and hid the life force of the universe so that the universe would appear as a distinct entity unto itself, is as follows: Why was the concealment created? Why did God hide Himself so intensely in order for us to be able to perceive a world that is separate and independent of Him?
הִנֵּה הוּא יָדוּעַ לַכֹּל כִּי תַּכְלִית בְּרִיאַת הָעוֹלָם הוּא בִּשְׁבִיל הִתְגַּלּוּת מַלְכוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ. דְּאֵין מֶלֶךְ בְּלֹא עָם,
It is known to all that the purpose of the creation of the universe was in order to reveal God's kingship, for there is no such thing as a king without a nation. The purpose of the creation of the world, and the intense concealment of the divine light, is for the sake of revealing God's kingship. Note that the author of the Tanya specifically points to the attribute of Malkhut (Kingship) to explain the purpose of God's concealment and not the revelation of any other attribute. Unlike the other attributes, the attribute of Malkhut can be manifest only when there exists a nation over which the king may rule. Each of the other attributes is an inherent characteristic in its own right, and their manifestation is not dependent on the existence of another entity. Even the attribute of Ḥesed, which seemingly depends on giving to another, actually refers to the essence of giving itself. For example, a good man is good even when he is not expressing his goodness, because his essence is good. His characteristic of goodness does not have to manifest as an external expression for him to be considered good because it refers to his essence, his mode of being. It may manifest when the individual actually gives to another, but the attribute of goodness does not require another to receive the good in order for the goodness to exist.
פֵּירוּשׁ עָם מִלְּשׁוֹן ״עוֹמְמוּת״, שֶׁהֵם דְּבָרִים נִפְרָדִים וְזָרִים וּרְחוֹקִים מִמַּעֲלַת הַמֶּלֶךְ.
The meaning of the word for nation, am , is related to the word omemut , dimmed, for the subjects of the kingdom are distinct, foreign, and distant from the eminence of the king. The word omemut is used in the context of dimly lit coals whose fire is hidden within them. In this sense, "There is no king without an am " implies that without the dimming and concealment of the Divine Presence, manifestation of the attribute of Malkhut is impossible. For the nation to exist in the world, the Divine must be concealed. There must be a dimming of God's existence until the nation appears to be "other" in relation to Him. Only then is He able to be king over them.
כִּי אִילּוּ אֲפִילּוּ הָיוּ לוֹ בָּנִים רַבִּים מְאֹד לֹא שַׁיָּיךְ שֵׁם מְלוּכָה עֲלֵיהֶם,
For even if the king would have a multitude of children, the term "kingship" could not apply to his relationship with them, The term melekh, king, is not relevant in relation to the king's children because kingship commands not only power and obedience but also authority over people who have no connection with the king. As the author of the Tanya points out, "The [subjects of the kingdom] are distinct, foreign, and distant from the eminence of the king." The king's children could not constitute the royal subjects of his kingdom even if his children would amount to the size of a nation.
וְכֵן אֲפִילּוּ עַל שָׂרִים לְבַדָּם. רַק בְּרוֹב עָם דַּוְוקָא הַדְרַת מֶלֶךְ. וְשֵׁם הַמּוֹרֶה עַל מִדַּת מַלְכוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ הוּא שֵׁם אַדְנוּת, כִּי הוּא אֲדוֹן כָּל הָאָרֶץ.
nor would it apply even if he would rule over ministers alone. Only "in the multitude of the people" is specifically "the glory of the king" (Prov. 14:28). The divine name that represents the attribute of God's kingship, known as the sefira of Malkhut, is the name of Adnut (Mastery), as He is the "Master" of the entire earth. The king is the commander-in-chief of all his officers and ministers, but he is not necessarily their king. Kingship is a product of distance. Only when those most distant and separate from His presence accept His authority is His kingship manifest.
וְנִמְצָא כִּי מִדָּה זוֹ וְשֵׁם זֶה הֵן הַמְהַוִּין וּמְקַיְּימִין הָעוֹלָם לִהְיוֹת עוֹלָם כְּמוֹת שֶׁהוּא עַכְשָׁיו יֵשׁ גָּמוּר וְדָבָר נִפְרָד בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ וְאֵינוֹ בָּטֵל בִּמְצִיאוּת מַמָּשׁ.
Accordingly, this attribute and this name bring into existence and sustain the universe so that it may exist in its current state as a substantial reality and a distinct, independent entity rather than being literally subsumed in the divine reality. Even though other divine attributes, such as Ḥesed and Gevura, are manifest in this world, it is specifically the divine attribute of Malkhut and its representation, the divine name of Adnut, that sustain the world's existence as we know it. While God's other attributes play crucial roles in the functioning of life, the very existence of the universe is fueled solely by His attribute of Malkhut.
כִּי בְּהִסְתַּלְּקוּת מִדָּה זוֹ וְשֵׁם זֶה חַס וְשָׁלוֹם הָיָה הָעוֹלָם חוֹזֵר לִמְקוֹרוֹ בִּדְבַר ה׳ וְרוּחַ פִּיו יִתְבָּרַךְ וּבָטֵל שָׁם בִּמְצִיאוּת מַמָּשׁ וְלֹא הָיָה שֵׁם עוֹלָם עָלָיו כְּלָל.
For with the withdrawal of this attribute and this name, God forbid, the universe would revert to its source in the word of God and the breath of His divine utterance and literally become subsumed there in the divine reality so that it could not be termed a world at all. The universe is a product of the concealment of the divine life force on the one hand and the revelation of jarring, dichotomous multiplicity on the other. God needs, as it were, a separate, distinct universe to be King, because what is a king without subjects over whom to reign? Yet without God as King, the world also could not exist. Without His name of Adnut, the name that reveals that there is a Sovereign who rules the universe, the world would be utterly exposed to the divine light since kingship inherently creates distance between king and subjects. Its separateness would become subsumed in the divine light the way light becomes one with its light source the moment the divider between them is removed and ceases to exist.
וְהִנֵּה גֶּדֶר וּבְחִינַת שֵׁם עוֹלָם נוֹפֵל עַל בְּחִינַת מָקוֹם וּבְחִינַת זְמַן דַּוְקָא. בְּחִינַת מָקוֹם הוּא מִזְרָח וּמַעֲרָב צָפוֹן דָּרוֹם מַעְלָה וּמַטָּה; בְּחִינַת זְמַן – עָבָר הֹוֶה וְעָתִיד.
The definition and implication of the term "world" applies specifically to a reality that possesses the dimensions of space and time. The dimension of space comprises east, west, north, south, up, and down; the dimension of time refers to past, present, and future. Not only is the physical world confined by the dimensions of time and space, so is the spiritual world. Non-material realms also operate within a quasi space-time continuum. (Actually, even the sefirot that precede Malkhut – Ḥesed, Gevura, Tiferet, Netzaḥ, Hod, Yesod – which transcend the space-time continuum,
וְהִנֵּה כָּל בְּחִינוֹת אֵלּוּ אֵין לָהֶן שַׁיָּיכוּת בַּמִּדּוֹת הַקְּדוֹשׁוֹת הָעֶלְיוֹנוֹת, כִּי אִם בְּמִדַּת מַלְכוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ לְבַדָּהּ שַׁיָּיךְ לוֹמַר שֶׁהוּא יִתְבָּרַךְ מֶלֶךְ לְמַעְלָה עַד אֵין קֵץ וּלְמַטָּה עַד אֵין תַּכְלִית וְכֵן לְד׳ סִטְרִין.
All of these dimensions have no relevance to the holy supernal attributes. Only with regard to God's attribute of Malkhut alone is it appropriate to say that He is King over boundless heights and never-ending depths, including the four directions. Everything that relates to the concept of "world" pertains specifically to the attribute of Malkhut, because it is the attribute of Malkhut that gives the world existence. In this sense, a more precise description of divine kingship is Melekh ha'olam, "King of the world," as reflected in the standard ritual text of blessings.
וְכֵן בִּבְחִינַת זְמַן: ״ה׳ מֶלֶךְ, ה׳ מָלָךְ, ה׳ יִמְלוֹךְ״.
The same is true with regard to the dimension of time, in which "the Lord reigns, the Lord reigned, the Lord shall reign." Linguistically, only the appellation given to the attribute of Malkhut can be conjugated in different tenses – past, present, and future – because only the attribute of Malkhut, which operates within the space-time continuum, is subject to these constructs.
וְנִמְצָא שֶׁחַיּוּת הַמָּקוֹם וְכֵן חַיּוּת הַזְּמַן, וְהִתְהַוּוּתָם מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ וְקִיּוּמָם כָּל זְמַן קִיּוּמָם, הוּא מִמִּדַּת מַלְכוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ וְשֵׁם אַדְנוּת בָּרוּךְ הוּא.
It follows that the life force of the dimension of space and likewise the life force of the dimension of time, and their coming into being from nothingness, and their continued existence for the duration of their existence, stem from God's attribute of Malkhut and the divine name of Adnut . The space-time continuum has not always existed. It was formed at the creation of the universe and continues to exist only until a future point in time at the end of days.
וּלְפִי שֶׁמִּדַּת מַלְכוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ מְיוּחֶדֶת בְּמַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ בְּתַכְלִית הַיִּחוּד כְּמוֹ שֶׁיִּתְבָּאֵר,
Since God's attribute of Malkhut is united with His essence and being in the ultimate union, as will be explained (chaps. 9–10), The attribute of Malkhut is no different from the other sefirot as they exist in the world of Atzilut (the sefirot are manifest in all four worlds), in the sense that it too is a manifestation of divine reality itself, a revelation of the divine "I." Likewise, the name of Adnut refers to God Himself just as the name of Havaya and the name Elokim are names of God Himself.
הִלְכָּךְ גַּם בְּחִינַת הַמָּקוֹם וְהַזְּמַן בְּטֵילִים בִּמְצִיאוּת מַמָּשׁ לְגַבֵּי מַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ כְּבִיטּוּל אוֹר הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ בַּשֶּׁמֶשׁ.
the dimensions of space and time are also literally subsumed in the divine reality in relation to God's essence and being, just as sunlight is subsumed in the sun itself. It is not only the created beings within the worlds that receive their vital existence from the divine attribute of Malkhut; it is the very fabric of the universe, including the construct of space and time, that draws its vitality from Malkhut. The essence of the universe is therefore subsumed in the sefira of Malkhut, and thereby in the divine reality, what can be termed the higher unification.
וְזֶהוּ שִׁילּוּב שֵׁם אַדְנוּת בְּשֵׁם הֲוָיָ"ה.
This unification is represented by the integration of the name of Adnut within the name of Havaya . This, the merging of the name of Adnut within the name of Havaya, is the kabbalistic terminology used to describe the higher unification. In some prayer books and other ritual texts, the names are illustrated in a way that demonstrates this unification: First the yod of the name of Havaya is printed, followed by the alef of the name of Adnut, followed by the first heh of the name of Havaya, and so on. This synthesis expresses the nullification of the name of Adnut, which embodies the attribute of Malkhut and all the worlds that flow from it, into pure divine oneness, as embodied by the name of Havaya. The special illustration in prayer books in which the letters of each name are interwoven one within another creates a visual experience of the unification of these two divine names and everything they embody.
כִּי שֵׁם הֲוָיָ״ה מוֹרֶה שֶׁהוּא לְמַעְלָה מִן הַזְּמַן, שֶׁהוּא הָיָה הֹוֶה וְיִהְיֶה בְּרֶגַע אֶחָד, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב [בְּרַעְיָא מְהֵימְנָא פָּרָשַׁת פִּנְחָס] (זהר ח״ג רנ״ז סע״ב).
For the name of Havaya indicates that He transcends time; that is, He was, is, and will be at the same instant, as written (in Raya Meheimna, Parashat Pinḥas [Zohar 3:257b]). Rendering the name of Havaya as "He who was, is, and will be" is meaningless because the name points to God's essential nature, which transcends time and space, and so the concept of time does not exist in relation to Him. The name cannot be modified to denote past or future because it denotes existence unto itself, lacking all temporal vicissitudes, for which past and future are one inseparable reality.
וְכֵן לְמַעְלָה מִבְּחִינַת מָקוֹם, כִּי הוּא מְהַוֶּה תָּמִיד אֶת כָּל בְּחִינַת הַמָּקוֹם כּוּלּוֹ מִלְמַעְלָה עַד לְמַטָּה וּלְד׳ סִטְרִין.
Likewise, the name of Havaya indicates that He transcends the dimension of space, since He perpetually sustains the entire dimension of space, from above to below and in all four directions. God does not just create existence within a fixed template called time and space. He creates the very dimensions of time and space themselves. So God Himself transcends every aspect of the space-time continuum.
וְהִנֵּה אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהוּא יִתְבָּרַךְ לְמַעְלָה מֵהַמָּקוֹם וְהַזְּמַן, אַף עַל פִּי כֵן הוּא נִמְצָא גַּם לְמַטָּה בְּמָקוֹם וּזְמַן. דְּהַיְינוּ, שֶׁמִּתְיַיחֵד בְּמִדַּת מַלְכוּתוֹ שֶׁמִּמֶּנָּה נִמְשָׁךְ וְנִתְהַוֶּוה הַמָּקוֹם וְהַזְּמַן, וְזֶהוּ יִחוּדָא תַּתָּאָה [שִׁילּוּב הֲוָיָ״ה בְּאַדְנוּת ב״ה].
Although God transcends space and time, nevertheless He is also present below, within space and time. That is, He unites with His attribute of Malkhut , from which space and time flow and come into existence. This comprises the lower unification (represented by the integration of the name of Havaya within the name of Adnut ). As explained above, the higher unification, which is essentially the merging of the name of Adnut within the name of Havaya, is depicted in many prayer books by interweaving the letters of the two names, with the first letter being the yod of the name of Havaya. By contrast, the interweaving of the two names in the opposite direction is the lower unification, and this is depicted in print in a similar interwoven manner, but with the alef of the name of Adnut appearing first. These two ways of combining the name of Havaya and the name of Adnut – which we refer to as higher unification and lower unification – represent the ways in which they relate to each other. From the vantage point of the name of Havaya, the only thing that exists is the undifferentiated light of the Divine, where everything is subsumed in its source just as the light of the sun is subsumed in the sun itself. The totality of our reality, embodied by the name of Adnut, is entirely subsumed within the light of God's pure divine essence, embodied by the name of Havaya, without leaving any remnant of independent existence. The name of Adnut, on the other hand, which corresponds to God's attribute of Malkhut, is the control center of all time and space and the reality of the universe as we experience it, because "there is no king without a nation." From this vantage point, creation is distinct and separate from Creator. Higher unification, then, entails the total nullification of time, space, and any semblance of independent existence whatsoever, like the convergence of light into the body of the sun, where it loses all sense of separateness. Lower unification entails the apprehension of the presence of an infinite, vivifying Being filling the finite confines of time and space, a Being that totally transcends all limitation and definition.
דְּהַיְינוּ שֶׁמַּהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ הַנִּקְרָא בְּשֵׁם ״אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא״ מָלֵא אֶת כָּל הָאָרֶץ מַמָּשׁ בִּזְמַן וּמָקוֹם.
That is, God's essence and being, referred to by the name Ein Sof (God's infinite being), blessed be He, literally permeates the entire earth throughout time and space. The purpose of the lower unification is the perception of Ein Sof within the world. It is the realization that God, who essentially transcends time and space, permeates these dimensions. This recognition stems from an acknowledgment of the objective existence of the universe in which the divine light can be found, as opposed to the negation of all of existence within the light of Ein Sof. This perspective, that God resides below within space and time, is crucial from the human standpoint. Without it, we would feel totally cut off from the divine reality. A sense of absolute disconnection would render irrelevant any contemplation of the ways of the transcendent Divine or of His existence at all, because every human thought, word, and action necessarily manifests within the spatiotemporal realm of material existence called yesh. If one would posit that the Divine does not permeate this finite world, then there would be no connection at all between man and God.
כִּי בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וּבָאָרֶץ וּלְד׳ סִטְרִין הַכֹּל מָלֵא מֵאוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא בְּשָׁוֶה מַמָּשׁ, כִּי כָּךְ הוּא בָּאָרֶץ מִתַּחַת כְּמוֹ בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל מַמָּשׁ.
For in heaven above, and upon the earth, and in all four directions, everything is permeated with the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, with utter uniformity, for He is present upon the earth below in literally the same way that He is present in heaven above. It is impossible to refer to the omnipresent light of Ein Sof as located in a specific place, because it intrinsically transcends the concept of place. One cannot claim that God is accessible in a geographical location someplace beyond the world. That God is everywhere – above and below, in both the higher and lower realms – refers to His permeating all layers of reality. The author of the Tanya, then, is stating here that every aspect of existence is filled with the light of Ein Sof in absolute uniformity.
כִּי הַכֹּל הוּא בְּחִינַת מָקוֹם, הַבָּטֵל בִּמְצִיאוּת בְּאוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא הַמִּתְלַבֵּשׁ בּוֹ עַל יְדֵי מִדַּת מַלְכוּתוֹ הַמְיוּחֶדֶת בּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ.
For everything, both heaven and earth, possesses the dimension of space, which is subsumed in the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, which is clothed in the dimension of space through His attribute of Malkhut , which is united with God. The attribute of Malkhut is the divine attribute that vivifies the universe, which seems to occupy its own independent space yet is inseparable from the absolutely uniform light of Ein Sof. In one respect, Malkhut both defines the parameters of time and space and is defined by them, yet it is intrinsically part of the pure divine oneness. Therefore, the construct of time and space is subsumed into the infinite being of God, which both permeates it and is beyond its farthest reaches. The phrase "there is no other besides Him," for example, is not meant to imply that there is no power besides God but rather that there is no reality outside His presence. There is nothing besides Him. All of reality within time and space and the fabric of time and space itself are seamless expressions of God's oneness, so any concealment of His infinite light is also a manifestation of that infinite light.
רַק שֶׁמִּדַּת מַלְכוּתוֹ הִיא מִדַּת הַצִּמְצוּם וְהַהֶסְתֵּר לְהַסְתִּיר אוֹר אֵין סוֹף בָּרוּךְ הוּא שֶׁלֹּא יִבָּטְלוּ הַזְּמַן וְהַמָּקוֹם מִמְּצִיאוּתָם לְגַמְרֵי וְלֹא יִהְיֶה שׁוּם בְּחִינַת זְמַן וּמָקוֹם בִּמְצִיאוּת, אֲפִילּוּ לַתַּחְתּוֹנִים.
Yet His attribute of Malkhut is the attribute of constriction and concealment, concealing the light of Ein Sof , blessed be He, so that time and space will not be completely nullified from existence, resulting in the total negation of any aspect of time and space from reality, even for the lower worlds. God's name of Adnut corresponds to His attribute of Malkhut, the attribute that forms the spatiotemporal reality and preserves the dimensions of life as we know it. The name of Havaya represents His transcendence beyond time and space. However, both names ultimately point to the same truth: God's transcendent being, which is utterly beyond all time and space, exists also within the space-time continuum.
וְהִנֵּה בַּמֶּה שֶׁנִתְבָּאֵר יוּבָן מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב: ״אֲנִי ה׳ לֹא שָׁנִיתִי״ (מלאכי ג, ו), פֵּירוּשׁ שֶׁאֵין שׁוּם שִׁינּוּי כְּלָל, כְּמוֹ שֶׁהָיָה לְבַדּוֹ קוֹדֶם בְּרִיאַת הָעוֹלָם – כָּךְ הוּא לְבַדּוֹ אַחַר שֶׁנִּבְרָא. וְזֶהוּ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״אַתָּה הוּא עַד שֶׁלֹּא נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם אַתָּה הוּא״ כו׳ בְּלִי שׁוּם שִׁינּוּי בְּעַצְמוּתוֹ וְלֹא בְּדַעְתּוֹ.
In light of this explanation, the verse "For I the Lord did not change" (Mal. 3:6) may be understood. This means that there is no change whatsoever in God. Just as He existed alone before the creation of the world, so He is alone after it was created. This is also the meaning of the words recited in the morning prayers "You are He from before the universe was created; You are He after the universe was created," that is, without any change in His essence nor in His knowledge. The verse that proclaims, "For I the Lord did not change," does not refer to God's interaction with the world, whether His conduct has remained the same or evolved, but rather that God Himself was not altered by the Creation. The existence of the universe, or lack thereof, does not effect a change in God's essence, nor does it amount to even a negligible augmentation to His divine nature. Since all limitation is an expression of Ein Sof, the creation of the world – the emergence of multiplicity from oneness, of finitude from the infinite – does not constitute the manifestation of a new existence. Creation is not an authentic novel reality; it is a manifestation of "the King delighting in Himself."
כִּי בִּידִיעַת עַצְמוֹ יוֹדֵעַ כָּל הַנִּבְרָאִים שֶׁהַכֹּל מִמֶּנּוּ וּבָטֵל בִּמְצִיאוּת אֶצְלוֹ.
For by knowing Himself, He knows all created beings, since everything originates from Him and is subsumed in His reality. Our knowledge is external to us, which means that we are capable of acquiring knowledge we previously did not have and internalizing that which was formerly beyond us. The opposite holds true for God. Since "there is nothing besides Him," knowledge of the existence and happenings of every created being is actually knowledge of Himself. Through His self-knowledge, He knows the universe.
וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב הרמב״ם ז״ל, שֶׁהוּא הַיּוֹדֵעַ וְהוּא הַיָּדוּעַ וְהוּא הַדֵּיעָה עַצְמָהּ – הַכֹּל אֶחָד.
As Rambam, of blessed memory, stated (Sefer HaMadda, Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah 2:10), He is the knower, He is the known, and He is the knowledge itself; all are one. Human knowledge can be divided into three distinct categories: the knower, the object being known, and the knowledge itself, which is synonymous with the faculty of knowing. Relative to God, since He knows Himself with self-knowledge, these three categories are one.
וְדָבָר זֶה אֵין כֹּחַ בַּפֶּה לְאָמְרוֹ,
This concept is beyond the mouth's ability to express it, It is not that we are incapable of uttering these words, but that words are mere symbols designed to transmit information. When the meaning of the symbol intrinsically transcends all representation, the symbol fails to relay the message and transmits nothing but noise. Though one can certainly articulate the words, "He is the knower, He is the known, and He is the knowledge itself," their palpable meaning cannot be communicated at all. Our range of thought, which is restricted to our sensory experiences and other limited faculties, is unable to express this truth. Left only with a general sense of this point, which eludes the expressive capacity of language, the author of the Tanya affirms, "This concept is beyond the mouth's ability to express it."
וְלֹא בָּאֹזֶן לְשָׁמְעוֹ, וְלֹא בְּלֵב הָאָדָם לְהַכִּירוֹ עַל בּוּרְיוֹ.
the ear to hear it, and the human heart to perceive it clearly. There are concepts that, while impossible to articulate, can be conceived by the heart. It is possible to get an emotional impression of something that is impossible to analyze or to understand intellectually. However, this concept of God's self-knowledge that the author of the Tanya is exploring not only defies attempts to articulate it, but even the heart and the ear, which are more finely attuned receptors of abstract reality, are incapable of comprehending its depth. This characterization of God remains beyond the scope of our intuitive faculties as well.
כִּי הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא – מַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ וְדַעְתּוֹ הַכֹּל אֶחָד מַמָּשׁ מִכָּל צַד וּפִינָּה, בְּכָל דֶּרֶךְ יִחוּד.
For the essence, being, and knowledge of the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one, literally, from every perspective and point of reference and in every mode of unity. Some things constitute one entity from one perspective, but from another diverge into multiplicity. A house, for example, is a single unit, but it does not retain its quality of oneness "from every perspective and point of reference" because it can be divided into disparate physical and theoretical units. Most of what we experience as a unified whole can be similarly dissected into separate parts. By contrast, the unity of God, who is the knower, the known, and knowledge itself, constitutes a simple unity in every single respect, "from every perspective and point of reference and in every mode of unity."
וְאֵין דַּעְתּוֹ דָּבָר נוֹסָף עַל מַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ כְּמוֹ שֶׁהוּא בְּנֶפֶשׁ הָאָדָם שֶׁדַּעְתָּהּ דָּבָר נוֹסָף עַל מַהוּתָהּ וּמוּרְכָּב בָּהּ.
His knowledge is not an additional element to His essence and being, as it is within the human soul, in which its knowledge is an additional element to its essence and is compounded with it. The unique relationship between knower, known object, and knowledge is difficult to explain even in the human realm. In the first section of the Tanya,
שֶׁהֲרֵי כְּשֶׁהָאָדָם לוֹמֵד וְיוֹדֵעַ אֵיזֶה דָּבָר, כְּבָר הָיְתָה בּוֹ נַפְשׁוֹ הַמַּשְׂכֶּלֶת בְּטֶרֶם שֶׁלָּמַד וְיָדַע, וְאַחַר שֶׁלָּמַד וְיָדַע נִיתְוַסְּפָה יְדִיעָה זוֹ בְּנַפְשׁוֹ. וְכֵן מִידֵּי יוֹם בְּיוֹם, ״יָמִים יְדַבֵּרוּ וְרוֹב שָׁנִים יוֹדִיעוּ חָכְמָה״ (איוב לב, ז). וְאֵין זוֹ אַחְדוּת פְּשׁוּטָה אֶלָּא מוּרְכֶּבֶת.
For when a person learns and acquires some piece of information, his intellectual faculty was already within him before he learned and knew it, and after he learned and knew it, this new information was added to his intellectual faculty. So too, day after day, "age should speak, and the multitude of years should expound wisdom" (Job 32:7). This is not perfect unity but a composite. In the human realm, when a person acquires a new piece of knowledge, that knowledge does not become perfectly and seamlessly unified with his soul. Although the soul indeed unites with the information learned and is affected by it, and the soul can be changed to a certain degree from its impact, this unity is a composite unity rather than a pure one. When the intellect and knowledge acquired unite into this composite fusion, it constitutes an augmentation to the soul but is not a seamless part of the soul.
אֲבָל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא הוּא אַחְדוּת פָּשׁוּט בְּלִי שׁוּם הַרְכָּבָה וְצַד רִיבּוּי כְּלָל, וְאִם כֵּן עַל כָּרְחָךְ מַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ וְדַעְתּוֹ הַכֹּל דָּבָר אֶחָד מַמָּשׁ בְּלִי שׁוּם הַרְכָּבָה.
However, the Holy One, blessed be He, is perfect unity, without any composition or aspect of multiplicity whatsoever, and hence, it follows that His essence, His being, and His knowledge are all one entity, literally, without any composition. Since God's knowledge, like His other attributes, is inseparable from His essence, His knowledge does not add anything to His essence.
וּלְפִיכָךְ, כְּשֵׁם שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לְשׁוּם נִבְרָא בָּעוֹלָם לְהַשִּׂיג מַהוּת הַבּוֹרֵא וְעַצְמוּתוֹ,
Therefore, just as it is impossible for any created being in the world to comprehend the essence of the Creator and His being, This is a definition by negation: That which a created being manages to apprehend necessarily does not encapsulate the Creator. We are incapable of understanding God; therefore, that which we do ascertain is undoubtedly not God. Imagine if a person were to claim, "I have reached the horizon!" Clearly the one place where he is not located is the horizon.
כָּךְ אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְהַשִּׂיג מַהוּת דַּעְתּוֹ, רַק לְהַאֲמִין בֶּאֱמוּנָה שֶׁהִיא לְמַעְלָה מֵהַשֵּׂכֶל וּמֵהַשָּׂגָה שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יָחִיד וּמְיוּחָד הוּא וְדַעְתּוֹ הַכֹּל אֶחָד מַמָּשׁ,
so it is impossible to comprehend the essence of His knowledge. Rather, we are to believe with a faith that transcends the intellect and comprehension that the Holy One, blessed be He, is completely one, and therefore He and His knowledge are literally all one, We can speak in terms of God knowing and refer to His knowledge, but we are inherently incapable of comprehending the quality of His knowing and the fabric of His knowledge, just as we are incapable of comprehending His nature and His essence.
וּבִידִיעַת עַצְמוֹ מַכִּיר וְיוֹדֵעַ כָּל הַנִּמְצָאִים, עֶלְיוֹנִים וְתַחְתּוֹנִים, עַד שִׁלְשׁוּל קָטָן שֶׁבַּיָּם וְעַד יַתּוּשׁ קָטָן שֶׁיִּהְיֶה בְּטִבּוּר הָאָרֶץ, אֵין דָּבָר נֶעְלָם מִמֶּנּוּ. וְאֵין יְדִיעָה זוֹ מוֹסִיפָה בּוֹ רִיבּוּי וְהַרְכָּבָה כְּלָל מֵאַחַר שֶׁאֵינָהּ רַק יְדִיעַת עַצְמוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ וְדַעְתּוֹ הַכֹּל אֶחָד.
and through His self-knowledge, He perceives and knows all that exists, both higher and lower created beings, including even the smallest worm in the sea and the smallest gnat that exists in the belly of the earth. There is nothing hidden from Him. This knowledge does not add any multiplicity or composition to Him at all, since it is purely knowledge of His self, and His self and knowledge are all one. The worm in the sea is the smallest of all created beings,
וּלְפִי שֶׁזֶּה קָשֶׁה מְאֹד לְצַיֵּיר בְּשִׂכְלֵנוּ, עַל כֵּן אָמַר הַנָּבִיא: ״כִּי גָבְהוּ שָׁמַיִם מֵאָרֶץ כֵּן גָּבְהוּ דְרָכַי מִדַּרְכֵיכֶם וּמַחְשְׁבוֹתַי מִמַּחְשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם״ (ישעיה נה,ט). וּכְתִיב: ״הַחֵקֶר אֱלוֹהַּ תִּמְצָא״ וגו׳ (איוב יא, ז). וּכְתִיב: ״הַעֵינֵי בָשָׂר לָךְ אִם כִּרְאוֹת אֱנוֹשׁ תִּרְאֶה״ (איוב י, ד).
Since this is exceedingly difficult to depict in our intellect, therefore the prophet stated, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:9), and it is written, "Can you discover the understanding of God?... " (Job 11:7), and it is written, "Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as man sees?" (Job 10:4). The difference between our vision and God's vision is not quantitative but rather fundamentally qualitative. We see with eyes of flesh and blood, and therefore everything we perceive is bound to our visual scope. God's vision is not dependent on "eyes of flesh"; it is a totally indescribable, alternate seeing. In the same vein, divine knowledge, attributes, and actions do not at all resemble anything that is familiar to us whatsoever.
שֶׁהָאָדָם רוֹאֶה וְיוֹדֵעַ כָּל הַדְּבָרִים בִּידִיעָה שֶׁחוּץ מִמֶּנּוּ, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא – בִּידִיעַת עַצְמוֹ.
For a person sees and knows everything with a knowledge that is external to him, whereas the Holy One, blessed be He, knows through knowledge of Himself. This is a crucial difference between our knowledge and that of God. Man's comprehension of reality, including his self-awareness, is an external form of knowledge, an acquired awareness that is not born from within him. The problem is that when a person is young, he does not yet have the mental or expressive capacity to communicate what he intrinsically knows and thinks. Yet once he is old enough to be self-aware and think independently, and he is able to express what he knows and thinks, he has already been influenced by language, concepts, environment, and education so that it becomes impossible to distinguish between the knowledge that is authentic to his consciousness and that which was acquired from the outside. People claim to have experiences that they attribute to their own self-knowledge when truthfully they never would have conjured them up if not for some corresponding exposure to an outside source, whether it is the media, an acquaintance, or a book. Consider ideologies that are formulated in certain time periods that were not even entertained prior to those eras. For example, before the formulation of the concept of nationhood, which today seems natural and obvious, people did not think in terms of nationality, nor did they identify themselves in relation to it. Any authentic, essential knowledge, if it even exists, is the most primary and vague inkling of an "I," a self. This inscrutable, raw apprehension, preceding any delineation between the inner self and outer reality, is perhaps the only thing that we know with intrinsic knowledge and not with any knowledge that is external to us. The more elusive and indefinable it is, the more it resembles the singularity of divine knowledge, which is entirely knowledge from and of the essential self.
עַד כָּאן לְשׁוֹנוֹ
Here end the words of Rambam. Although the concept that God is knower, known, and knowledge originates from Rambam, these words are not all a direct quote from Rambam. It is surprising how the relatively long reference to Rambam is so seamlessly interwoven into this discourse, to the extent that it is hard to differentiate where exactly the words of Rambam begin and those of the Tanya end.
[עַיֵּין שָׁם בְּהִלְכוֹת יְסוֹדֵי הַתּוֹרָה. וְהִסְכִּימוּ עִמּוֹ חַכְמֵי הַקַּבָּלָה כַּמְּבוֹאָר בַּפַּרְדֵּס מֵהרמ״ק ז״ל].
(See Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah there, and the sages of the Kabbala concurred with him, as explained in Pardes Rimmonim , Sha'ar Mahut VeHanhaga 13, by Rabbi Moshe Kordevero, of blessed memory.) However, certain Jewish leaders disagreed with Rambam about this point, as elaborated below.
וְהֵנָּה מִכָּאן יֵשׁ לְהָבִין שִׁגְגַת מִקְצָת חֲכָמִים בְּעֵינֵיהֶם, ה׳ יְכַפֵּר בַּעֲדָם,
Based on this, one can understand the mistake of some who consider themselves wise, may God atone for them, There were those, not mentioned here by name, who arrived at conclusions that were not only incorrect but bordered on heresy regarding the essential principles of Jewish faith.
שֶׁשָּׁגוּ וְטָעוּ בְּעִיּוּנָם בְּכִתְבֵי האריז״ל וְהֵבִינוּ עִנְיַן הַצִּמְצוּם הַמּוּזְכָּר שָׁם כִּפְשׁוּטוֹ,
who made a mistake and erred in their study of the Arizal's writings and understood the concept of tzimtzum (divine constriction) that is addressed there literally. To a certain degree, the author of the Tanya presents this critique of the kabbalists against the backdrop of the controversy between hasidim and their opponents on the subject of tzimtzum. It is a widely held misconception that the crux of the controversy hinged on the fact that hasidim favored Kabbala and their opponents did not. In fact, the controversy emerged from theoretical issues within the realm of Kabbala. In a very general sense, there were two fundamental issues involved in this conflict. The first point concerned the relationship between theory and practice. To what extent should practical conclusions be drawn from mystical concepts and how should kabbalistic theory be properly applied as an operative model for action? The opponents of Hasidism generally left kabbalistic theory to the abstract plane and blamed Hasidism for reducing concepts that should remain in the metaphysical realm to application in areas of life that are beneath the purview of Kabbala. The second point of controversy centered on the enigma of tzimtzum. This point is extremely sensitive because it is bound up with an even more significant issue – that of divine providence. The author of the Tanya prefaces his treatment of divine omniscience here with the lengthy quote by Rambam that explores the oneness of God's knowledge – that "He is the knower, the known, and the knowledge itself" – in order to emphasize that God's knowledge and providence permeate every single aspect of creation, from the minute to the cosmic, without affecting His essence at all. Moreover, this is true not only of His attribute of Da'at but of all His attributes through which He interfaces with reality. This understanding of divine providence, that the Creator intimately fills every iota of space, is one of the most basic and significant elements of the hasidic worldview. This perspective is based on the writings of the Arizal, as in the following passage from the beginning of Etz Ḥayyim:
שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא סִילֵּק עַצְמוֹ וּמַהוּתוֹ, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, מֵעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, רַק שֶׁמַּשְׁגִּיחַ מִלְמַעְלָה בְּהַשְׁגָּחָה פְּרָטִית עַל כָּל הַיְּצוּרִים כּוּלָּם אֲשֶׁר בַּשָּׁמַיִם מִמַּעַל וְעַל הָאָרֶץ מִתָּחַת.
They understood it to mean that the Holy One, blessed be He, actually withdrew Himself and His essence, God forbid, from this world, and only oversees from above with divine providence all the creatures that are in heaven above and upon the earth below. Though most kabbalists, whether in Italy, the Land of Israel, or elsewhere, disagreed with this understanding of the tzimtzum, some sages did conceive of the tzimtzum in the literal sense, as if there were some place devoid of the Divine Presence, some truly empty space in which the universe exists and God, as it were, does not.
וְהֵנָּה מִלְּבַד שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר כְּלָל לוֹמַר עִנְיַן הַצִּמְצוּם כִּפְשׁוּטוֹ, שֶׁהוּא מִמִּקְרֵי הַגּוּף, עַל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא הַנִּבְדָּל מֵהֶם רִיבּוֹא רִבְבוֹת הַבְדָּלוֹת עַד אֵין קֵץ,
Aside from the fact that it is altogether impossible to interpret the concept of tzimtzum literally, since it ascribes corporeality to the Holy One, blessed be He, who transcends such physical phenomena by infinite myriads of separations, In the material sense, any constriction is accomplished by decreasing the volume of something. This type of constriction, regardless of how intense, irrespective of whether it is internal or external, is impossible to attribute to God. Attributing any limitation, spatial or otherwise, to God is impossible, because physical characteristics of any kind necessarily cannot apply to Him at all.
אַף גַּם זֹאת לֹא בְּדַעַת יְדַבֵּרוּ מֵאַחַר שֶׁהֵם מַאֲמִינִים בְּנֵי מַאֲמִינִים
they also did not speak with discerning knowledge, since they are also believers, descendants of believers, The author of the Tanya is not referring to heretics of the type who left the fold of mainstream Torah Judaism. The fact that these sages saw themselves as "believers, descendants of believers," sheds light on those to whom the author is referring: Jews with a Torah-based worldview, who believed in God's omniscience and in divine providence.
שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא יוֹדֵעַ כָּל הַיְּצוּרִים שֶׁבָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה הַשָּׁפֵל וּמַשְׁגִּיחַ עֲלֵיהֶם, וְעַל כָּרְחָךְ אֵין יְדִיעָתוֹ אוֹתָם מוֹסִיפָה בּוֹ רִיבּוּי וְחִידּוּשׁ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁיּוֹדֵעַ הַכֹּל בִּידִיעַת עַצְמוֹ. הֲרֵי כִּבְיָכוֹל מַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ וְדַעְתּוֹ הַכֹּל אֶחָד.
that the Holy One, blessed be He, knows all the creatures that are in this lowly world and oversees them, and necessarily His knowledge of them does not add to Him multiplicity or cause any alteration in Him, since He knows all through knowledge of Himself. Thus, as it were, His essence, being, and knowledge are all one. If God's knowledge resembled man's knowledge, then God overseeing the universe from afar would be conceivable, like a person who stands in one place and watches a situation unfold at a distance, external and separate from him. Yet, as Rambam says, "the knowledge and life of the Creator, may He be blessed, is one from every perspective and point of reference, in all modes of unity" (Sefer HaMadda, Hilkhot Yesodei HaTorah 2:10). Therefore, this world is entirely enveloped within Him and is in no sense separate from Him.
וְזֶה שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּתִּיקּוּנִים, תִּיקּוּן נ״ז, דְּלֵית אֲתָר פָּנוּי מִינֵּיהּ לָא בְּעִילָּאִין וְלָא בְּתַתָּאִין.
This is stated in Tikkunei Zohar, tikkun 57 (91b), that there is no space void of Him, neither in the higher worlds nor in the lower worlds, Just as He was infinite and limitless before the creation of the world and the constriction, so He is infinite and limitless now, within the constriction.
וּבְרַעְיָא מְהֵימְנָא פָּרָשַׁת פִּנְחָס (זוהר ח״ג, רכה, א): ״אִיהוּ תָּפֵיס בְּכוֹלָּא וְלֵית מַאן דְּתָפֵיס בֵּיהּ כו׳ אִיהוּ סוֹבֵב כָּל עָלְמִין כו׳ וְלֵית מַאן דְּנָפֵיק מֵרְשׁוּתֵיהּ לְבַר. אִיהוּ מְמַלֵּא כָּל עָלְמִין כו׳ אִיהוּ מְקַשֵּׁר וּמְיַחֵד זִינָא לְזִינֵיהּ עֵילָּא וְתַתָּא וְלֵית קוּרְבָא בְּד׳ יְסוֹדִין אֶלָּא בְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא כַּד אִיהוּ בֵּינַיְיהוּ״ עַד כָּאן לְשׁוֹנוֹ.
and in R a ya Meheimna , Parashat Pinḥas (Zohar 3:225a), as it is written there, "He grasps all, and none grasp Him.... He encompasses all worlds... and none go out from His domain; He fills all worlds... and He binds and unifies one form to another, higher with lower, and there is no compatibility between the four elements without the Holy One, blessed be He, when He is within them." Here end the words of Raya Meheimna. These passages from the Zohar speak not only about the oneness of divine knowledge, as Rambam teaches, but about the divine unity that is found in every single aspect of creation. God is the singular foundation of the universe, from the grandest phenomena to the smallest minutiae. Just as Knower and knowledge are one, so Creator and creation are one, with no barriers between them. This oneness is apprehensible not only from the perspective of da'at elyon, higher knowledge, from that clear lens through which the world lacks any perceptible existence, but also from the perspective of da'at taḥton, lower knowledge – from the vantage point of an existent world whose myriad details are infused with the light of Ein Sof, which vivifies and sustains their entire existence.
וְרוֹצֶה לוֹמַר: לֵית מַאן דְּתָפֵיס בֵּיהּ, שֶׁאֵין מִי שֶׁיִּתְפּוֹס בְּהַשָּׂגַת שִׂכְלוֹ מִכָּל שְׂכָלִים הָעֶלְיוֹנִים בְּמַהוּתוֹ וְעַצְמוּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּתִּיקּוּנִים: ״סְתִימָא דְּכָל סְתִימִין וְלֵית מַחְשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בְּךָ כְּלָל״.
The meaning of "None grasp Him" is that no one, including even the most supreme intellects of supernal beings, can grasp with the comprehension of his intellect the essence and being of the Holy One, blessed be He, as Tikkunei Zohar states (17a), "You are concealed of all the concealed, and no thought can grasp You at all." "None grasp Him" expresses the limits not just of human intellect but of the faculty of intellect in general. Even the intellects of the most supreme beings, which far transcend human comprehension, are incapable of grasping God's essence and nature. There are certain concepts that one cannot grasp because they are beyond one's intellectual capacity. This means that there may be a superior intellect that could comprehend them. This is not the case with the Divine. The reason "none grasp Him" is because the Divine is intrinsically beyond the perceptive radar of the faculty of any intellect in all its parameters. In chapter 9 below, the author of the Tanya offers an almost absurd analogy to demonstrate this point. One would not say that the most transcendent wisdom is "impossible to touch" because the sense of touch is simply not a receptive mechanism for the acquisition of wisdom. This is not due to the exalted nature of a specific wisdom, but because wisdom, irrespective of its level, is inapprehensible through the medium of touch. All the more so the intellect is a drastically less appropriate medium for the apprehension of God's nature and essence.
וְגַם בַּתַּחְתּוֹנִים,
Even with regard to the lower worlds, Even the faint divine illumination that vivifies the lower worlds is ungraspable. The divine light, even when constricted to the most extreme extent to give life to the lowest conceivable worlds, is inapprehensible by the intellect, because this light is not enveloped in the created entity that it sustains. Even though the divine light gives life to all the upper and lower worlds, filling them fully, it is not bound within them. The vicissitudes of those worlds do not influence or affect the divine light that is their source.
אַף עַל גַּב דְּאִיהוּ מְמַלֵּא כָּל עָלְמִין, אֵינוֹ כְּנִשְׁמַת הָאָדָם תּוֹךְ גּוּפוֹ שֶׁהִיא נִתְפֶּסֶת תוֹךְ הַגּוּף, עַד שֶׁמִּתְפַּעֶלֶת וּמְקַבֶּלֶת שִׁינּוּיִים מִשִּׁינּוּיֵי הַגּוּף וְצַעֲרוֹ מֵהַכָּאוֹת אוֹ קְרִירוּת אוֹ חֲמִימוּת הָאֵשׁ וְכַיּוֹצֵא.
although He fills all worlds, it is not in the same fashion as a person's soul permeates its body, which is caught within the body in the sense that it reacts and adjusts to changes in the body and its pain, such as from blows or the cold or the heat of fire and so forth. This metaphor, of the soul in the body representing God in the world, is an ancient one, appearing in sources as early as the Talmud and Midrash.
מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן בְּהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְקַבֵּל שׁוּם שִׁינּוּי מִשִּׁינּוּיֵי עוֹלָם הַזֶּה, מִקַּיִץ לְחוֹרֶף וּמִיּוֹם לְלַיְלָה, כְּדִכְתִיב: ״גַּם חֹשֶׁךְ לֹא יַחְשִׁיךְ מִמֶּךָּ וְלַיְלָה כַּיּוֹם יָאִיר״ (תהלים קלט, יב).
This is not the case with regard to the Holy One, blessed be He, who is not affected by any changes in this world, such as the change of season from summer to winter and the turning of day to night, as it is written, "Even darkness does not darken for You. The night, as if day, gives forth light. Darkness and light are the same" (Ps. 139:12), "The night, as if day, gives forth light" implies that for God night illuminates like daytime. Elsewhere, the author of the Tanya specifically emphasizes the end of the verse, "Darkness and light are the same."
לְפִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ נִתְפָּס כְּלָל תּוֹךְ הָעוֹלָמוֹת אַף עַל גַּב דִּמְמַלֵּא לוֹן.
because He is not caught at all within the worlds, even though He fills them. The relationship between God and the world is totally one-sided: He affects but is not affected, gives but does not receive, acts but is not acted upon.
וְזֶהוּ גַּם כֵּן עִנְיַן סוֹבֵב כָּל עָלְמִין.
This also pertains to the concept of "encompasses all worlds," "Encompassing all worlds" is not a physical description, implying that God exists, as it were, in a huge sphere a certain number of miles above planet Earth. This is foolishness. "Encompasses all worlds" is a description – to the extent that one can describe the indescribable – of the Divine Being embracing all, being the innermost realm of all, and being totally ungraspable by all.
פֵּירוּשׁ, דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, כְּשֶׁאָדָם מִתְבּוֹנֵן בְּאֵיזֶה דְּבַר חָכְמָה בְּשִׂכְלוֹ אוֹ דָּבָר גַּשְׁמִי בְּמַחְשַׁבְתּוֹ,
whose meaning can be explained by the analogy of a person who contemplates a subject of wisdom with his mind or a physical object in his thoughts. The author of the Tanya makes a clear distinction between the intellect and thought. The intellect is entirely spiritual, a faculty of the soul, while thought is an action of the brain, an output of the physical body. Thought is one of the three garments of the soul, along with speech and action. The subtlest of the garments, thought sits on the brink between the material and the spiritual. Although it is a spiritual action, it flows from and is dependent on the mechanism of the physical brain. Just as the hand is an instrument that performs physical actions and the mouth is the instrument for speech, the mind is the instrument that thinks.
אֲזַי שִׂכְלוֹ וּמַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ מַקִּיפִים עַל הַדָּבָר הַהוּא הַמְצוּיָּר בְּמַחְשַׁבְתּוֹ אוֹ בְּשִׂכְלוֹ,
Then his intellect and thoughts encompass that subject or object as it is portrayed in his thoughts or mind, Whether the object of one's thoughts is abstract or material in nature, one's understanding encompasses the subject being contemplated. Take, for example, a flower. One's thoughts conceive of the concept "flower" and surround it in every sense. Thoughts encompass the flower, not in a physical, spatial sense, but in the sense that the flower becomes immersed within one's thoughts. One's thoughts, however, are not encompassed by the flower.
אַךְ אֵין מַקִּיפִים עַל הַדָּבָר הַהוּא מַמָּשׁ בְּפוֹעַל מַמָּשׁ.
but they do not literally encompass that matter in actual reality. Man's intellect does not encompass the actual item it contemplates but rather the intellectual abstraction that he formulated from it. A person who thinks about the sun does not actually encompass the sun; what he encompasses is his own mental conception of the sun.
אֲבָל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא דִּכְתִיב בֵּיהּ: ״כִּי לֹא מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם״ וְגוֹ׳, מַחְשַׁבְתּוֹ וִידִיעָתוֹ, שֶׁיּוֹדֵעַ כָּל הַנִּבְרָאִים, מַקֶּפֶת כָּל נִבְרָא וְנִבְרָא בְּפוֹעַל מַמָּשׁ. שֶׁהֲרֵי הִיא הִיא חַיּוּתוֹ וְהִתְהַוּוּתוֹ מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ בְּפוֹעַל מַמָּשׁ.
However, with regard to the Holy One, blessed be He, about whom it is written, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts... " (Isa. 55:8), His thoughts and knowledge, through which He knows all the creations, encompass each and every creation in actual reality, for that is its very life force and that which actually brings it into existence from nothingness. The human intellect contemplates that which it encounters outside itself, but the creation and sustained existence of its subject of rumination is dependent neither on the person nor on his thoughts. Divine thought is different: The object of thought actually exists in God's mind. Its very formation is devised by divine thought, which serves as its life force and sustains its very existence. To illustrate this in human terms, when a writer conjures up his stories, he formulates the characters, describes them, animates them, and changes them at whim. His thoughts literally encompass the characters. It is these thoughts that create them, sustain them, and give them existence. Thought constitutes their whole life force, without which they have no existence. This is not the case when one thinks about real people. Those thoughts do not actually encompass the people themselves, because they live and exist independent of the thoughts. In this sense, the very presence and vitality of the universe emerge from and are synonymous with divine thought. God's knowledge of the universe and the very existence of the universe are in essence one. And, as the author of the Tanya says, divine thought encompasses that existence "in actual reality," unlike human thought, which can conceive of phenomena from the outside and serves as a bridge between the person's outer and inner worlds.
וּמְמַלֵּא כָּל עָלְמִין, הִיא בְּחִינַת הַחַיּוּת הַמִּתְלַבֶּשֶׁת תּוֹךְ עֶצֶם הַנִּבְרָא, שֶׁהִיא מְצוּמְצֶמֶת בְּתוֹכוֹ בְּצִמְצוּם רַב כְּפִי עֵרֶךְ מַהוּת הַנִּבְרָא, שֶׁהוּא בַּעַל גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית בְּכַמּוּתוֹ וְאֵיכוּתוֹ, דְּהַיְינוּ מַעֲלָתוֹ וַחֲשִׁיבוּתוֹ.
The concept of "fills all worlds" refers to the aspect of the life force that permeates a created entity. This life force is constricted within it with extreme constraint in accordance with the intrinsic properties of that created entity, which is finite and limited in its quantity and quality, meaning its value and significance. The concept of "He encompasses all worlds" describes the aspect of the Divine that creates all of reality. This is the pure, sustaining force that sustains the entirety of the universe. All of reality exists within the presence of God, who encompasses and surrounds all. Existence, then, is essentially a projection of the Divine. "He fills all worlds," on the other hand, describes the aspect of the Divine that infuses every created entity with light. This light permeates every minutiae of the creation, sustaining each created entity in its particular way. Expanding on the previous analogy, a person can think about various things. He may formulate a chair, a man, or even an angel in his mind, and despite the differences between them, they are all, in a certain sense, equal. There is no difference, in terms of their essential existence in the person's thoughts, between small or large, important or trivial. They all share the same essence – each are equally created fabrications. However, one thing is differentiated from the other by virtue of the quality and scope of the specific thought that gives it form and therefore life. The difference between thoughts about angels and thoughts about chairs lies in their respective scope and quality. "He fills all worlds," then, does not refer to a divine illumination that equates small and large, encompassing everything in one sweeping generalization. Rather, it is a lens that shines a specific light into each created entity, where it is bound deep within, giving distinction to each and every creation and establishing the parameters of each creation's existence.
כְּגוֹן הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ, שֶׁגּוּפוֹ יֵשׁ לוֹ גְּבוּל וְתַכְלִית בְּכַמּוּתוֹ, שֶׁהוּא כְּמוֹ קס״ז פְּעָמִים כְּגוֹדֶל כַּדּוּר הָאָרֶץ,
For example, the sun, whose mass has a limited, finite quantity, which is approximately 167 times the size of planet Earth, This evaluation of the sun's size in relation to planet Earth is a Ptolemaic approximation, as noted by Rambam in several places.
וְאֵיכוּתוֹ וּמַעֲלָתוֹ, הוּא אוֹרוֹ, גַּם כֵּן יֵשׁ לוֹ גְּבוּל עַד כַּמָּה יוּכַל לְהָאִיר, כִּי לֹא יָאִיר לְבִלְתִּי תַּכְלִית, מֵאַחַר שֶׁהוּא נִבְרָא.
and whose quality and grade, which is its light, also has a limit in terms of the extent to which it can illuminate, as it does not illuminate without bounds, since it is a created entity. The sun is limited not only in the sense that it has a diameter measurable in kilometers, but also in that its light has definable boundaries and qualities. The sun's light cannot shine into infinity.
וְכֵן כָּל הַנִּבְרָאִים הֵם בַּעֲלֵי גְבוּל וְתַכְלִית
Similarly, all creations are limited and finite, As massive as the sun is, there are stars and galaxies that are many times larger, yet each and every one is a created entity and therefore possesses limits and boundaries.
כִּי מֵהָאָרֶץ לָרָקִיעַ מַהֲלַךְ ת״ק שָׁנָה כו׳ (חגיגה יג,א).
since "the distance from the earth to the firmament is a five-hundred-year walk... " (Ḥagiga 13a). The challenge with understanding such talmudic statements is that it is unclear which realm the Talmud is referring to. This statement appears to be related to geography or astronomy, and yet, after a closer look, it seems that it refers to metaphysics. In truth, it is unclear how the Talmud came to this conclusion or if such a boundary even exists at all. This talmudic statement establishes a concrete figure, that the distance between the earth and the firmament is a journey of five hundred years. The Talmud goes on to state that the thickness of the firmament is a five-hundred-year journey, and this is likewise the distance between each firmament. Yet when the Talmud proceeds to discuss angels and measures their ankles and necks, it becomes blatantly clear that the discussion has deviated from the physical realm and has launched into another realm entirely. The general principle, however, is that all created entities in the universe by definition possess physical and spiritual limitations, whether we can measure their precise parameters or not.
וְאִם כֵּן הַחַיּוּת הַמְלוּבֶּשֶׁת בָּהֶם הִיא בִּבְחִינַת צִמְצוּם רַב וְעָצוּם, כִּי צְרִיכָה תְּחִלָּה לְהִתְצַמְצֵם צִמְצוּמִים רַבִּים וַעֲצוּמִים עַד שֶׁיִּתְהַוֶּה מִכֹּחָהּ וְאוֹרָהּ עֶצֶם הַנִּבְרָאִים כְּמוֹת שֶׁהֵם בַּעֲלֵי גְבוּל וְתַכְלִית.
Therefore, the life force that permeates them is characterized by a great and immense constriction. For it must first undergo numerous, immense constrictions before created entities, which are limited and finite, are brought into existence from its energy and light. Since all creations, including those as colossal as the sun, are limited and finite, the infinite life force that flows from Ein Sof itself must undergo immense and numerous constrictions so that it too can be characterized by limitation. Only then can the light of Ein Sof sustain the creation. These constrictions constitute all the constrictions from the initial constriction that began with "In the beginning God created," which encapsulates the primary transition from limitless to limited, to the most specific constrictions, where God's infinite life force fills, informs, and sustains the most minute features of every single created being.
כִּי מְקוֹר הַחַיּוּת הוּא רוּחַ פִּיו שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, הַמִּתְלַבֵּשׁ בַּעֲשָׂרָה מַאֲמָרוֹת שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה, וְרוּחַ פִּיו יִתְבָּרַךְ הָיָה יָכוֹל לְהִתְפַּשֵּׁט לְאֵין קֵץ וְתַכְלִית וְלִבְרוֹא עוֹלָמוֹת אֵין קֵץ וְתַכְלִית לְכַמּוּתָם וְאֵיכוּתָם וּלְהַחֲיוֹתָם עֲדֵי עַד,
For the source of the life force is the breath of the utterance of the Holy One, blessed be He, which is clothed in the ten utterances of the Creation account written in the Torah. The breath of God's utterance could have expanded endlessly without limit and created endless worlds without limits in quantity and quality and sustained them for eternity, The source of the life force that sustains reality is infinite. God's power to create is not limited in size, quality, or quantity. If that's the case, one would think that all created beings should ostensibly be like Him: infinite in quantity, size, and quality, unlimited by space, time, or status. This poses an interesting question: How can we refer to limitless, boundless worlds? How can we speak of infinite worlds when the very definition of a world is its finitude, when the nature of a world is to limit and conceal the infinite divine light? There is not a single entirely limitless created being in the universe. However, while there can be only one entity that is infinite in every sense, a created being can be infinite in a certain respect. There may be a creation that is not limited by space or one that is not limited by time, that is boundlessly powerful or expands endlessly, yet it is still created and therefore limited. There are created entities that are not limited by any material limitations, such as the supernal sefirot themselves, yet still they are limited to some degree by virtue of their specific characteristics. The attribute of Ḥesed, for example, while infinite in several respects, is limited in that it is not the attribute of Gevura. Consider an example from a different field. In mathematics, there are multiple levels of infinity. There are varying types of infinite sets, and while their differences cannot be calculated, their relative sizes of infinity can indeed be estimated and compared to each other. For example, mathematically the number of points in any given segment is infinite, but the segment itself is limited, possessing a definite beginning and end. Since there are larger segments and smaller segments, the number of infinite points on the larger segment is greater than the infinite number of points on the smaller segment. Each one is a limited infinity.
וְלֹא הָיָה נִבְרָא עוֹלָם הַזֶּה כְּלָל.
and this world would not have been created at all. This world is defined in terms of space and time. If the ten divine utterances would have remained as they exist in their source, in the breath of God, which is infinite and limitless, then worlds that would be infinite both in quality and in size would have been created instead.
(שֶׁכְּמוֹ שֶׁהַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא נִקְרָא אֵין סוֹף, כָּךְ כָּל מִדּוֹתָיו וּפְעוּלּוֹתָיו, דְּאִיהוּ וְגַרְמוֹהִי חַד.
(For just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called infinite, so are all of His attributes and actions infinite, since He and His attributes are one. "He and His attributes are one" implies that God and the instruments He employs are one. Just as He is infinite and defies any limitations, His attributes are also unlimited and immeasurable.
הַיְינוּ הַחַיּוּת הַנִּמְשֶׁכֶת מִמִּדּוֹתָיו, שֶׁהֵן חֶסֶד וְרַחֲמִים וּשְׁאָר מִדּוֹתָיו הַקְּדוֹשׁוֹת, עַל יְדֵי הִתְלַבְּשׁוּתָן שֶׁמִּתְלַבְּשׁוֹת בְּרוּחַ פִּיו, ״כִּי הוּא אָמַר וַיֶּהִי״ [תהלים לג, ט], וְעוֹלָם עַל יְדֵי ״חֶסֶד יִבָּנֶה״ [תהלים פט, ג]
This refers to the life force that emanates from His attributes, which are kindness and compassion and His other holy attributes, by being clothed in the breath of His utterance: "For He spoke and it was done" [Ps. 33:9], and the world was "built with kindness" [Ps. 89:3] "He spoke and it was done" implies that the life force that enters the worlds is drawn down from His attributes of kindness, judgment, and compassion through their embodiment in the "word of God" (the sefira of Malkhut ).
בִּדְבַר ה׳ וְרוּחַ פִּיו הַנַּעֲשֶׂה כְּלִי וּלְבוּשׁ לְחֶסֶד זֶה,
through the word of God and the breath of His utterance, which formed a vessel and garment for this kindness The word of God – that is, Malkhut – becomes a vessel for God's attribute of Ḥesed. In that sense, "the world was built with kindness." Just as God is infinite, His sefira of Ḥesed, His attribute of expansive giving, is infinite. On its own, the attribute of Ḥesed would expand indefinitely, creating countless worlds of every size and type, if it were not for the embodiment of its life force in the attribute of Malkhut, which lends it restriction, enabling the formation of a confined and definite world.
כְּהָדֵין קַמְצָא דִּלְבוּשֵׁיהּ מִינֵיהּ וּבֵיהּ.)
akin to the snail whose garment [i.e., its shell] is of it and in it.) Although the life force that expands outward from the attribute of Ḥesed is manifest in the attribute of Malkhut as divine speech that lends Ḥesed circumscription and articulation and delineates its particular parameters, this manifestation is "akin to the snail whose garment [i.e., its shell] is of it and in it."
אֶלָּא שֶׁצִּמְצֵם הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא הָאוֹר וְהַחַיּוּת שֶׁיּוּכַל לְהִתְפַּשֵּׁט מֵרוּחַ פִּיו וְהִלְבִּישׁוֹ תּוֹךְ צֵירוּפֵי אוֹתִיּוֹת שֶׁל עֲשָׂרָה מַאֲמָרוֹת וְצֵירוּפֵי צֵירוּפֵיהֶן בְּחִילּוּפֵי וּתְמוּרוֹת הָאוֹתִיּוֹת עַצְמָן וּבְחֶשְׁבּוֹנָן וּמִסְפָּרָן.
But the Holy One, blessed be He, constricted the light and the life force to enable it to issue from the breath of His utterance and clothed it within the combination of letters that compose the ten utterances of Creation and their multiple permutations, through the substitution and exchange of the letters themselves and through their numerical values and equivalents. The author of the Tanya does not convey these concepts – that of combining letters and that of substituting and exchanging letters – as being synonymous. He is not employing them merely to enhance his rhetorical style. Each is a distinct concept in Kabbala and depicts a unique way of exchanging the Hebrew letters, which constitutes a progressive distancing from their source in the divine utterances.
שֶׁכָּל חִילּוּף וּתְמוּרָה מוֹרֶה עַל יְרִידַת הָאוֹר וְהַחַיּוּת מִמַּדְרֵגָה לְמַדְרֵגָה, דְּהַיְינוּ שֶׁיּוּכַל לִבְרוֹא וּלְהַחֲיוֹת בְּרוּאִים שֶׁמַּדְרֵגוֹת אֵיכוּתָם וּמַעֲלָתָם הִיא פְּחוּתָה מְמַדְרֵגוֹת אֵיכוּת וּמַעֲלַת הַבְּרוּאִים הַנִּבְרָאִים מֵאוֹתִיּוֹת וְתֵיבוֹת עַצְמָן שֶׁבַּעֲשָׂרָה מַאֲמָרוֹת שֶׁבָּהֶן מִתְלַבֵּשׁ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בִּכְבוֹדוֹ וּבְעַצְמוֹ שֶׁהֵן מִדּוֹתָיו. וְהַחֶשְׁבּוֹן מוֹרֶה עַל מִיעוּט הָאוֹר וְהַחַיּוּת מִיעוּט אַחַר מִיעוּט עַד שֶׁלֹּא נִשְׁאַר מִמֶּנּוּ אֶלָּא בְּחִינָה אַחֲרוֹנָה, שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת הַחֶשְׁבּוֹן וּמִסְפָּר כַּמָּה מִינֵי כֹּחוֹת וּמַדְרֵגוֹת כְּלוּלוֹת בְּאוֹר וְחַיּוּת הַזֶּה הַמְלוּבָּשׁ בְּצֵירוּף זֶה שֶׁל תֵּיבָה זוֹ.
For each substitution and exchange of letters indicates the descent of the light and life force from level to level so that He could create and sustain creations whose degree of quality and value is lower than the degree of quality and value of the creations created from the letters and words that compose the original ten utterances of Creation themselves, in which the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself in all His glory, is clothed, for the ten utterances are His attributes. The calculation of a letter's value signifies the reduction of the light and life force, reduction after reduction, until nothing is left of it except for the remotest aspect, which is the sum and value of several types of forces and levels encompassed in this light and life force, which are clothed in this particular combination of letters forming this particular word. The letters of divine speech are not merely letters. They are fundamental forces that constitute the basic foundational infrastructure of the entire creation.
(וְאַחַר כָּל הַצִּמְצוּמִים הָאֵלֶּה וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶן, כַּאֲשֶׁר גָּזְרָה חָכְמָתוֹ יִתְבֵָּרַךְ,
(It is only after all these constrictions and others similar to them, as dictated by God's wisdom, We grasp these constrictions only as divine decrees, without reason or explanation. We see them retrospectively, from the outside. We are privy only to the outcomes while lacking insight into the inner workings of the causes. Why are there constrictions? Why is there a creation in the first place? And why specifically in this manner and not another?
הוּא שֶׁהָיָה יָכוֹל הָאוֹר וְהַחַיּוּת לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ גַּם בַּתַּחְתּוֹנִים, כְּמוֹ אֲבָנִים וְעָפָר הַדּוֹמֵם.
that the light and the life force could become concretized even in the lower creations, such as inanimate stones and dust. The tzimtzum enables the divine light to manifest in our low, material world. The lower and more material a created entity, the more constricted and hidden the divine vitality within it. Inanimate objects are manifestations of the greatest tzimtzum and therefore possess the lowest level of life force in reality. The author of the Tanya goes on to bring an example of such a constriction through letter exchanges.
כִּי אֶבֶן דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, שְׁמָהּ מוֹרֶה כִּי שָׁרְשָׁהּ מִשֵּׁם הָעוֹלֶה ב״ן בְּמִסְפָּרוֹ. וְעוֹד אָלֶ״ף נוֹסֶפֶת מִשֵּׁם אַחֵר לְטַעַם הַיָּדוּעַ לְיוֹצְרָהּ.
For example, the Hebrew word for stone, even, spelled alef-bet-nun, implies that its root originates from the divine name whose numerical sum is 52 [Bet-Nun ] along with the addition of the letter alef , derived from a different divine name, which was added for a reason known only to its Creator. Biblical Hebrew is composed of the letters through which God created the world. Every word is a unique code, a precise manifestation of the life force that vivifies the item to which it refers. The author of the Tanya uses the Hebrew word for "stone" as an example. The combination of the divine name Bet-Nun and the letter alef forms the word even, the word for stone. The vitality that vivifies the stone does not emanate directly from the divine name itself but rather from the vitality that progresses through different permutations of the letters and exchanges made to create the word even. This divine name, Bet-Nun, results from expanding the letters of the name of Havaya by spelling them out in their full form. This is a kabbalistic device known as milui (expansion) to reveal new letter combinations. For example, the letter alef is spelled alef - lamed - peh. The words lamed and peh can then be spelled out fully: lamed - mem - dalet and peh - heh, and so on. There are two letters of the alef - bet, heh and vav, that can be spelled three different ways: with a yud, with an alef, and with a heh. The letter heh can be spelled heh - yud, heh-alef, or heh-heh. Vav can be spelled vav-yud-vav, vav - alef - vav, or vav-vav. The name of Havaya contains both heh and vav, so there are many ways to apply the method of milui. The four basic ways are referred to as the divine names Ayin - Bet, Samekh-Gimmel, Mem-Heh, and, finally, the name Bet-Nun mentioned here. These names result from calculating the numerical values of the spelled-out, expanded forms of the letters of the name of Havaya.
וְהִנֵּה שֵׁם ב״ן בְּעַצְמוֹ הוּא בְּעוֹלָמוֹת עֶלְיוֹנִים מְאֹד.
Yet the name Bet-Nun itself is of the exceedingly high worlds. This name emanates from supernal worlds that far transcend our physical universe, even surpassing the highest spiritual realm beyond that which we can possibly comprehend.
רַק שֶׁעַל יְדֵי צִמְצוּמִים רַבִּים וַעֲצוּמִים מִמַּדְרֵגָה לְמַדְרֵגָה,
It is only through numerous, immense constrictions, degree by degree, Every transition from one level to the level beneath it constitutes a constriction of the transferred essence. Kabbalistic works depict this process as a light that passes through various screens, veil after veil, each time undergoing more constriction, until only a trace of the original light remains.
יָרַד מִמֶּנּוּ חַיּוּת מוּעָט בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד עַד שֶׁיּוּכַל לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בָּאֶבֶן. וְזוֹ הִיא נֶפֶשׁ הַדּוֹמֵם הַמְחַיָּה וּמְהַוָּה אוֹתוֹ מֵאַיִן לְיֵשׁ בְּכָל רֶגַע, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר לְעֵיל.
that a sufficiently minuscule life force was derived from it, to the degree that it could become infused within stone. This minuscule life force constitutes the soul of inanimate matter, which sustains it and brings it forth from nothingness into existence at every instant, as explained above. The soul of an inanimate object is the minute divine life force that sustains it, bringing it into existence from nothingness at every moment. (By contrast, the human soul has a different function: It is invested in the inanimate body that already exists by virtue of the sustaining life force within it.
וְזוֹ הִיא בְּחִינַת מְמַלֵּא כָּל עָלְמִין. מַה שֶּׁאֵין כֵּן בְּחִינַת סוֹבֵב כָּל עָלְמִין.)
This is the concept of "fills all worlds" as opposed to the concept of "encompasses all worlds.") "Encompassing all worlds" refers to the all-encompassing life force that vivifies the entirety of the universe and embraces within its reality all other realities. It is divine revelation in the sense that the world exists beneath God's "arms" (Deut. 33:27). God's cradling of existence is not revealed within reality and is not an active function inside every single detail of creation, but rather in the grand scope of the totality of existence. By contrast, "filling all worlds" refers to the life force that makes a stone a stone. Rather than the all-encompassing power that makes existence real, it is the aforementioned minute component that continuously informs the stone of its stone essence.
וְכָל כֹּחַ וּמַדְרֵגָה יָכוֹל לִבְרוֹא בְּרוּאִים כְּפִי בְּחִינַת מַדְרֵגָה זוֹ גַּם כֵּן לְאֵין קֵץ וְתַכְלִית בְּכַמּוּתָם וְאֵיכוּתָם לְהַחֲיוֹת עֲדֵי עַד. מֵאַחַר שֶׁהוּא כֹּחַ ה׳ הַמִּתְפַּשֵּׁט וְנֶאֱצָל מֵרוּחַ פִּיו וְאֵין מַעְצוֹר כו׳.
Each power and level of life force can create creatures in accordance with that level, even without limit in their quantity and quality to sustain them for eternity, since it is the force of God that issues and emanates from the breath of His utterance, and there is no constraint to Him. The letters of divine speech themselves are Godly forces capable of creating quantitatively and qualitatively endless realities. This is because the infinite creative capacity of divine speech is derived from the letters of the ten utterances through which the power of God, who is infinite and limitless, is manifest. But when these forces of creation descend to the lower worlds, they are progressively constricted from one degree to the next.
אַךְ שֶׁלֹּא יִהְיֶה אֵיכוּתָם בְּמַעֲלָה גְּדוֹלָה כָּל כָּךְ כְּאֵיכוּת וּמַעֲלַת בְּרוּאִים שֶׁיּוּכְלוּ לְהִבָּרְאוֹת מִבְּחִינַת כֹּחַ וּמַדְרֵיגַת הָאוֹתִיּוֹת עַצְמָן.
Yet their quality, that of the lower creations, will not be as high a grade as the quality and grade of creations that could be created from the power and level of the letters of the ten utterances themselves. The letters that constitute the ten utterances, the primordial forces of creation, become altered through exchanges, substitutions, and numerical equivalents of the letters with which the utterances are composed. Every exchange or letter substitution represents a descent to a lower, more material level. Along with the majority of the descents, God's light and life force are diminished to the extent that they can create the detailed created entities that exist in our reality. A comprehensive utterance such as "Let the water swarm" (Gen. 1:20), which gives life to all aquatic organisms, is constricted into particularized forces that design and form these organisms, from species in general to the most specific, defined, constricted light that serves as the life force of each created entity. All this sheds light on how limited, definable realities can emerge from the divine light, which is an infinite creative power. This is the meaning of tzimtzum, in contrast to the view of those sages who understood the constriction as literal, who thought that God actually contracts Himself, as it were, removing Himself from a designated place. Tzimtzum is not the actual removal of God's essence from any physical or spiritual place. God's all-encompassing and irremovable essence is, in fact, one of the fundamentals of Jewish faith. Rather, tzimtzum, as explained here, enables the existence of created beings through the constriction of the infinite aspect of the creative force, degree by degree, until the infinite light can manifest within every individual creation. This lengthy chapter constitutes the climax of