From: murray.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Tanya, Epistle 5, part 4 of 6
Date: 21 Aug 92 18:40:44 GMT
Organization: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

Tanya Epistle 5   4/619 part 4 of 6
 
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[This  is similar  to  the letters  (i.e.,  the potential  and  as-yet-
inarticulate components) of a  man's speech or thought, which  attain a
state of revealed expression through his emotions: since, for  example,
he loves  and desires  something, he  thinks and speaks  about it.  The
emotions themselves, however, derive  from his will and mind.  The same
is true  Above: the letters of  speech and thought are  revealed by the
Divine attributes and emanate from them, though ultimately  they derive
from  G-d's will  and wisdom.]  which are  utterly incorporated  in the
blessed Ein Sof.  [Thus, the radiance emanating from the  "form" of the
letters  - a radiance that  emanates from G-d's  attributes, wisdom and
will -  is merely found Betocho,  within the internality of  the Divine
utterance  that creates and vitalizes  this world; it  is not manifest.
That which  serves as the source  of the creation and  vitality of this
world is  the externality  or "body" of  the letters,  the "breath"  of
Divine speech.]   ( (37) And this is what Rabbi Isaac Luria, of blessed
memory,  stated (38) "that the external aspects  of the vessels of [the
Sefirah  of] Malchut of [the World of] Atzilut, [these external aspects
being] alluded  to by the [lower]  hei of the Four-Letter  Name of G-d,
descended and became the soul for the World of Asiyah.)  It is likewise
stated  in  the Tikkunim,  (39)  that  the yud  is  in  [the World  of]
Atzilut..., [the upper hei in the World of Beriah, the vav in the World
of Yetzirah,] and the lower hei nests in [the World of] Asiyah.  [These
four letters of  the Divine Name  Havayah are  the aspect of  G-dliness
that is revealed within the Four Worlds, (40) as follows:  In the World
of Atzilut,  the Sefirah of  Chochmah (the yud  of the Divine  Name) is
manifest. Chochmah  signifies the highest form  of self- nullification,
the  awareness  that "He  is  One Alone  and  apart from  Him  there is
nothing," as  explained in  the Note  to Part I,  ch. 35.  This Sefirah
permeates the entire World of Atzilut, so that  whatever exists at that
state  of being  experiences this  degree of  self-nullification before
G-d.   The  upper  hei  of  the  Divine  Name,  the  Sefirah  of  Binah
("comprehension"),  illuminates  the World  of  Beriah.  Hence all  the
inhabitants  of this world, both souls and angels, are characterized by
a high  degree of  perception of  Divinity.  The  World of  Yetzirah is
illumined by  the letter vav  of the Divine Name,  representing the six
middot, the Divine emotive attributes. The created beings of this world
therefore serve G-d  with their spiritual emotions,  with ecstatic love
and fear.   The World  of Asiyah is  animated by the  lower hei  of the
Tetragrammaton,  the Sefirah of Malchut.  This is the  world of action,
the level of active Divine  service that is motivated by an  acceptance
of the yoke of the heavenly kingdom.  However, this refers only  to the
soul of the World of Asiyah that emanates from the  combinations of the
letters  of Divine speech at  their innermost dimension.  This level is
clothed and  concealed within the "matter"  or "body" of the  letters -
the "breath". The actual creation and animation  of the World of Asiyah
derives  only from  the externality  of Divine  speech, i.e.,  from the
"breath".  It  is  for this  reason  that this  world  is  physical and
corporeal.   [We learned above that  the Zohar teaches:  "Who makes the
Holy Name every  day? He who gives charity to  the poor." The relevance
of  this answer,  however, remained  obscure. Now,  therefore, equipped
with the foregoing insights, we revert to the  question with which this
epistle opened: How does giving tzedakah  to the poor "make a Name" for
G-d? The Alter Rebbe  explains as follows:]  Now  with terrestrial man,
for example,  when one  who is so  great a  sage as  to comprehend  the
wonders of wisdom, contracts  his conception and thought into  a single
letter of his  speech, this  is a  stupendous contraction  and a  great
descent for  his wondrous wisdom.   Precisely  as in  this analogy  but
infinitely more so, there was an immensely great and mighty contraction
when during the Six Days of Creation "the heavens were made by the word
of G-d, and  all their hosts by the breath of His mouth," (41) i.e., by
the letter hei  - "a light letter"  - of the Four- Letter  Name of G-d.
[This  is not only  a single  letter, but  also an  insubstantial one.]
Thus it  is written,  (42)  "[These are  the chronicles  of heaven  and
earth] behibar-am"  [i.e., ("when they were created").  By revocalizing
the  Hebrew letters of this word, the Sages  (43) read it as if it were
simultaneously  pronounced  b-hei bra-am.  The  verse  would now  mean,
"These are the  chronicles of heaven and earth; with  the letter hei He
created them."]  [This letter  hei] is the source of the  nine creative
utterances which issued from the first utterance: Berei-shith ("In  the
beginning"), which  itself is a creative utter-ance, (44) and identical
with the Sefirah of Chochmah,  (45) which is called reishit [as  in the
phrase,  reishit chochmah "the beginning of wisdom" (46) ). The descent
of Chochmah, the  source of  the other nine  creative utterances,  into
Malchut,  the  lowest of  the Sefirot,  involves  an intense  degree of
contraction.]  But at  that time, [at the beginning  of creation,] this
downward flow [from  Chochmah to Malchut] occurred  without any arousal
from below whatever, [as it  is written,] (47) "For there was no man to
work  (48)  [and bring  about this  arousal;]  it occurred  solely (49)
"because He  desires [to act  with] kindness," as  it is  also written,
(50) "The  world is  built by kindness."   And this  is the  meaning of
[another  interpretation  of the  verse, "These  are the  chronicles of
heaven  and earth] behibar-am"   [(i.e., "when they  were created"). By
transposing the Hebrew  letters of this word, the Sages  (51) read this
word as if it were simultaneously pronounced] beAvraham [i.e., `through
the attribute that characterizes Abraham'],  since (52) "kindness is to
Abraham."  [Since Abraham  embodies the attribute of Chesed,  the verse
thus intimates that heaven and earth were created through the attribute
of Chesed.]  But after  the creation of man "to work  it...", (53) [his
life-long  task being,  to draw  down to  this world  a flow  of Divine
energy by  means of an "arousal from below,"  i.e., by means of his own
spiritual labors], every arousal from Above, to arouse the attribute of
Supreme kindness, depends on an arousal from below, through the acts of
charity and  kindness (54)  that Jews  perform in  this world.   [Thus,
these good deeds draw down Divine  influence from the yud of the Divine
Name, from  the level of Chochmah,  to the final  hei of the  Name, the
level  of Malchut.  In this way,  then, good  deeds bring  together and
"make" the Name of G-d, and draw it downward in its entirety.]  That is
why our Sages, of blessed memory, have said: (55) "Whoever says that he
has  nothing but Torah," and thus no  kindly deeds, "does not have even
Torah; rather, one  ought to engage in Torah and  in the performance of
acts of lovingkindness."  For though the "Torah derives from Chochmah,"
(56) and  "the world subsists by  virtue of the Torah"  (57) and "those
who discourse in it," (58)  because by speaking of Torah  subjects they
elicit  illuminations and  effusions  (59) from  Supreme Chochmah,  the
source of Torah, into the plane of the letters of speech with which the
world was created, as our Sages, of blessed  memory, said, [with regard
to Torah scholars,  (60) "Do  not read banayich  ["Your children"]  but
bonayich ["Your builders", for they build the world through their study
of Torah,]  - nevertheless,  this flow of  Chochmah [to the  letters of
speech is  a great descent.]   To  accomplish this it  is necessary  to
arouse Supernal Chesed  which, like water,  is drawn  down from a  high
place to a low place by means of an arousal from below, through acts of
charity  and  kindness  here  below,  whereby  one  diffuses  life  and
kindness, (61) "to revive the  spirit of the humble and  downcast." [By
doing so  one draws  down Supernal  kindness, so  that the vitality  of
Chochmah  descends  to  the  letters  of  speech,  the  source  of  all
creation.] 
 
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