From: murray.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Tanya, Epistle 8, 2 of 3
Date: 23 Aug 92 01:59:45 GMT
Organization: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

Tanya Epistle 8  2/3
 
>>> Continued from previous message
 
The same  is true of  the produce of the  earth which grows  from seeds
just  like kernels, such as cucumbers,  and the like. [Thus, fruits and
vegetables  are not  only quantitatively superior  to the  kernels that
served as their respective  sources, but are qualitatively superior  as
well.  (The difference between grain and its original seed, however, is
only one of quantity.)]
 
All this is so because  the stem and root of the vitality of the fruits
issues from the  vegetative property  in the soil,  which includes  the
vitality of all fruits and causes them to grow, [nevertheless, a kernel
- moreover,  the kernel of the specific species desired - must be sown,
as is now explained:] while the kernels that are sown in the ground are
only like  an "arousal  from below,"  [that is necessary  if one  is to
elicit a reciprocal "arousal from Above,"]  this ["arousal from below"]
being referred  to in  the writings  of Rabbi Isaac  Luria, of  blessed
memory, as the "elevation of mayin nukvin" (commonly abbreviated ma-an)
- the arousal of the  "feminine waters" that serve as the  recipient of
the efflux of the "male waters."
 
The same  applies here as  well: The  power of vegetative  growth is  a
spiritual  power  that  encompasses  all  fruits  and  vegetables.  Its
spiritual  state  is  such  that  it   is  far  too  lofty  to  descend
spontaneously to a  level at which it  can make physical produce  grow.
The actual growth can only  come about as a result of the "elevation of
the  feminine  waters" of  a particular  fruit  or grain.  This arouses
within the  universal vegetative property the  particular manifestation
necessary  for  the growth  of the  specific  kind of  produce  that is
inherent in the kernel or seed that is sown.
 
At any rate, it is clear from the above that  vegetative growth entails
producing something far superior to that which was sown in the ground.
 
Reverting to the  analogue, the Alter Rebbe will now  explain how man's
tzedakah  and  kindness  effect  a Divine  manifestation  that  utterly
transcends man's service. This results in his receiving as a reward for
his actions  not only a  share in the  World to Come  - a corresponding
measure, albeit  quantitatively superior, for  both this world  and the
World to Come are  categorized as "worlds" - but also the qualitatively
superior revelation of teshuvah ilaah, that transcends by far any state
that could be called a "world".]
 
Now precisely like this, metaphorically speaking,  every act of charity
that Jews perform  ascends, like an "elevation of mayin nukvin," to the
Root of their souls Above.
 
[Just  as in  the  analogy, planting  a  seed will  unveil the  earth's
vegetative  power, so, too,  the Jew's act  of charity will  elicit the
Divine attribute of Chesed, since  this act serves as the  mayin nukvin
to its spiritual counterpart Above,] which is referred to (17) as Knes-
set Yisrael (lit., "the Congregation of Israel"), [(a) because it is the 
source of Jewish  souls, and (b)  because  within  it  congregates  the 
lights and revelations of the emotive attributes (the middot)  that de-
rive  from Yisrael  Dil-ela ("Supernal Israel"), i.e., the  bracket  of 
six Sefirot known as Za of the World of Atzilut.] and in the terminology  

of the Zohar [the source of Jewish  souls is known as] imma tataah, the 
"lower-level mother,"
 
[Binah, by  contrast, is termed  imma ilaah, the  "higher-level mother"
(inasmuch as it is the "mother" of the attributes of Za), while Malchut
is referred to as the "lower-level mother" (since it is the "mother" of
the  world that follows it).] and in the phraseology of the Talmud [the 
source  of  the  souls  of Israel is known as] the Shechinah, [It is so 
called  because it  "rests" (from the root  Shochen  i.e., it  descends 
and is present) in lowly levels. (18)] which comprises, and is  utterly 
united  with,  all  the  attributes of the Holy One, blessed is He, the 
first of which is the attribute of Chesed.
 
[Man's neighborly  acts of Chesed ascend, as a form of mayin nukvin, to
this Divine attribute of Chesed, for it is the source  of the attribute
of Chesed within his own soul.]
 
Now, through this  elevation, the actual  "Chesed of  G-d" - [which  is
immeasurably superior  to man's Chesed  and to worlds in  general- ] is
aroused, so that  a great and intense revelation  of His light descends
into this lowly  [world], where it  lights up the  souls of Israel,  at
least during the time of prayer, even if not permanently.
 
For   Though  (19)   "His  greatness   is  unfathomable"   [and  Gedula
("greatness")  denotes the  Divine  attribute of  Chesed,  (20) to  the
extent that (21) "all  are esteemed as naught before  Him," [How, then,
does it  descend below  and become  capable of  being  fathomed by  the
Jewish soul?]  even so, (22) "Where  you find His greatness,  there you
find  His  humility," [  Hence, the  very greatness  and Chesed  of G-d
always  find  expression in  His "humility",  i.e.,  in His  ability to
descend and reveal Himself to the nethermost levels, like "water, which
descends [from above to below]."
 
[G-d's kindness may thus be likened to water in its ability to manifest
itself within  a Jew's soul in this lowly world.] And this is [implied]
in the  verse:  (23) "He  shone in  the darkness  as a  light unto  the
upright, [He] that is gracious, and merciful, and tzaddik."
 
For,  by being  gracious  and merciful,  and (24)  "tzaddik  - fond  of
tzedakot,"  [i.e., by  performing  acts of  tzedakah with  kindness and
love, man] causes  the light  of G-d to  shine into his  soul which  is
vested in his body - which stands in darkness, since it is the "hide of
the snake." (25)
 
[G-d nevertheless causes His light to shine into the soul,  even as the
soul finds itself within the gloom of the unenlightened body.]
 
And this state, when (26) "darkness is converted to light," is referred
to  as "deliverance,"  [as  when  a  man,  delivered  from  danger,  is
transported from darkness to radiance.]
 
This,  then, is the meaning  [of the above-quoted  phrase], "and causes
deliverance  to sprout  forth,"  [as a  result  of one's  having  "sown
tzedakah."] For this salvation sprouts from the charity that is sown in
the  "Supernal Land," the "Desired  Land," which is  the Shechinah, and
Knesset Yisrael, [the  source of  Jewish souls,] so  called because  it
vests itself in the lower worlds to animate them.
 
As it is written, (27) "Your sovereignty [an allusion to the Sefirah of
Malchut]  is the  sovereignty [i.e.,  it serves  as the source]  of all
worlds."  [It  is this  Supernal  "Land"  that  is  sown with  a  Jew's
tzedakah, with the result that  Divine revelation sprouts forth  during
prayer.]
 
This applies most particularly when  one sows in the nether  Holy Land,
[The above  applies to  mitzvot in  general, all  of them being  called
tzedakah,  as  Scripture  states,  (28)  "Our  performance  of all  the
commandments  will be accounted  for us as  tzedakah." Particularly so,
through the actual performance of tzedakah, in the sense of charity. It
applies even more particularly when the tzedakah is planted in the Holy
Land, maintaining those  who study  Torah and serve  G-d there.]  which
truly corresponds  to it (i.e.,  the Holy  Land below is  truly located
"opposite" the Holy Land in heaven).
 
For [when such charity is given] the seed [of tzedakah] is  immediately
absorbed  in the  Supernal  Land, without  any  obstacle and  hindrance
whatever,  because  there is  nothing  whatsoever  that intervenes  and
intercepts between the  "Lands of Life,"  [i.e,., between the  Supernal
"Land  of Life," which is the source of  Jewish souls, and the "Land of
Life"  below,  the physical  Holy Land;]  for (29)  it  is the  gate of
Heaven,"  [referring to  the location  of the Holy  Temple in  the Holy
Land.]
 
This is not so,  however, outside the Holy Land, where  various factors
may hinder  the implantation of  tzedakah in the "Land  of Life" Above.
This will suffice for the discerning.
 
 Footnotes
 
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