From: murray.bbs@cybernet.cse.fau.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Tanya, Epistle 5, part 1 of 6
Date: 21 Aug 92 18:30:30 GMT
Organization: Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton

Tanya Epistle 5  1/619, part 1 of 6
 
Epistle Five 
 
"And David made a name." (1) [The simple meaning of the verse is either
(as Rashi  explains) that David gave  the Jewish people a  good name by
burying the dead of  their enemies, or (as other  commentators explain)
that David  made a  name for  himself through his  heroism.]   The holy
Zohar  (2)  relates  the above  phrase  to  the verse:  (3)  "And David
executed justice and tzedakah with all his people..."  [The "name" that
he thereby  made is thus the Divine  Name. In the words  of the Zohar:]
"Rabbi Shimon wept and said: `Who makes the Holy Name every day? He who
gives charity  unto the  poor....'"   [Two questions, however,  present
themselves: (a) How  can we possibly say that the  Holy Name is "made"?
(b) How is the Name "made" through the giving of charity?]  This may be
understood in the  light of the  comment of our  Sages, (4) of  blessed
memory, on  the verse, (5) "For by [the Divine Name that is composed of
the letters]  yud-hei, G-d is the strength of the worlds."  [The Hebrew
word  here  translated "strength"  (lit.: "rock")  is Tzur,  whose root
letters imply an  additional meaning,  namely (in this  context): "  By
means of [the Divine Name that is composed of the letters] yud-hei, G-d
formed  (or created) the  worlds." (6)  [On  the above-quoted verse the
Sages comment:]  "This world  was  created by  the letter  hei [of  the
Divine Name yud-hei]; the World  to Come was created by the  letter yud
[of  the  Divine  Name  yud-hei]."   [In  what  respect  is  this world
connected with  the letter hei  and the World  to Come with  the letter
yud?  The Alter  Rebbe answers  this question  by first  explaining the
concept of the  World to Come and Gan Eden, the  Garden of Eden.]  This
means that the delight which the souls of the righteous experience,  as
they enjoy  the splendor of the  Shechinah which radiates  in the upper
and  lower Gardens  of  Eden,  consists  of  their  pleasure  in  their
apprehension and  conception, for  they conceive  [with the  faculty of
Chochmah], know [with  the faculty  of Daat] and  understand [with  the
faculty of Binah] some degree of apprehension of the light and vitality
which effuses  there, in a  revealed manner, from  the blessed Ein  Sof
unto  their  soul  and  their  spirit  of  understanding,    [Spiritual
life-force finds its way down into this world in so  concealed a manner
that  all we  know of  it is  the mere  fact  of its  existence (yediat
hametziut). In Gan  Eden, by contrast, the spiritual  life-force issues
forth in such  a manner that its very  essence is apprehended (hassagat
hamahut),] so  that each and every  one can understand  and attain some
perception  according to  his  level and  his  deeds.   [Likkutei  Levi
Yitzchak, authored by  the saintly  father of the  Rebbe Shlita,  Rabbi
Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, explains  the distinction between "his level"
and "his deeds" as follows.   "His level" alludes to those  souls which
are to be  found in the  Upper Garden of  Eden, whose comprehension  is
commensurate with  the level  of their devout  intent and the  level of
their  re-uta  delibba (lit.,  "the desire  of  the heart"),  i.e., the
unbounded  yearning of  the innermost  point of  their souls  to cleave
rapturously to their Maker.  This state of divine  service results from
intellectual endeavor,  which is denoted by the term "level.  (In ch. 9
of  Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, for  example, the Alter  Rebbe adds this
term to the phrase  that speaks of the  intellectual activity known  by
its acronym  as ChaBaD.)   "His  deeds," by  contrast, refers  to those
souls  in  the Lower  Garden of  Eden,  which earn  the above-described
spiritual delights through the actual performance of practical mitzvot.
These  souls, therefore, are  rewarded "according to  their deeds." (7)
In  either case, it is clear that  the delight that souls experience in
Gan Eden is the intellectual delight of the apprehension of G-dliness.]
That is why in  the Zohar (8) the World to Come is referred to as Binah
["understanding",  for  that world  is permeated  by  the light  of the
Sefirah of Binah,  (9) which enables souls to be  able to apprehend and
understand  G-dliness.] This  flow issues  from the  plane of  Supernal
Chochmah,  which is the source of the conception and apprehension known
as  Binah.   [Chochmah  is the  initial,  intuitive, seminal  flash  of
perception;   Binah   is  the   process   of   mental  gestation   that
systematically develops and expands that inspiration into comprehensive
understanding]    For  [Chochmah]  is  the  primordial  stage   of  the
intellect,  before  apprehension  and  understanding  become  manifest;
rather,  [Chochmah] at this stage is still  in a state of obscurity and
concealment,  [The Alter Rebbe is speaking here of the particular level
of  Chochmah that  transcends intellect  and comprehension.  It differs
from the more external level of Chochmah which is the germ of intellect
and  is  already  illumined  by  it,  though  it  too  is  as  yet  the
unparticularized  seminal point  of  a concept  which  is still  to  be
analyzed  and comprehended by the faculty of Binah. Preceding this, the
primordial level of Chochmah discussed here utterly transcends revealed
intellect; it is still obscure,] except for some miniscule measure that
here and there flows forth and issues from  it to the faculty of Binah,
[The  dual  form of  the Biblical  idiom  borrowed here  (cf. Yeshayahu
28:10)  implies that  the light  of this  primordial level  of Chochmah
undergoes  two distinct  stages of  tzimtzum, or  self-contraction. The
first stage limits  this light; the second attenuates it  so that it is
able  to  descend  into Binah,]  making  it possible  [for  a  soul] to
understand and apprehend a  concept which is [intrinsically] concealed.
[This  higher  form  of Supernal  intellect  is  the  "radiance of  the
Shechinah,"  a  ray of  G-d's  infinitude  that  illuminates Gan  Eden.
Ordinarily,  no created  being - even  a soul  of such  stature that it
inhabits  the Upper  Gan Eden -  could possibly  fathom this  degree of
intellect. In  order for it to  be understood by mortal  man's soul, it
must  undergo the  twofold descent  mentioned above.  Nonetheless, even
after this  descent it still  pertains to  the very essence  (mahut) of
G-dliness that is comprehended by the soul in Gan Eden.]  In the Zohar,
(10)  therefore, [Chochmah] is referred to  as "the dot in the palace."
(11)  [Chochmah is the "dot" or "point" of intellect that illumines the
"palace"  of Binah. Nevertheless, even when already housed in Binah, it
still  remains a seminal point of intellect that transcends the details
that constitute the  comprehension of  Binah.]  [Indeed,]  this is  the
shape of  the yud of the  Four-Letter Name of  G-d. [The letter  yud is
shaped like a point, alluding (12) to the Sefirah of Chochmah, which is
a mere point.]  [Chochmah] is also referred to as Eden, of which  it is
said:  (13)  "No eye  has  beheld  it...";  [i.e.,  it  is  a  kind  of
illumination  that transcends  and  defies  comprehension.]   Moreover,
[Chochmah]  is  referred  to (14)  as  "the  `father'  who founded  the
"daughter." [Chochmah is  the "father",  or source, of  the letters  of
speech,  which are called  the "daughter", the  level of Malchut.   One
might have  expected the letters of  speech to derive  from the emotive
faculties (the middot) or  from Binah, for surely a  person articulates
letters of speech when he seeks to express an emotion or to speak of an
idea that he has comprehended. The Alter Rebbe, however, now goes on to
explain that the letters of speech in fact derive from  Chochmah, which
transcends comprehension.] 
 
Continued to next message 
 
---     *  Origin: Chasidus  is  for EVERYONE  L'ChaimBBS  718-756-7201
FidoNet(1:278/610), to respond, contact yy@corner.wpb.fl.us