LESSONS IN TANYA: Thursday, July 5, 2012

Chabad.org
Tammuz 15, 5772 · July 5, 2012
Today's Tanya Lesson
Igeret HaTeshuva , middle of Chapter 4

וביאור הענין

To explain:

What characteristics of the soul also characterize Havayah, the Four-Letter Name of G‑d, and thus indicate that the soul is indeed a part of that Name? In answer to this question, the Alter Rebbe now explains that just as the Ten Sefirot are included within the Tetragrammaton, so, too, there are ten corresponding faculties that are intrinsic to the soul.

כנודע מאמר אליהו: אנת הוא דאפיקת עשר תיקונין, וקרינן להון עשר ספירן, לאנהגא בהון עלמין סתימין וכו׳

There is a well-known statement of Eliyahu, in the passage entitled Patach Eliyahu, in the introduction to Tikkunei Zohar: "You are He Who elicited the ten tikkunim (lit., 'garments') which we call the Ten Sefirot, by which to conduct the concealed worlds…[and the revealed worlds...].1

אנת הוא חכים, ולא בחכמה ידיעא

You are wise, but not with a knowable attribute of wisdom;

אנת הוא מבין, ולא בבינה ידיעא וכו׳

You understand, but not with a knowable attribute of understanding; and so on" — with regard to the remaining Sefirot.

וכל הי׳ ספירות נכללות ונרמזות בשם הויה ברוך הוא

All the Ten Sefirot are included and represented in their source, the Tetragrammaton.

The Alter Rebbe now shows how the various Sefirot find expression in the four letters that comprise this Divine Name, Havayah.

כי היו״ד, שהיא בחינת נקודה לבד, מרמזת לחכמתו ית׳

The yud, which is a simple point, extending in neither length nor breadth, indicates G‑d's Wisdom, the Sefirah of Chochmah,

שהיא בבחינת העלם והסתר קודם שבאה לבחינת התפשטות וגילוי ההשגה וההבנה

which is the state of concealment and obscurity, before it develops into a state of expansion and revelation in comprehension and understanding.

והקו׳ שעל היו״ד רומז לבחינת רצון העליון ברוך הוא, שלמעלה מעלה ממדרגת בחינת חכמה עילאה כנודע

(2The "thorn" above3 the yud indicates the Supreme Will, this being the level of Keter, which transcends by far the level of Chochmah Ila'ah, Supernal Wisdom, as is known.)

ואחר שבאה לבחינת התפשטות וגילוי ההשגה וההבנה לעלמין סתימין

When [the seminal "point" of Chochmah] is eventually amplified and revealed as something comprehensible to the concealed worlds, i.e., when it descends to the level and Sefirah of Binah,

נכללת ונרמזת באות ה׳, שיש לה בחינת התפשטות לרוחב, המורה ומרמז על הרחבת הביאור וההבנה

it is then contained and represented in the letter hei of the Tetragrammaton. This letter extends in breadth, implying a breadth of explanation and understanding, which is the function of Binah.

וגם לאורך, המורה על בחינת ההמשכה וההשפעה מלמעלה למטה לעלמין סתימין

[The letter hei] also extends in length, to indicate extension and flow downward into the concealed worlds.

The hidden worlds are nourished from the level of Binah, so that they may have an understanding of G‑dliness.

ואחר כך, כשנמשכה המשכה והשפעה זו יותר למטה לעלמין אתגליין

In the next stage, when this extension and flow are drawn still lower into the revealed worlds,

וכמו האדם שרוצה לגלות חכמתו לאחרים על ידי דבורו, על דרך משל

which may be compared, by way of analogy, to one who wishes4 to reveal his thoughts to another through his speech,

נכללת ונרמזת המשכה זו באותיות ו״ה

this extension is contained and represented in the [final] letters vav and hei [of the Tetragrammaton].

כי הוי״ו מורה על ההמשכה מלמעלה למטה

For the letter vav, which is shaped like a vertical line, indicates downward extension.

There is another connection between this stage and the letter vav:

וגם המשכה זו היא על ידי מדת חסדו וטובו ושאר מדותיו הקדושות, הנכללת בדרך כלל במספר שש שבפסוק: לך ה׳ הגדולה וגו׳ עד לך ה׳ הממלכה, ולא עד בכלל

Also, this downward flow into the revealed worlds is effected through the Divine traits of benevolence and goodness and [G‑d's] other holy traits, included in general terms in the six attributes, the numerical equivalent of vav, in the verse,5 "Yours, O G‑d, is greatness...," — until "Yours, O G‑d, is sovereignty...," but not including it.

כי מדת מלכותו ית׳ נקראת בשם דבר ה׳

For His attribute of sovereignty is called the "Word of G‑d" (and speech is not one of the middot, the spiritual emotive attributes),

כמו שכתוב: באשר דבר מלך שלטון

as in the verse,6 "Wherever the word of the king holds sway."

Supernal speech, then, is related to Malchut, G‑d's sovereignty.

ונכללת ונרמזת באות ה׳ אחרונה של שם ה׳

This [attribute of sovereignty] is contained and represented in the final hei of the Tetragrammaton, in the following manner:

כי פנימיות ומקור הדבור הוא ההבל העולה מן הלב, ומתחלק לה׳ מוצאות הפה: אחה״ע מהגרון וכו׳

The internal aspect and the source of speech is the breath that rises from the heart, then is particularized into the five oral articulations (five being the numerical equivalent of the letter hei). [One of these produces the bracket of letters] alef, chet, hei and ayin from the throat, another produces the bracket of letters beit, vav, mem and pei from the lips, and so on.

At any rate, the internal aspect of speech is breath.

וגם הברת הה״א היא בחינת הבל לבד

In particular, the enunciation of the letter hei is solely unvocalized breath,

כמו שכתוב: אתא קלילא דלית בה מששא

as in the phrase,7 "A light letter without substance."

Emanating, as it does, solely from the breath, it alludes to the level of Malchut and speech whose internal aspect is "breath".

ואף שאין לו דמות הגוף חס ושלום

Now "He has no corporeal form," G‑d forbid.

How, then, can one differentiate Above between those letters that possess substance and those that do not?

אך דברה תורה כלשון בני אדם

Nevertheless, "the Torah speaks as in the language of men."

Since on the mortal plane this differentiation exists, it is also applied to the Divine plane, for spiritually, too, there exists a corresponding difference between the letter hei and the other letters.

בשגם

Moreover (i.e., there is yet another reason why this analogy is apt, notwithstanding the fact that G‑d has no corporeal form):

שגם דבר ה׳ כ״ב אותיות המתחלקות לה׳ חלקי המוצאות, ובהן נברא כל יצור

for G‑d's speech as well consists, as it were, of twenty-two letters that separate into the five articulations that produce the Divine speech from which all beings were created.

וכמו שכתוב בליקוטי אמרים חלק ב׳ פי״א ביאור ענין אותיות אלו

(8For a discussion of these letters and their significance, see Likutei Amarim, Part II, ch. 11.)

We thus see that all the Ten Sefirot are included and represented within the Tetragrammaton. The Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain that likewise within the soul, which is part of the Tetragrammaton, there exist ten corresponding levels or faculties.

FOOTNOTES
1.

The Rebbe asks the following question: The statement that the purpose of the Ten Sefirot (which, as he shall soon say, are included within the Tetragrammaton) is "to conduct the concealed worlds," seems to contradict the earlier statement that the Tetragrammaton transcends by far the state of "letters" (from which the various worlds and their creatures come into being).

The Alter Rebbe resolves this, explains the Rebbe, by now going on to quote, "You are wise, but not with a knowable attribute of wisdom; You understand, but not with a knowable attribute of understanding...." This cannot possibly refer to the state of "letters", since their purpose is to make known and to reveal (as oft stated in Part II of Tanya). Rather, the above-mentioned conduct of the worlds first relates only to the "concealed worlds," worlds that are "not known."

2. Parentheses are in the original text.
3. Note of the Rebbe: "The Alter Rebbe stresses 'above', for the 'thorn' that projects beneath the yud has a different significance."
4. Note of the Rebbe: "In the analogy the Alter Rebbe speaks of 'one who wishes to reveal his thoughts to another,' for this mirrors the 'Divine traits of benevolence and goodness' that are mentioned below."
5. I Divrei HaYamim 29:11.
6. Kohelet 8:4.
7. From the hymn entitled Akdamut.
8. Parentheses are in the original text.


By Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), founder of Chabad Chassidism (Free Translation)    More articles...  |   RSS Listing of Newest Articles by this Author
Elucidated by Rabbi Yosef Wineberg. Translated from Yiddish by Rabbi Levy Wineberg and Rabbi Sholom B. Wineberg. Edited by Uri Kaploun.
Published and Copyright by Kehot Publication Society, all rights reserved.
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in honor of the Rebbe.

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