B"H
Cheshvan 19, 5766 * November 21, 2005
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L E S S O N S I N T A N Y A
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Today's Lesson:
Iggeret HaKodesh
(Middle of Epistle Twenty-Nine)
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Now this light, hidden away for the righteous for the Time to Come, is termed (as above) the "pleasantness of G-d," and the "pleasurable thirst" of "delighting in G-d," and also [26] "the 400 Worlds of Longing in which the tzaddikim delight..." as it is written, [27] "400 shekalim of silver (kesef)..."
[The Aramaic phrase translated "Worlds of Longing" is almin dekisufin.
The root of the second word (kesef) means not only "silver" but also "longing" (as in the phrase [28] nichsof nichsafta).
Hence the Kabbalah relates the above reference to "400 shekalim of kesef" to the 400 Worlds of Longing whose spiritual delights are reserved for tzaddikim].
This [light] comprises very many rungs and levels, one superior to the other.
But the minute radiation, which descends level after level to create this garment that garbs the soul, belongs to the lowest level of this light.
Metaphorically speaking, it is referred to as the external level, or achorayim, as stated in the Zohar, p. 208b ([29] cf. the commentary entitled Mikdash Melech£ [30]) and 210b: "And that which is left...," [meaning that the light which is the source of the garment is of the most external or hindmost level.
The Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain that the external level of this radiance, from which these garments derive, is called the Supernal Will.
Will, as is soon to be explained, is the external aspect (i.e., a consequence) of pleasure, or delight.]
Now, in the soul of man there is a faculty for pleasure: [the soul] takes pleasure in what it finds pleasurable, [31] as in the conception of a new insight, or the like.
The external and hindmost aspect of [the soul's] power and state of delight is its faculty of will, willing that which it wills, i.e., [32] something that is not painful, for pain is the opposite of delight.
[A person desires something because it gives him pleasure.
Thus, pleasure is the "inner" (or motivating) aspect of desire, which is considered "external" (i.e., consequent) to it].
Metaphorically speaking, it is the same with the [infinite] Ein Sof-light, as it were:
The Supernal Will is the external and hindmost aspect [i.e., the resultant chitzoniyut and achorayim] of the above-mentioned Supernal Delight, the "pleasantness of G-d," the "pleasurable thirst," and the "Worlds of Longing."
[Thus, when we state that the garment for the soul derives from the achorayim and chitzoniyut of the Supernal Delight, this means that it derives from the Supernal Will].
Though these - [the Supernal Delight and the Supernal Will] - are fused in absolute unity, for [G-d] and His Will are one, and not (heaven forfend) like the will of man, neither wholly nor partially, there being no similarity whatever between them, nevertheless, [33] "the Torah speaks in human idiom" in order [34] "to modulate for the ear what it is able to hear," with allegory and metaphor relating to the soul of man, which compounds the faculty of delight, will, wisdom, understanding, and so on.
[Man's will is not wholly one with the person himself; it is one of the soul-faculties that he possesses.
By contrast, G-d and His Will are one.
How, then, can we differentiate Above between Pleasure and Will, saying that G-d's Pleasure is internal and His Will is external?
(For), just as in man pleasure is described as "internal" and will as "external", so too do we describe the corresponding attributes Above].
This is empirically evident, for when a person conceives some wonderful new insight, then at that moment, at least, a wondrous delight is born [25] in his mind.
Thus it follows that the capacity for pleasure surpasses by far the faculty of intellect and wisdom; it merely is vested in the faculty of intellect and wisdom.
Thus when a man feels [a subject of] intellect and wisdom, that is, he apprehends and understands it well, he then also senses the faculty of pleasure which is vested in the [subject of] wisdom.
That is why in the sacred Zohar, [36] the faculty of Binah is referred to as "the World to Come."
For it is the state of manifestation of Chochmah, together with the delight vested in it, which the righteous in the Garden of Eden apprehend, and conceive [new insights] in the pnimiyut [i.e., the innermost, mystical dimension] of the Torah.
For [37] the Torah derives from Chochmah, and [38] the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one. [39]
[Thus, through gaining a perception of pnimiyut in the manner in which the soul apprehends it in the Garden of Eden, where it apprehends the essence of G-dliness - and "this delight itself (as the Rebbe adds) is utterly inward, as explained above" - the soul gains an apprehension of G-d's infinite light.
And in order for it to be able to absorb this degree of illumination, it must be equipped with the protective and receptive garments of the mitzvot, as previously explained.
Footnotes:
26. Cf. Zohar I, 123b.
27. Bereishit 15:23.
28. Ibid. 31:30.
29. Parentheses are in the original text.
30. To the Zohar, loc. cit.
31. Note of the Rebbe:
"The Alter Rebbe is not informing us of the obvious, as
might appear at first glance, but is making a significant
statement which must appear here, where he is explaining
that will is the external aspect [i.e., the consequence]
of pleasure - in order to distinguish this sequence from
the alternative sequence discussed in Hemshech 5666, p.
65ff., [where will is seen as the source of pleasure].
The conclusion there, on p. 73ff., is as here, [that
pleasure is indeed t he source of will, and not the
contrary]."
32. Note of the Rebbe: "The addition of this phrase
too is explained by the previous footnote."
33. Rambam, Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 1:9.
34. Cf. Rashi on Shmot 19:18, based on Mechilta and Tanchuma
ad loc.
35. Note of the Rebbe: "The feeling of pleasure, by
contrast, comes (as is explained below) in the World to
Come. And so long as this feeling is lacking, the individual
concerned cannot be said to have `received the
pleasantness.'"
36. II, 158a.
37. Zohar II, 85a.
38. Op. cit. I, 24a, et al.
39. Note of the Rebbe:
"[The above-described perception enjoyed by the tzaddikim]
is similar to the delight that is born and is derived when
a concept is first conceived and understood - and this is
the above-mentioned `pleasantness of G-d...'"
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