Kuntres Acharon, Essay One The contents of this Kuntres Acharon al Kamah Perakim (“Later Booklet on Several Chapters”) are not near as homoeneous as one might expect. The ninth printing1 of the Tanya, which included Iggeret HaKodesh and Kuntres Acharon for the second time, was introduced by an “Approbation of the … sons of the […]

ומה שכתוב בזהר, חלק ג׳ דף ק״ה, דהרהור לא עביד מידי כו׳ As to the statement in the Zohar, Vol. III, p. 105, that “thinking achieves nothing,…” והיינו, אפילו לטב i.e., not even a beneficial effect, if the “arousal from below” of deed or speech are lacking, Speaking of thought, the Zohar there refers to […]

עיין עץ חיים, שער הנקודות, שער ה׳, פרק ו׳ Examine the statement in Etz Chayim, Shaar HaNekudot, Shaar 8, ch. 6, שאין החזרת פנים בפנים, כי אם על ידי מצות מעשיות דוקא that there can be no “turning of face to face” except through mitzvot requiring action. The text cited had previously discussed the stage […]

והנה הבירורים דעשיה עולין ליצירה על ידי שם ב״ן, ומיצירה לבריאה ולאצילות, כמו שכתוב בשער מ״ן, דרוש י״א, סימן ז׳ The acts of refinement of Asiyah that are accomplished through practical mitzvot ascend to Yetzirah by means of the Divine Name Ba’n, and from Yetzirah to Beriah and Atzilut, as noted in Shaar Ma’n, Derush […]

In chs. 39 and 40 of Tanya the Alter Rebbe spoke of the various worlds to which souls ascend as a result of their Torah study and spiritual service. Their level in each case is determined by the individual’s intention at the time: If the study and prayer were accompanied by love and awe generated […]

אלא מפני שכוונתו לשם שמים) (5But since his intention is addressed to G‑d, He is, after all, in a state of prayer, except that alien thoughts interpose. לכך יש לה תיקון בקל, לחזור ולעלות it is therefore easily corrected, so that [his prayer] may once again rise to the state from which it was originally […]

In the beginning, as the Midrash teaches,1 G‑d “created worlds and destroyed them.” The Kabbalah explains that this refers to spiritual worlds, Supernal Sefirot (“emanations”), that first existed in one state of being and then in another. The Sefirot in the former state of being — called the World of Tohu (lit., “Chaos”) — underwent […]

והעלאת מין נוקבין במוחו ולבו של אדם, היא בחינת רשפי אש בלי גבול The “elevation of mayin nukvin” in the mind and heart of man is [the love of G‑d] in a state of boundless flames of fire, and being boundless it relates to the infinite light; ונקרא מאדך it is described as meodecha — […]

והנה במקום אחר כתב שרמ״ח מצות עשה הן בה׳ חסדים Now, in one source13 it is written14 that the 248 positive commandments are [rooted] in the Five Attributes of Kindness of Za of Atzilut, for every positive command serves as a vessel to receive an expression of the kindly attributes and a calling forth of […]

ומקור המוחין הוא לבנונית כו׳ The source of the [Divine] Intellect is the Lavnunit [of Keter], הוא הענג וחפץ העליון להמשיך אור למטה, לרמ״ח אברין דז״א which is the supreme delight and desire to draw the light below into the 248 organs of Za, for relative to Keter, Za is deemed “below”. Thus the Zohar […]