Likkutei Amarim Chapter 51 · 5781

00:04 Speaker 1 Good evening. We’re up to chapter 51. Chapter 51 begins, “And now, for further explanation.” From the opening words, it’s clear that this isn’t really part of the main body of Tanya. The Alter Rebbe himself says it’s a further explanation—another explanation, though, as we’ll see, a very fundamental one. It isn’t a direct part of the main body of Tanya, because the main body comes to guide the beinoni in serving Hashem: how to serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This further explanation adds another layer of depth. What does it come to explain? The whole Tanya is based on the verse the Alter Rebbe quotes on the title page: “For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” At first he explains, as we’ve discussed many times, how to attain perfection in “doing it”—in performing the mitzvos. Everyone has a yetzer hara, and the yetzer hara gets in the way. So if we can awaken love and awe of Hashem, it will be easier for us to perform the mitzvos, to “do it,” and not stumble into transgressions. That’s what he devotes the beginning of Tanya, its first thirty-four chapters, to: how, through “in your mouth and in your heart”—which refers to speech, thought, and love and awe—each of us can attain perfection in observing the mitzvos, in “doing it.” That’s the first part of Tanya, through chapter 34. Then, in chapter 35, the second part begins. Chapter 35 opens, “And for further explanation of the word ‘to do it.’” In other words, up to chapter 34, I’ve already explained what “to do it” means. It means performing the mitzvos. And how do we do that? Through “in your mouth and in your heart.” But from chapter 35 onward, he begins a further explanation of “to do it” itself: after I’ve learned the opening chapters of Tanya through chapter

02:27 Speaker 1 34 and I’m following what they say, and I’m already observing and performing all the mitzvos—I’ve attained perfection in observing the mitzvos—there’s still more to understand about the doing itself. What is there to understand about the doing itself? What is this further explanation of the word “to do it” that begins in chapter 35? He begins by explaining how important the observance of physical, practical mitzvos is: the purpose of the world’s creation depends on performing practical mitzvos. Hakadosh Boruch Hu desired a dwelling place for Himself in the lower realms. How can we take something lowly, a physical world, and turn it into a dwelling place for Hakadosh Boruch Hu? By working with the physicality of the world and connecting it to G-dliness. How can we connect the world’s physicality to G-dliness? By taking an esrog and using it for a mitzvah; taking wood, or a candle, or oil—taking the physical things of this world, turning them into objects of a mitzvah, and infusing them with G-dliness. He goes into this at length over several chapters there—35, 36, 37—on the importance of performing practical mitzvos. Then he adds another explanation: when do practical mitzvos truly sanctify the world? When do Torah and mitzvos ascend Above and refine physicality? Only when they’re permeated with love and awe. Now, this isn’t the same love and awe discussed in the first part. In the first part, through chapter 34, the point was that I need love and awe to bring me to observe the mitzvos; the observance of the mitzvos itself didn’t have to be with love and awe. I needed love and awe only as something that would lead me to observe the mitzvos. Then, in the second part, he explains that for my observance of the mitzvos itself to be as it should be—for my mitzvos to truly sanctify and refine the world, and turn it into a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He, here in the lower realms—the mitzvos must

04:42 Speaker 1 be permeated with love and awe. He explains that for another two or three chapters, and then begins chapter 41. All right, now that I understand that I have to perform the mitzvos, and that the mitzvos need to be permeated with feeling, with vitality and enthusiasm, how do I do it? So from chapter 41 onward, through chapter 50, which we learned last time, he spends several chapters discussing different kinds and levels of contemplation: what should I contemplate, and how can I awaken love and awe within myself? He discusses the levels of love and awe, and then kinds of contemplation through which it’s easier to attain love and awe: the love of “My soul desires You” and “like a son who strives,” serving Hashem through compassion on the middle path. He ends with the service of “as water reflects the face to the face,” and the service of yearning—the soul’s yearning—in chapter 50, which we learned last time. So from chapter 35 through chapter 50, the Alter Rebbe explains one subject: the meaning of the word “to do it”—how to perform the mitzvos with love and awe. The Alter Rebbe bases this whole explanation of “to do it” on an analogy he brings from the Zohar. He introduced it when he began the explanation in chapter 35. It’s an analogy from the Yenuka in the Zohar, who compares a person’s observance of the mitzvos to a lamp. My body and my animal soul, together, are the lamp’s wick. The light of the Shechinah that rests upon me, upon the person, is the lamp’s flame. And just as a physical lamp needs oil so that the fire can take hold of the wick and give light without burning it up in an instant, so too, for me, a person, it isn’t enough to perform mitzvos with the body—it isn’t enough to have the body and animal soul. There has to be a kind of oil that takes hold of the wick, burns, and causes the light of the Shechinah, the light of the G-dly soul, to shine. What is that oil?

07:23 Speaker 1 The Yenuka says: it’s the mitzvos. The mitzvos are the oil drawn into the wick, illuminating the person’s soul and bringing the Shechinah to rest in the world. So the explanation was very long, very detailed, and very clear. Now the Alter Rebbe comes along here in chapter 51 and says: Hold on. One detail in the analogy—the substance of it, the idea, is clear, but the Yenuka’s wording isn’t understood. Why does the Yenuka say that mitzvos are compared to oil? Oil—usually olive oil—is an analogy for wisdom. Mitzvos are practical, physical things. He should have used some other analogy. It doesn’t seem fitting to compare mitzvos to oil. Understanding this is what the Rebbe calls—what the Alter Rebbe calls—a further explanation. And to explain why mitzvos are compared to oil, the Alter Rebbe will take us through three profound chapters, whose central point is... Think about it in the meantime; I can take a sip of coffee.

08:56 Speaker 2 There’s more; there’s some in the coffee pot. We took some from the coffee pot.

08:59 Speaker 1 Whoever’s left.

09:06 Speaker 2 Yes.

09:06 Speaker 1 To understand why mitzvos were compared to oil, the point is—we first need to understand the analogy. What does the Yenuka’s analogy say? That through performing the mitzvos, which are compared to oil—we’ll eventually understand why—what happens? What does it accomplish? It brings the Shechinah to rest over a person’s head. That’s what it says there. Just as the flame rests on the lamp, so through the mitzvos the Shechinah rests upon a person. The Alter Rebbe asks: What does it mean for the Shechinah to rest somewhere? Can someone explain to me what that means? So now the Alter Rebbe is going to explain it to us. Once we understand what it means for the Shechinah to rest somewhere, it will be very clear why mitzvos are compared to oil, and what aspect of wisdom there is in mitzvos. To understand why—what it means for the Shechinah to rest somewhere—the Alter Rebbe divides the explanation into three chapters. The first chapter, our chapter, asks: What does it mean for something to “rest” somewhere at all? What does it mean for the Shechinah to rest somewhere? In the next chapter he’ll explain what it means for the Shechinah to rest within the worlds. And in the third chapter, chapter 53, he’ll explain what it means for the Shechinah to rest in this world. So these are simply three stages in explaining what it means for the Shechinah to rest somewhere in general, within the worlds, and in practice in our world. Let’s begin to understand it. Chapter 51: “And now, for further explanation of the wording of the Yenuka cited above in chapter 35, we must first clarify—we must first clarify and understand a little about the Shechinah resting somewhere.” Before we explain the Yenuka’s wording, what the oil means, we need to understand what it means for the Shechinah to rest somewhere. It rested in the Holy of Holies. Our Sages said that the Shechinah rested in the Holy of Holies. What does that mean? What does it mean to “rest” there? “And likewise, wherever the Shechinah rests”—wherever our Sages said the Shechinah rests—“what does this mean? After all, ‘His glory fills the whole earth,’ and ‘there is no place devoid of Him.’” There is

11:23 Speaker 1 Is there a place where Hakadosh Boruch Hu is not present? So He is present here and not there, more present here and less present there? What does that mean? What is the explanation? “But the matter is, as it is written”—this, too, is a saying of our Sages—“From my flesh I behold G-d.” To understand what it means for the Shechinah to dwell somewhere, we will first understand what it means for the soul to dwell in the body. “Just as the human soul fills all 248 limbs of the body, from head to foot.” He will go on to explain how the soul dwells in the body. After—now we have half a chapter. Once we understand how the soul dwells in the body, we can move on to understanding how the Shechinah dwells somewhere. So for now we are setting everything aside—setting aside the Tanya, setting aside love and awe, setting aside all the lofty matters we have learned until now—and going to understand what it means for the soul to dwell in the body. Here the explanation begins. The human soul fills all 248 limbs of the body, from head to foot. When we say a person is alive, what gives him life? The soul. Clearly, we cannot say that the ear is more alive than the finger. The ear is alive and the nose is alive; as far as being alive goes, they all belong to the body and are all alive to the same degree. When a person ceases to live, all of him ceases to live at once, and as long as he is alive, all his limbs are alive to the same degree. You cannot say that one limb is more alive than another. It has a different function and different qualities, but in terms of being alive, they are all alive in the same way. From head to foot. “Nevertheless, its principal abode and manifestation”—the soul’s, in the body—“is in the brain.” There is a double expression here: its abode and its manifestation. An abode is the place where someone resides. That describes how a person lives somewhere inwardly; manifestation is more like the light above a candle—it is above it, something encompassing. So already we

13:57 Speaker 1 hear that the soul has a part that is enclothed inwardly, its abode in the body, and a part that is only manifest there, something encompassing. It is not actually enclothed inwardly and giving life in a direct way. We will see a little more of the details later. Both the soul’s abode and its manifestation, though it is present throughout the body and gives life to the entire body, are principally in the brain. From the brain, the soul spreads to all the limbs, and each limb receives from it the life-force and power appropriate to its nature and characteristics. So again, if we pay attention, there is a double expression here. First, the soul spreads from the brain to all the limbs. What does he add? “And each limb receives from it the life-force and power appropriate to it.” We already said it spreads to all the limbs. If it spreads to all the limbs, then each limb receives it. Why add anything more? The point here is—this is not just a fine distinction; it is a whole explanation in Chassidus. There are two ways the soul gives life to the body. One way is similar to light. This is how it is explained in Chassidus in several places that also explain this passage in Tanya. Light shines equally everywhere. Light does not care where it shines: it shines in the city, in the village, in the field, and even in a garbage dump. It is present everywhere equally. The moment light shines, the place where it shines is illuminated. The garbage dump is illuminated in exactly the same way as the most exalted place. The light shines; everything is illuminated. This is how the soul, the light of the soul, spreads of its own accord to give life to the body. Wherever the light of the soul reaches, that place becomes alive, becomes illuminated. What is the qual—what is the soul’s light? The light of life. Wherever the soul shines, in any limb, that limb becomes alive the moment the soul

16:32 Speaker 1 reaches it. That is one way. The second way is that each limb receives from it—from that same soul whose abode and manifestation are in the brain—the life-force and power appropriate to its nature and characteristics. The soul gives life to all the limbs equally. How, then, does one limb see, another hear, another feel, while the heart beats—each doing something different? They all received the same light. How can that be? Because every limb of the body has two things: the fact that it is alive, and its particular quality. These are two distinct flows from the soul, and both come from the brain in the head. There is the general flow of life itself, which reaches all the limbs equally. That is why all the limbs are alive, and you cannot say that one is more alive than another, or that one limb is more alive and another less alive. That is life itself. The soul also contains powers that are enclothed in the body’s limbs, and each limb receives from the soul only the power that suits it. In other words, the light of the soul reaches the eye. The eye takes from the soul only the power that can see. It reaches the ear, and the ear takes only that power; the ear does not sense the other powers. The light of the soul reaches all the limbs. The general part of that light gives each limb life, and the particular power suited to that limb becomes enclothed in it and gives it its specific quality. Is that clear so far? That is how it works. We will also see evidence for it shortly. The eye to see, the ear to hear, the mouth to speak, and the feet to walk. If you noticed, there are four examples here. The Alter Rebbe mentions only these out of all the body’s limbs: the eye to see and the ear to hear. Those, of course, refer to sight and hearing, which belong to thought. The mouth speaking

19:28 Speaker 1 belongs to speech, and the feet walking are the ultimate expression of action.

19:32 Speaker 3 Why not the hands?

19:34 Speaker 1 What?

19:34 Speaker 3 Why not the hands?

19:36 Speaker 1 A good question, one the Rebbe asks. The Rebbe points out that the Alter Rebbe deliberately skips the hands, because the ultimate expression of action, its lowest level, is the feet. So the life of all the body’s limbs is encompassed by thought, speech, and action. Those are the examples the Alter Rebbe gives. And here the question arises: How do you know that is how it works? I would say that the simple explanation—if this had not been written—I would say something completely different, a much simpler explanation. You take electrical power and put it into a motor, and it turns. You put it into a lamp, and it lights up. You put it into, I don’t know, something else, and it does something else. In other words, it is one power, and it activates each limb according to that limb’s characteristics. Why do you need to tell me there are two kinds of powers here? And that the power giving each limb its particular quality is a power that already exists at its source, already in the soul—that up there, at the soul’s source and root, all 613 powers already exist? And that we are talking about two separate things: one general power that gives life, and a second, particular power that gives the specific quality of—why do you put it that way? I would give a much simpler explanation: one power enters each limb and gives it life according to the limb’s characteristics. What is the proof? The Alter Rebbe says: “As is plainly evident, the brain senses everything that occurs in the 248 limbs and everything that happens to them.” When something happens to a limb, let us take an example. We always take an extreme example because it is easier to understand. When a limb hurts, there is a vast difference between pain in the hand, pain in the foot, or pain in another limb. It is not just that the location of the pain is different; the kind of pain is completely different. Right? It is

21:51 Speaker 1 different. Why is it different? If the same brain, the same soul, feels the pain, then it should simply feel, “It hurts here,” or “It hurts here,” or “It hurts here.” But why is it a different kind of pain? It is a different kind of pain because, in truth, each limb has a different kind of soul, so to speak. No? A different power from the soul.

22:21 Speaker 4 What does that mean?

22:22 Speaker 1 As we discussed earlier, inside the ear there is a particular power of hearing that is not vested in the eye or the hand. So when your ear hurts, it hurts in a different way, because it is not the same power; it is something else. It is not just the location that is different. The type is different, the power is different. Okay? There is a whole further depth to this, but we will skip it. So this is where we have arrived: there are two kinds of life-force whose dwelling and presence are in the brain in the head, and from there they spread to all the organs—but they spread in different ways. One kind provides a general life-force that keeps the organ alive, and the other gives the organ its particular character. And we have to say this. We have to, because otherwise the soul would experience all the organs in the same way, and we see that it experiences each organ differently. So far, so good. Where do the two connect? What do we have in there, two souls? One general soul and one particular soul made up of some 613 powers? How can you say that? Make up your mind! Do you have a soul that is one simple essence, or a soul made up of some jumble of powers that give life to all the organs? Which is it? How do they fit together? They are opposites: this is one simple essence, and that is the ultimate in multiplicity. How can they be the same thing? Is it one or two? What is in there? The Alter Rebbe says: “Now, the differing reception of the powers and life-force by the organs of the body from the soul does not come from the soul’s own essence and being.” We cannot say that the soul has particular powers that give life to the different organs in particular ways because of the soul’s own essence and being. Why? Because that would mean that the essence and being of the soul divide into 248 parts. The soul is one simple essence, with different parts vested in 248 places according to the form of their respective parts—

25:17 Speaker 1 the places of the body’s organs. How could that be? If we say that the soul itself divides into 248 organs, 248 parts, it would follow that the essence and being of the soul have a physical form. If you want—if we want to say that the soul divides into parts, with one part vested in the hand, one in the finger, one here and one there, that means the soul has a physical location. It is here and not there. How can we say that the soul is bound to a physical place, to a physical definition? How can we say it divides into parts? It would follow that its essence and being have a physical form, an image and shape like the body’s. G-d forbid—we cannot say such a thing about the soul. Rather, the entire soul is surely one spiritual essence, simple and free of any physical form. So first of all, it is clear that the soul is spiritual, not physical. And not only is it spiritual rather than physical; it certainly is not—how do you say it? G-d forbid. You cannot say—it is beyond the category and definition of physical place, measure and limitation. In other words, not only is it not physical; it certainly does not occupy space either. It is beyond both division and physicality. What defines something physical? A physical thing takes up space. How do I know it exists? It has length, width and volume. Right? A spiritual thing does not take up space. How big is love? Two meters? Half a meter? You cannot measure a spiritual thing. What is five plus eight? How big is it? Five and eight what? Yes, if you are talking about something physical. But something spiritual does not take up space. So the soul, which is utterly spiritual and is one simple essence, is certainly beyond any division and beyond—

27:42 Speaker 1 And it makes no sense to say that it is confined to a place, to this organ or that place rather than somewhere else. Nor can we say of its essence and being that it is in the brain in the head more than in the feet, since its essence and being do not fall within the category of physical place or limitation. So that is the question. On the one hand, we have proof, as we experience firsthand, that the 613 powers vested in the organs do not come from the organs; the soul already contains 613 kinds of powers. On the other hand, it is simple and clear to us, and written everywhere, that the soul does not have 613 kinds of powers—that the soul is one simple spiritual essence, free of any definition of form, place or measure. So we have evidence for both. Where do they connect? The Rebbe says: “Rather, 613 kinds of powers and life-force are contained within its essence and being, to emerge from concealment into actuality and revelation and give life to the body’s 248 organs and 365 sinews.” The soul itself is one spiritual essence, simple and free of any form, any definition, any division. The 613 kinds of powers are contained in it in potential. What does “in potential” mean? In our language we call that potential, capacity. They do not exist yet. When we say that someone can run a hundred—

29:40 Speaker 5 That is what children do not like seeing on their report cards.

29:41 Speaker 1 What?

29:42 Speaker 5 When the teacher writes, “You have potential.”

29:44 Speaker 1 Children do not like that. That is true. A person has the ability to buy a house—he has the ability, but he has not bought one; he does not have one. Right? He has the ability, I do not know, to run a hundred meters in twenty seconds or fifteen seconds. I do not know how these things work nowadays.

30:15 Speaker 5 In twenty.

30:16 Speaker 1 In practice, he has not run it. He has never run it in his life. Is he a couch potato or not? But he has the ability. An ability is not—it is not a reality; it does not exist. You can take plasticine, that modeling clay, and make it into some beautiful shape. As long as you have not done so, that shape is not there inside it. It does not exist.

30:39 Speaker 5 It is only a possibility. It is not that it—

30:41 Speaker 1 Right, it is not there; it does not exist. The 613 kinds of powers are contained within the soul. That means the soul has the capacity for them; they are not part of it. So there is the essence of the soul, which truly is entirely beyond any division, and in addition, it contains the capacity to give life to the body’s organs. That capacity is not—it is not part of the soul’s essence. It does not come from there; it is only contained there. It gives life to the body’s 248 organs and 365 sinews, and even that does not happen directly, because the soul itself is spiritual and G-dly. Rather, it happens only through another intermediary, through their being vested in the vital soul. So first the soul is vested in the brain in the head, and then it is vested in the animal vital soul, which also has 248 organs and 365 powers and life-forces. And there are several more intermediaries along the way. The Alter Rebbe does not go into them here. Elsewhere, the quarter-measure of blood and the blood are mentioned, and there are still several more intermediaries, until ultimately the powers are actually vested in the organs and give them life. “And now”—up to this point he has explained... After all, we have already said several times that whenever it says—whenever the Alter Rebbe writes, and in Chassidus generally, whenever it says “Now” or “And now,” a new subject is beginning. Up to this point, it was explained that the soul has two kinds of powers: a general power, a general life-force that gives life to the body, and a particular power that gives the organs their individual characteristics. “And now, concerning the flow of all 613 kinds of powers and life-force from the soul to the body to give it life, it is this flow and revelation of which they said that its principal dwelling and presence are entirely in the brain in the head.” How did the chapter begin? To understand what it means for the Shechinah to dwell in the Beis Hamikdash, we need to understand what it means for the soul to dwell in the body. What did our Sages say? That the soul’s dwelling and presence are in the brain in the head, and from there it spreads

33:09 Speaker 1 to all the limbs. How does it spread to all the limbs? In two ways: a general life-force and an individual life-force. When we say that its principal dwelling and presence are in the faculties of the head, what are we referring to? Not the essence of the soul. The essence of the soul is not located there. It’s not that it isn’t there; it doesn’t dwell there, and it isn’t present there either. Whenever we speak of the soul dwelling and being present in the faculties of the head, and of it giving life to the limbs through a general and an individual life-force, we are not speaking about the essence of the soul. We are speaking only about the 613 faculties contained within it. The analogy given for this is sunlight. There is the light of the sun that actually illuminates the world. There is the source of sunlight—the sun itself. But even the sun itself, the source of sunlight, is not yet the essence of the luminary. That essence is not the light the sun gives off; it is the substance of the sun itself. So we already have three levels here: the substance of the sun itself, the sun’s capacity to shine, and the light it actually gives off. Right? Good. So the light that actually shines gives life to the limbs. Its source is the sun, the body that shines. And the substance, the body of the sun—that is what we call the essence of the luminary. Good. We know from many places, and we will see further on, with Hashem’s help, especially in the second part of Tanya, in at least two places, that the sun is an analogy for Hakadosh Boruch Hu: “For Hashem Elokim is a sun and a shield.” Why is the sun an analogy for the name Havayah? Because that is how it works. Chassidus explains that all the analogies brought in Chassidus are used because the physical thing in the analogy truly comes into being through a chain of descent from that spiritual concept. If the sun is an analogy for the name Havayah, that means the sun has its root in the name Havayah. Of the sun as a luminary, we can say

35:53 Speaker 1 that it is the source of physical light, right? We can say that. We can also say that the sun itself is the original source. But can we say of the name Havayah that it is the source of physical light? What connection is there? The sun is only an analogy; it is not the same thing at all. It is an example drawn from something else. Everything we are saying about it is an analogy. The name Havayah is not part of the world. It is not a physical thing or a spiritual thing; it is G-dliness. Is there some point within the name Havayah of which we could say, “Here is where physical light came from; here is where the sun came from”? There is no such thing. The sun is an analogy for the name Havayah, but is the name Havayah a source for the sun in that sense? No. Clear? Understood? That is the relationship between the essence of the soul and the faculties contained within the soul. When we say that the soul dwells and is present in the faculties of the head, and that it is the source for all the faculties, we are speaking about the sun in the analogy. When we speak about the essence of the soul, that is analogous to the name Havayah. It is not on that level. It is something entirely different. And when we speak about the soul’s presence in the body to give it life, in line fifteen—“of this drawing-down, which is in a state of revelation, they said that its principal dwelling and presence are entirely in the faculties of the head”—we are not speaking about the essence of the soul. The essence of the soul is not present in the faculties of the head. It does not dwell there, and it is not even present there. It is not there. It is not on that level. It has no connection at all to giving life to the body in any form. Because where does the soul’s presence in the body actually begin? In the faculties of the head. What receives from the soul first? The faculties of the head. Therefore, in line seventeen, they—the faculties of the head—“first receive the power and life-force appropriate to them according to their composition and nature”: the faculties of Chochmah, Binah and Daas, the power of thought, and everything else associated with the faculties of the head. More than that: not only does the soul first become revealed in the head, where the loftiest faculties in a person are revealed. Far more than that, “the entirety of all the life-force drawn down to the other limbs is also contained and invested in the faculties of the head.”

38:40 Speaker 1 It is not only that the soul’s intellectual faculty is revealed in the faculties of the head. Rather, the life-force of all the limbs is first revealed there. Of course, when we say that the life-force of all the limbs is revealed in the faculties of the head, it does not mean that you can hear with your brain, or that the brain can function in place of the heart. The limbs’ life-force begins there. It is like the sun itself, the body of the sun. That is where it becomes revealed; that is where it begins. From there, life-force can emerge, but there it is all contained in a single point. And there, in the faculties of the head, is the principal place and root of this drawing-down of the individual life-force of the body’s limbs, where the light and life-force of the entire soul are revealed. From there, from the faculties of the head, after the soul has invested itself in those faculties and the life-force that gives life to all the limbs has been revealed there, this radiance spreads to all the other limbs. Then, and only then, does each limb receive the power and life-force appropriate to it, according to its composition and nature. The power of sight is revealed in the eye, the power of hearing in the ear, and so on. All the faculties spread from the brain, as is known, because that is the principal dwelling place of the entire soul as far as revelation is concerned. There, the total life-force spreading from it is revealed, and only the faculties of that total life-force shine and spread from there to all the limbs of the body, like light spreading from the sun into the innermost rooms. Even the heart receives from the brain, and that is why the brain naturally rules over it, as mentioned above. Throughout this last paragraph, the Alter Rebbe has essentially repeated twice more everything we discussed earlier. At a deeper level, Chassidus is speaking here about further, distinct levels of the soul’s presence within the faculties of the head. But this is enough for our purposes. That brings us to the end of the first part of the chapter—the analogy. What did the Alter Rebbe tell us through the analogy? “From my flesh I perceive G-dliness.” How is the soul present in the body? We need to know two things. First, what aspect of the soul is present in the body? Not the essence of the soul, but only

41:17 Speaker 1 the individual life-force that comes to give life to the body. And how is even that life-force present in the body? In two ways: a general life-force that keeps the limbs alive, and an individual life-force that gives each limb its particular character according to its faculty, composition and nature. Both of these kinds of life-force are first revealed in the faculties of the head, and from there they spread and shine throughout all the limbs of the body. That is the analogy. The Alter Rebbe continues in the next passage and says: “And precisely so, by way of analogy, in the matter being illustrated: Ein Sof, blessed be He, fills all worlds to give them life.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu fills the worlds to give them life in precisely the way we have described the soul giving life to the body. “And in every world there are creations without end or limit, myriads upon myriads of kinds and levels of angels and souls.” We have spoken several times about the various levels and worlds. In all the worlds there are angels and souls, and angels and souls are each a distinct category. There are many levels among the angels and many levels among the souls, and all of them receive their life-force from the light that surrounds all—from the light that fills all worlds—in the same way that the body’s limbs receive life-force from the soul. That is, each of the spiritual creations, and the physical ones as well, receives its life from the light that fills all worlds in two ways: a general life-force, which enables it to exist and be alive, and an individual life-force, which gives it its particular level and form. “And likewise, the multitude of worlds has no end or limit, one higher than the other,” and so on. “Now, the essence and being of Ein Sof, blessed be He, is equal in the upper and lower worlds, as in the analogy of the soul above.” Just as the soul gives life to the entire body equally, so the light of Ein Sof gives life to all the worlds equally. Just as we cannot say that one limb is more alive or less alive than another, so Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the light of Ein Sof that fills all worlds, gives life to all the worlds equally. He gives life

43:57 Speaker 1 to all of them. As it says in the Tikkunei Zohar, “He is hidden from all that is hidden.” “He”—who is “He”? Here we are not speaking about the light that surrounds all worlds. We are speaking about the light that fills all worlds and gives them life. And although we are speaking about the light that gives life to the worlds, there are two levels within that itself: the life-force that each one feels according to its nature, and the light that gives the worlds their very existence. No one feels the light that gives the worlds their very existence. “Hidden from all that is hidden” can be understood in two ways. We can understand it simply: Hakadosh Boruch Hu is more hidden than all that is hidden. There is a revealed world, a hidden world, and levels beyond that, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu is more hidden still than all the worlds. That is one way. There is a deeper way, and that is what the Alter Rebbe means here. What does “hidden from all that is hidden” mean? Not that He is more hidden than the hidden ones, but that He is hidden even from the hidden ones. “No thought can grasp Him at all.” Even in the hidden worlds, which we cannot begin to understand, the lofty beings there understand Hakadosh Boruch Hu just as much as we do. No more and no less.

45:34 Speaker 6 But they are in a much higher world, so how can they not—

45:36 Speaker 1 This is the meaning of “hidden from all the hidden”: He is hidden from them just as He is hidden from us. That is something else entirely. And this is speaking about the light that fills all worlds, which gives life to the worlds and brings them into being.

45:55 Speaker 6 Rabbi, it’s been an hour and a half.

45:57 Speaker 1 What?

45:58 Speaker 6 Sixteen oh five.

46:00 Speaker 1 According to the clock?

46:01 Speaker 6 Yes.

46:01 Speaker 1 What do we do?

46:04 Speaker 6 We start.

46:05 Speaker 1 Well, the truth is, we don’t have much more. We can... we can read this quickly. We’ve already explained it, uh... Meaning, “Even in the hidden upper worlds, He is hidden and concealed within them just as He is hidden and concealed in the lower worlds, for no thought can grasp Him at all.” Even in the upper world, it turns out that just as He is present there, He is hidden from them as He is hidden from us. So the reverse is also true: He is present with us as He is present there. If so, how is it that we see a difference between the upper and lower worlds? This is the world of Beriah, this is Yetzirah, this is Atzilus, this is Atz—how can there be differences if the same light is everywhere and is equally hidden in all of them? “The difference between the upper and lower worlds comes from the flow of life-force that Ein Sof, blessed be He, draws down and illuminates in a measure of revelation from concealment”—which is one reason that the bestowal and flow of life-force is called “light”—“to give life to the worlds and the beings within them.” What is the difference? The upper worlds receive a little more revelation than the lower ones, just as the brain receives more revelation from the soul than the heart does, the heart more than the liver, and the liver more than the hands. “And all the beings in the worlds each receive according to their capacity and nature, which determine their particular measure and form of the flow.” So it is exactly like the soul in the body. As far as being alive goes, they are all alive in the same way; they all exist through the same light of Ein Sof. The differences between them are like the 613 individual kinds of faculties contained within the soul. So too, Ein Sof contains particular powers to give life to each and every limb, every level, every soul, every angel, according to its nature. Let’s continue with the next section. “And the coverings in which Ein Sof, blessed be He, enclothes and conceals the light and life-force became so dense and powerful that through them He created this very material and physical world, bringing it into being and giving it life through the life-force and light that He draws down and illuminates for it—a light enclothed, covered, and concealed within the coverings

48:23 Speaker 1 “many and powerful coverings that obscure and conceal the light and life-force until no light or life-force is visible or revealed.” What do we see instead? “Material and physical things that appear lifeless. Yet within them is a light and life-force that constantly brings them into being from nothingness, so that they do not return to being nothing and naught as they were before.” So there are things in this world that we don’t see, such as the power of growth. I understand that when something grows, there must be something here, some power causing it to grow, but I don’t see it. That is only a conclusion I can reach. And there are physical things that we can see with our physical eyes. So from the most spiritual things to the very, very most physical things, it all works in the same way: Hakadosh Boruch Hu brings about another concealment, and another covering, and less and less and less revelation. “And this light comes from Ein Sof, blessed be He.” Even the light that gives life to and brings into being the physical things in the world comes from the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, because everything comes from the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He. And what is the difference? Only that it has been enclothed in many coverings, as it says in Eitz Chaim: “The light and life-force of the material earth, visible to the physical eye, comes from Malchus of Malchus of Asiyah, within which is Malchus of Yetzirah, and so on, until within them all are the ten sefiros of Atzilus, united with their Emanator, Ein Sof, blessed be He.” This chapter, the first chapter, explained in general terms what the indwelling of the Shechinah is. So the indwelling of the Shechinah is not speaking about the essence, the essence and being of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Just as the essence and being of the soul is not enclothed in the body and does not give the body life—what does give the body life? Only that general and particular light and life-force. So too, when Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives life to all the worlds, it is not His essence and being, but a general light and life-force to give life to the worlds, and a particular one so that each receives according to its nature and makeup, down to this physical world below. That is, in general terms,

50:42 Speaker 1 the indwelling of the Shechinah. In the next chapter, the Alter Rebbe will explain in detail the difference between the three worlds: Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. Then, in chapter 53, we will be able to understand what the indwelling of the Shechinah in this world means, and then we will be able to understand the connection between practical mitzvos and the Shechinah.