Chapter Four

Words and Concepts You Will Need for This Chapter

This is going to be a big chapter, introducing more than one major shift in the way we think about some very fundamental ideas. You’ll be best prepared by first clarifying for yourself the basic meaning of several of these concepts.

Mitzvah: Any activity the Torah instructs you to do or not do. Giving to the poor, affixing mezuzahs to your doorposts, wrapping tefillin, celebrating the festivals, and speaking words of Torah are examples of positive mitzvahs that the Torah prescribes you should do. Worshiping idols, consuming unkosher animals, and stealing are examples of negative mitzvahs that the Torah prohibits – “do not do.”

Thought (Heb. machshavah): Thought is not intelligence much as clothes are not people. Tanya relies heavily upon this distinction, which does not exist in the English language. We will occasionally use the term “verbal thought” for the sake of clarity. What exactly we mean by that will be explained in the guide.

Clothes: You thought you knew what clothes are, but in Tanya, clothing is a rich metaphor – truly a signature metaphor of Rabbi Schneur Zalman. Whenever one system enters within another in any meaningful way, he describes this as clothing – or “investment,” as we will often translate it.

Other ethical works discuss behavior. Tanya uses that word not once. In every instance, behavior is called clothing. Why? Because human beings don’t simply do things, they invest themselves within all that they do. We will discuss that soon in the guide.

A few more examples of clothing/investment: the soul within a body, an idea within your mind, an emotion within an activity, intelligence within words, the life-force within anything alive, the divine spark within the mundane, and G‑d’s will within the mitzvahs.

Fundamentally, the metaphor of clothing helps us look beyond the surface of each thing, peel away its shell, and ask, “What is truly behind this? How can I grasp this from the inside?”

Torah: In its most narrow definition, Torah refers to the Five Books of Moses or, alternatively, the entire Hebrew Bible, known as Tanach, as it is read and interpreted by Jewish tradition.

More generally, however, Torah comprises a wide gamut of teachings that instruct us in keeping G‑d’s mitzvahs. That is how it is used commonly in rabbinic literature, including in Tanya. And that is the literal meaning of the word “Torah”: “instruction.”

That instruction could be an explanation, commentary, a tradition, or an original insight. It could even be a parable or story told by one of the many wise and learned sages throughout the generations to instruct and inspire us to keep the mitzvahs. It could be part of the Talmud, Midrash, Zohar, the various codes of Jewish law, classic works of ethics, the Tanya you hold in your hands, or the words spoken by anyone, including yourself, learning Torah in fidelity with tradition.

All of this is Torah, as long as it has gained acceptance by the Torah-observant community over the centuries.

A common misconception is that the Torah instructions that have accumulated over the generations are somehow less divine and less authentic than the words transmitted to us at Mount Sinai.

Tradition, however, insists otherwise. “Everything the prophets were destined to prophesy in each generation they received from Mount Sinai,” the Midrash declares. “And not only the prophets, but also all the sages that arose in every generation, each one received that which is his from Sinai.”

In other words, when G‑d gave the entire Torah to us at Mount Sinai, He gave it to every soul that would ever come to this world, to be unpackaged step by step over the generations, each teaching and each enactment in its time.

That is why we make a blessing every morning to G‑d who “gives us the Torah.” Not that G‑d gave the Torah, but that He continually gives the Torah, day by day, moment to moment, to each person who is studying it, unfolding it, and discovering what they were given.

Kelipah (pl. kelipot): Literally, “shell” or “husk.” A term used in Zohar to describe forces that obstruct and distort divine light, much like a shell obstructs the consumption of a fruit or nut. By discarding the kelipah, we reveal the divine light that it conceals and heal our world.

Sitra Achra: Literally, “the other side.” A term from Zohar, it often appears alongside the word kelipah. This is the realm of anything and everything that is not enveloped within the divine. It is the dominant state of the world as we find it, prior to our work with it.

Introduction

We’ve just learned that your second soul is a part of G‑d, a divine being. She embodies an entire structure, all the ten sefirot, with three intellectual powers and the many emotions born through their dynamics. You could call these the essential body and internal operating system of the soul.

Being divine at her very core, her mind resonates with the divine and her heart yearns with a passion to bond with G‑d. But she is, nevertheless, now her own entity. Her cognitive and affective faculties are limited – as they are for any created being.

Now we explore the next layer of your soul’s psyche, her interface to the world. As counterintuitive as it seems, this is where she transcends those limitations.

A Manifesto of Mitzvahs

Jewish practice, all agree, is defined by learning Torah and doing mitzvahs. We do these things because we made a covenant with G‑d at Sinai. But what function do they serve?

The Midrash says the mitzvahs were given to refine us. Rambam, Sefer HaChinuch, and others describe how mitzvahs modify human attitudes for the good. The Arizal explained that the mitzvahs refine and heal the entire creation.

All these are certainly true and affirmed by Tanya as well. Yet, this chapter takes an entirely different approach: When you do a mitzvah, you are already there.

A mitzvah, after all, is a G‑dly act. G‑d is not a means to an end, and so neither are His mitzvahs. You don’t need to travel to G‑d – He has come to you, all of Him, wrapped within whatever you are doing, speaking, or thinking at that moment of that mitzvah.

That explains what would otherwise be quite puzzling: When G‑d gave us His mitzvahs, He didn’t call each one of us privately and say, “You need a lot of refinement. Start with this. You, on the other hand, are higher up on the ladder. Ignore those and do these instead.”

Rather, He assigned all the mitzvahs to each and every Jew just the same. Effectively, G‑d put Himself in the hands of any Jew who desires to hold Him, at any time, with no previous conditions. Nobody gets more of him, nobody less. Because G‑d is everywhere, His mitzvahs are for every Jew, regardless of their stature or circumstances.

A three-year-old girl, lighting her first candle for Shabbat, says the same blessing as her great-grandmother, and ushers in the same divine light.

A convicted criminal wraps tefillin behind bars and connects to the one G‑d just the same as the purest tzadik.

And, on the flip side, work on Shabbat, unkosher food, and all other prohibitions of the Torah are just as forbidden to a simple Jewish laborer as they are to the spiritual seeker who sits in serene study and contemplation day and night.

In this chapter, Rabbi Schneur Zalman explains how and why this works. The mitzvahs are G‑d’s embrace, and they belong to you. They are not extrinsic paraphernalia of your soul, they are her clothing that belong to her as do her mind and heart. They are her inherent means of expression, her exclusive means to connect to her divine origin.

With this explanation, he has begun to address the verse cited on the title page of Tanya, “For this is something very accessible to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.”

G‑d is here, now, everywhere, at any time. And He has made Himself immediately accessible to anyone whose heart is moved to grasp Him by investing Himself within words to learn “in your mouth,” and mizvahs “to do.” All that’s left is for you to invest yourself within these words and mitzvahs as much as He has invested Himself.

פרק ד'
Chapter Four

Soul Clothing

וְעוֹד יֵשׁ לְכָל נֶפֶשׁ אֱלֹהִית שְׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשִׁים, שֶׁהֵם מַחֲשָׁבָה דִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁל תַּרְיַ"ג מִצְוֹת הַתּוֹרָה;
In addition to her ten faculties, every divine soul has three clothes: the powers of verbal thought, speech, and action by which she engages in the 613 mitzvahs of the Torah.
This means that:
שֶׁכְּשֶׁהָאָדָם מְקַיֵּים בְּמַעֲשֶׂה כָּל מִצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת,
When you fulfill all the mitzvahs that require action,
וּבְדִבּוּר הוּא עוֹסֵק בְּפֵירוּשׁ כָּל תַּרְיַ"ג מִצְוֹת וְהִלְכוֹתֵיהֶן,
And you engage your speech in Torah study, which is the discussion of all 613 mitzvahs and their applications,
וּבְמַחֲשָׁבָה הוּא מַשִּׂיג כָּל מַה שֶּׁאֶפְשָׁר לוֹ לְהַשִּׂיג בִּפְשַׁט־רֶמֶז־דְּרוּשׁ־סוֹד הַתּוֹרָה –
And you engage your verbal thought in whatever you are able to grasp in the four realms of Torah’s orchard – its simplest level, allusions, hidden meanings, and secrets…
הֲרֵי כְּלָלוּת תַּרְיַ"ג אֵבְרֵי נַפְשׁוֹ מְלוּבָּשִׁים בְּתַרְיַ"ג מִצְוֹת הַתּוֹרָה.
…then, as a whole, the 613 limbs of your soul are invested within the 613 mitzvahs of the Torah.
וּבִפְרָטוּת,
More specifically:
בְּחִינוֹת חָכְמָה־בִּינָה־דַּעַת שֶׁבְּנַפְשׁוֹ, מְלוּבָּשׁוֹת בְּהַשָּׂגַת הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁהוּא מַשִּׂיג בִּפְשַׁט־רֶמֶז־דְּרוּשׁ־סוֹד כְּפִי יְכוֹלֶת הַשָּׂגָתוֹ וְשֹׁרֶשׁ נַפְשׁוֹ לְמַעְלָה;
You learn Torah. You engage your mind in the pursuit of grasping as much of the four levels of its orchard as your intelligence and the origin of your soul above permit. Your soul’s faculties of chochmah, binah, and da’at are now invested in your act of consciously understanding the Torah.
וְהַמִּדּוֹת, שֶׁהֵן יִרְאָה וְאַהֲבָה וְעַנְפֵיהֶן וְתוֹלְדוֹתֵיהֶן – מְלוּבָּשׁוֹת בְּקִיּוּם הַמִּצְוֹת בְּמַעֲשֶׂה
You fulfill mitzvahs. They require that you engage in certain activities. Your soul’s emotions – fear, love, and their branches and offshoots – are now invested in those activities.
וּבְדִבּוּר, שֶׁהוּא תַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה שֶׁכְּנֶגֶד כּוּלָּן.
You learn Torah by speaking it out loud, a mitzvah that is equal to all the other mitzvahs combined. Those same emotions of your soul are now invested in the act of speaking out the Torah’s words.
The Soul and her Clothes — a diagram of how the soul reaches beyond herself through her three clothes. The three intellectual faculties invest themselves within the clothing of thought (machshavah / verbal thought); the seven emotional faculties invest themselves within the clothing of speech (dibur) and action (ma'aseh). Clusters of circles represent the faculties cascading into each garment.

Love and Fear in Action

Why do we say that your soul’s emotions are invested within those mitzvahs?
כִּי הָאַהֲבָה הִיא שֹׁרֶשׁ כָּל רַמַ"ח מִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה, וּמִמֶּנָּה הֵן נִמְשָׁכוֹת, וּבִלְעָדָהּ אֵין לָהֶן קִיּוּם אֲמִתִּי,
Because love is the origin of all 248 positive mitzvahs, it is from love that they are drawn, and without love, your mitzvahs are missing their authentic fulfillment.
כִּי הַמְּקַיְּמָן בֶּאֱמֶת הוּא הָאוֹהֵב אֶת שֵׁם ה' וְחָפֵץ לְדָבְקָה בּוֹ בֶּאֱמֶת, וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לְדָבְקָה בּוֹ בֶּאֱמֶת, כִּי אִם בְּקִיּוּם רַמַ"ח פְּקוּדִין, שֶׁהֵם רַמַ"ח אֵבָרִין דְּמַלְכָּא כִּבְיָכוֹל, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּמָקוֹם אַחֵר.
That’s because you only genuinely fulfill the mitzvahs when you love G‑d and desire to truly bond with Him. It’s impossible to truly bond with Him by any means other than by fulfilling the 248 positive mitzvahs. By bonding to them, you are bonding to Him, since they are, figuratively speaking, the “248 limbs of the King” – a metaphor explained elsewhere.
וְהַיִּרְאָה הִיא שֹׁרֶשׁ לְשַׁסַ"ה לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה, כִּי יָרֵא לִמְרוֹד בְּמֶלֶךְ מַלְכֵי הַמְּלָכִים הַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא.
Fear, on the other hand, is the origin of your fulfillment of the 365 prohibitive mitzvahs. You refrain from doing these things because you dread the very notion of rebelling against G‑d, the King of kings over kings, who transcends and pervades all that exists.
אוֹ יִרְאָה פְּנִימִית מִזּוֹ, שֶׁמִּתְבּוֹשֵׁשׁ מִגְּדוּלָּתוֹ לַמְרוֹת עֵינֵי כְבוֹדוֹ וְלַעֲשׂוֹת הָרַע בְּעֵינָיו,
Or you might have a more intimate sort of fear: a sense of shame before His greatness. You can’t imagine doing anything spiteful of His magnificent, all-knowing presence, anything that He considers evil.
כָּל תּוֹעֲבַת ה' אֲשֶׁר שָׂנֵא,
What does He consider evil? “All those things that are despicable to G‑d, that which He hates.”
הֵם הַקְּלִיפּוֹת וְסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא, אֲשֶׁר יְנִיקָתָם מֵהָאָדָם הַתַּחְתּוֹן וַאֲחִיזָתָם בּוֹ הוּא בְּשַׁסַ"ה מִצְוֹת לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה.
This refers to the negative forces of the kelipot and the sitra achra. They nurture themselves from the human being and latch onto him when he, “the Adam here below in this world,” violates the 365 prohibitive mitzvahs. That is something you dread, since you feel G‑d’s presence and how despicable these things are for Him.
Either way, when you keep these prohibitions out of fear, that emotion becomes the vital force within your restraint.

Clothed Within G‑d

וְהִנֵּה, שְׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשִׁים אֵלּוּ מֵהַתּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹתֶיהָ, אַף שֶׁנִּקְרָאִים לְבוּשִׁים לְנֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ וּנְשָׁמָה עִם כָּל זֶה, גָּבְהָה וְגָדְלָה מַעֲלָתָם לְאֵין קֵץ וְסוֹף עַל מַעֲלַת נֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ וּנְשָׁמָה עַצְמָן,
Now, these three forms of engagement provided by Torah and its mitzvahs are called clothes for the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah. Clothes are merely an accessory to the person who wears them. Nevertheless, when it comes to these clothes, their quality is immeasurably higher and greater than that of your nefesh, ruach and neshamah on their own.
כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזֹּהַר, דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא וְקוּדְשָׁא־בְּרִיךְ־הוּא כּוּלָּא חַד,
They are higher and greater because they are clothing of Torah. As the Zohar tells, Torah and G‑d are completely one.
פֵּירוּשׁ: דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא, הִיא חָכְמָתוֹ וּרְצוֹנוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא בִּכְבוֹדוֹ וּבְעַצְמוֹ – כּוּלָּא חַד,
Why are they one? Because Torah is not just profound wisdom; It is G‑d’s wisdom and desire. And G‑d Himself, at His essence, is entirely one.
כִּי הוּא הַיּוֹדֵעַ וְהוּא הַמַּדָּע וְכוּ', כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר לְעֵיל בְּשֵׁם הָרַמְבַּ"ם.
For “He is the Knower and He is the Mind that knows (and He is the knowledge that is known),” as quoted above from Rambam.

G‑d’s wisdom and desire, then, are not like human traits. By knowing a person’s wisdom or carrying out their desire, you do not have the entire person. But G‑d’s wisdom and desire are entirely one with Him. When you have them, you have Him.

The Infinite and Accessible G‑d

וְאַף דְּהַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא נִקְרָא "אֵין סוֹף", וְלִגְדוּלָּתוֹ אֵין חֵקֶר, וְלֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בֵיהּ כְּלָל,
True, G‑d is called “The Infinite.” His greatness is unfathomable and “no thought can grasp anything about Him.”
וְכֵן בִּרְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ, כְּדִכְתִיב: "אֵין חֵקֶר לִתְבוּנָתוֹ", וּכְתִיב: "הַחֵקֶר אֱלוֹהַּ תִּמְצָא", וּכְתִיב: "כִּי לֹא מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם".
The same is true of His will and His wisdom, as it’s written, “There are no means to understand Him.” It’s also written, “If you will seek to fathom G‑d, will you achieve it?” And it’s written, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts.”

This presents a quandary: If G‑d provides you His authentic infinite wisdom, it should be impossible for you to grasp. And if G‑d provides you wisdom that you can grasp, it must be that it is not His authentic, infinite wisdom.

Yet, nonetheless, He has provided you that infinite wisdom and you are grasping it every time you learn Torah. How is this possible?

הִנֵּה עַל זֶה אָמְרוּ: "בְּמָקוֹם שֶׁאַתָּה מוֹצֵא גְּדוּלָּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא, שָׁם אַתָּה מוֹצֵא עַנְוְתָנוּתוֹ",
It was in reference to this paradox that our sages said, “In that very place where you find G‑d’s greatness, there you will find His humility, descending to the lowest places.”
וְצִמְצֵם הַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא רְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ בְּתַרְיַ"ג מִצְוֹת הַתּוֹרָה
So G‑d compressed His infinite desire and wisdom into a finite number of 613 mitzvahs of the Torah,
וּבְהִלְכוֹתֵיהֶן
into the rules for each of those mitzvahs,
וּבְצֵרוּפֵי אוֹתִיּוֹת תּוֹרָה־נְבִיאִים־כְּתוּבִים,
into the combinations of letters that make up the Torah, Prophets, and Scripture,
וּדְרָשׁוֹתֵיהֶן שֶׁבְּאַגָּדוֹת וּמִדְרְשֵׁי חֲכָמֵינוּ־זִכְרוֹנָם־לִבְרָכָה.
and into the interpretations of these texts as they are delivered to us in the anecdotes and parables told in the midrashim of our sages.
בִּכְדֵי שֶׁכָּל הַנְּשָׁמָה אוֹ רוּחַ וָנֶפֶשׁ שֶׁבְּגוּף הָאָדָם, תּוּכַל לְהַשִּׂיגָן בְּדַעְתָּהּ, וּלְקַיְּימָן – כָּל מַה שֶּׁאֶפְשָׁר לְקַיֵּים מֵהֶן בְּמַעֲשֶׂה דִּבּוּר וּמַחֲשָׁבָה,
He did this so that your entire neshamah, ruach, or nefesh as they are within a human body could mentally grasp His infinite wisdom and His desire. You can grasp them as they are invested within all these mitzvahs, texts, commentaries, and stories. And you can fulfill whatever is practical in action, speech, and thought.
וְעַל יְדֵי זֶה תִּתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּכָל עֶשֶׂר בְּחִינוֹתֶיהָ בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשִׁים אֵלּוּ.
This way, your divine soul can invest herself, all her ten faculties, within these three clothes of thoughts, words, and actions that are G‑d’s infinite wisdom and desire.

The Waterfall of Torah

וְלָכֵן נִמְשְׁלָה הַתּוֹרָה לְמַיִם;
That is why the Torah is compared to water:
מַה מַּיִם יוֹרְדִים מִמָּקוֹם גָּבוֹהַּ לְמָקוֹם נָמוּךְ, כָּךְ הַתּוֹרָה יָרְדָה מִמְּקוֹם כְּבוֹדָהּ, שֶׁהִיא רְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ יִתְבָּרֵךְ, וְאוֹרַיְיתָא וְקוּדְשָׁא־בְּרִיךְ־הוּא כּוּלָּא חַד, וְלֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בֵיהּ כְּלָל.
Just as water will always descend from a higher place to a lower one, so the Torah descended from the place of its glory as G‑d’s desire and wisdom – as Torah is perfectly one with G‑d who cannot be grasped by any thought at all.
וּמִשָּׁם נָסְעָה וְיָרְדָה בְּסֵתֶר הַמַּדְרֵגוֹת, מִמַּדְרֵגָה לְמַדְרֵגָה, בְּהִשְׁתַּלְשְׁלוּת הָעוֹלָמוֹת,
It traveled from that place, descending and secreting itself into each level through which it passed, through tiers upon tiers of multiple realities in a chain of descent through all the spiritual worlds,
עַד שֶׁנִּתְלַבְּשָׁה בִּדְבָרִים גַּשְׁמִיִּים וְעִנְיְינֵי עוֹלָם הַזֶּה, שֶׁהֵן רוֹב מִצְוֹת הַתּוֹרָה כְּכוּלָּם וְהִלְכוֹתֵיהֶן,
until it became invested within physical matters and concerns of this world, which is what virtually all of the mitzvahs of the Torah and its rules are about.
וּבְצֵרוּפֵי אוֹתִיּוֹת גַּשְׁמִיּוֹת בִּדְיוֹ עַל הַסֵּפֶר, עֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה סְפָרִים שֶׁבְּתוֹרָה נְבִיאִים וּכְתוּבִים
And it became invested in arrangements of physical letters written in ink on parchment – the 24 books of the Torah, Prophets, and Scriptures.
כְּדֵי שֶׁתְּהֵא כָּל מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בָּהֶן,
All this great descent and extreme investment is so that now anyone’s thoughts can grasp G‑d’s infinite desire and wisdom.
וַאֲפִילוּ בְּחִינַת דִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה, שֶׁלְּמַטָּה מִמַּדְרֵגַת מַחֲשָׁבָה, תְּפִיסָא בָּהֶן וּמִתְלַבֶּשֶׁת בָּהֶן.
Even speech and action – which are lower on the spiritual ladder than verbal thought – can now grasp them and become invested within them.
וּמֵאַחַר שֶׁהַתּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹתֶיהָ מַלְבִּישִׁים כָּל עֶשֶׂר בְּחִינוֹת הַנֶּפֶשׁ וְכָל תַּרְיַ"ג אֵבָרֶיהָ מֵרֹאשָׁהּ וְעַד רַגְלָהּ, הֲרֵי כּוּלָּהּ צְרוּרָה בִּצְרוֹר הַחַיִּים אֶת ה' מַמָּשׁ, וְאוֹר ה' מַמָּשׁ מַקִּיפָהּ וּמַלְבִּישָׁהּ מֵרֹאשָׁהּ וְעַד רַגְלָהּ,
Now that the Torah and its mitzvahs clothe all of your soul’s ten faculties and all her 613 spiritual limbs from head to foot, your entire soul is literally wrapped up in a bundle of life with G‑d, and G‑d’s light literally encompasses and clothes her from head to foot.
כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "צוּרִי אֶחֱסֶה בּוֹ", וּכְתִיב: "כַּצִּנָּה רָצוֹן תַּעְטְרֶנּוּ",
This is the meaning of the verse, “My rock, I cover myself within Him.” And, “Like a shield, desire will surround you.”
שֶׁהוּא רְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ יִתְבָּרֵךְ הַמְלוּבָּשִׁים בְּתוֹרָתוֹ וּמִצְוֹתֶיהָ.
This rock and this desire is His desire and wisdom as they are invested within His Torah and its mitzvahs. Within them, you are wrapped up within G‑d Himself.

Beyond Heaven

וְלָכֵן אָמְרוּ: "יָפָה שָׁעָה אַחַת בִּתְשׁוּבָה וּמַעֲשִׂים טוֹבִים בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה מִכָּל חַיֵּי עוֹלָם הַבָּא",
That is why the sages said, “One moment of returning to G‑d and doing good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the World to Come.”
כִּי עוֹלָם הַבָּא הוּא שֶׁנֶּהֱנִין מִזִּיו הַשְּׁכִינָה, שֶׁהוּא תַּעֲנוּג הַהַשָּׂגָה,
What is the World to Come? It is the experience of enjoying the radiance of G‑d’s presence, a pleasure of comprehending divine light.
וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לְשׁוּם נִבְרָא, אֲפִילוּ מֵהָעֶלְיוֹנִים, לְהַשִּׂיג, כִּי אִם אֵיזוֹ הֶאָרָה מֵאוֹר ה', וְלָכֵן נִקְרָא בְּשֵׁם "זִיו הַשְּׁכִינָה";
But no created being, even the loftiest, can comprehend more than a mere reflection of G‑d’s light. That is why it is called only the radiance of G‑d’s presence.
אֲבָל הַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא בִּכְבוֹדוֹ וּבְעַצְמוֹ – לֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בֵיהּ כְּלָל,
As for G‑d Himself in all His glory, no thought of any being can comprehend Him at all.
כִּי אִם כַּאֲשֶׁר תְּפִיסָא וּמִתְלַבֶּשֶׁת בַּתּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹתֶיהָ, אֲזַי הִיא תְּפִיסָא וּמִתְלַבֶּשֶׁת בְּהַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא מַמָּשׁ, דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא וְקוּדְשָׁא־בְּרִיךְ־הוּא כּוּלָּא חַד.
But when your soul grasps Torah and its mitzvahs and invests herself in them, then she does grasp G‑d Himself and she invests her being within His, since “Torah and G‑d are completely one.”

The King’s Embrace

וְאַף שֶׁהַתּוֹרָה נִתְלַבְּשָׁה בִּדְבָרִים תַּחְתּוֹנִים גַּשְׁמִיִּים –
True, the Torah comes to us dressed in lowly, mundane, physical matters. Don’t such garments obscure the divine will and wisdom that they clothe?
הֲרֵי זֶה כִּמְחַבֵּק אֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, שֶׁאֵין הֶפְרֵשׁ בְּמַעֲלַת הִתְקָרְבוּתוֹ וּדְבֵיקוּתוֹ בַּמֶּלֶךְ, בֵּין מְחַבְּקוֹ כְּשֶׁהוּא לָבוּשׁ לְבוּשׁ אֶחָד בֵּין שֶׁהוּא לָבוּשׁ כַּמָּה לְבוּשִׁים, מֵאַחַר שֶׁגּוּף הַמֶּלֶךְ בְּתוֹכָם.
But compare this to embracing a human king: The quality of your closeness and bond with the king is just the same whether you embrace him as he is dressed in a single garment or dressed in many garments. All that matters is that the king himself is inside.
So too, when embracing G‑d through the mundane, physical matters of Torah and its mitzvahs that clothe Him.
וְכֵן אִם הַמֶּלֶךְ מְחַבְּקוֹ בִּזְרוֹעוֹ, גַּם שֶׁהִיא מְלוּבֶּשֶׁת תּוֹךְ מַלְבּוּשָׁיו,
The same is true in reverse: If the king embraces you with his arm, it makes no difference that his arm is clothed within His garments.
כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: "וִימִינוֹ תְחַבְּקֵנִי", שֶׁהִיא הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁנִּתְּנָה מִיָּמִין, שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת חֶסֶד וּמַיִם:
This is what G‑d does through His Torah, as it says, “His right arm embraces me.” This is speaking of the Torah that was given “from His right arm,” representing kindness and water. The Torah comes down to us in this clothing of physical matters through G‑d’s kindness, just as water runs freely downward.

What Have We Discovered?

  1. Your divine soul has three clothes: the verbal thoughts, speech, and actions of Torah and its mitzvahs.
  2. These mitzvah-clothes offer the soul something infinitely greater than anything it can attain on its own, even in the highest heaven. In the act of a mitzvah and in the study of Torah, a soul embraces G‑d Himself and G‑d embraces that soul.
  3. Don’t just do mitzvahs. Invest yourself within them, mind, heart, and soul.

Notes

  1. Midrash Rabbah, Exodus 28:6.
  2. Shnei Luchot HaBrit, Toldot Adam, Beit Chochmah (Telita’ah). See also Likutei Sichot, vol. 4, p. 1094. See Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Hilchot Talmud Torah 2:2; Tanya, Igeret HaKodesh, no. 26, where R. Schneur Zalman determines that every Jew who is capable is obliged to uncover new layers of Torah.
  3. Torah Ohr, Vayera, 13b; Ma’amarei Admur Hazaken 5562, vol. 1, p. 178-179.
  4. Midrash Rabbah, Genesis 44:1; Leviticus 13:3. Midrash Tanchumah, Shemini 8:2.
  5. Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Temurah, 4:13; Sefer HaChinuch, mitzvah 16.
  6. Etz Chaim, portal 26, sec. 1.
  7. Deuteronomy 30:14.
  8. Mishnah, Pe’ah 1:1.
  9. Tikunei Zohar, 74a.
  10. See Tanya, chs. 23 and 35.
  11. Deuteronomy 12:31.
  12. Zohar II, 60a. See Zohar I, 24a; II, 90b.
  13. See above, ch. 2; Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 2:10.
  14. This term appears frequently throughout the Zohar. See, for example, Zohar II, 42b; Tikunei Zohar, 68b.
  15. Tikunei Zohar, 17a, quoting Elijah the Prophet. Next chapter will delve much deeper into these words.
  16. Isaiah 40:28.
  17. Job 11:7.
  18. Isaiah 55:8.
  19. Talmud, Megillah 31a.
  20. Talmud, Taanit 7a; Baba Kama 82a; and elsewhere.
  21. 1 Samuel 25:29; Psalms 18:3.
  22. Psalms 5:13.
  23. See Tanya, Igeret HaKodesh, no. 29.
  24. Mishna, Avot 4:17.
  25. Talmud, Berachot 17a; Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Teshuvah ch. 8.
  26. Song of Songs 2:6; 8:3.
  27. Deuteronomy 33:2; Talmud, Berachot 62a.
  28. Tikunei Zohar, 17a; Zohar III, 255a.