וכשיתבונן האדם בעומק הבנתו Now when a man will contemplate in the depths of his understanding ויצייר בדעתו הווייתו יש מאין בכל רגע ורגע ממש and will [moreover] picture in his mind how he comes into being ex nihilo at every single moment, so that he is affected at every moment of his existence by […]

ומי שמתעצב ומתאונן But he who is grieved and laments מראה בעצמו שיש לו מעט רע ויסורין demonstrates29 that he is undergoing some hardship and suffering, וחסר לו איזה טובה and lacks some goodness; והרי זה ככופר, חס ושלום he is (heaven forfend) like a heretic, who denies G‑d’s omnipresence. For if he would truly […]

Many of the letters that together constitute Iggeret HaKodesh were written in order to rouse Jewry to contribute generously to tzedakah in general and in particular for the Holy Land. More specifically, the Alter Rebbe strongly encouraged the support of Rabbi Mendele Horodoker and Rabbi Avraham Kalisker and their followers, who had settled there, through […]

ואחר כך, על ידי תקיעת שופר והתפלות, נמשך אור חדש עליון Afterwards, by means of the sounding of the Shofar and by means of the prayers, a new and superior light is elicited, מבחינה עליונה יותר שבמדריגת חכמה עילאה [a light] of a yet higher rank in the sphere of the Supreme Chochmah, להאיר לארץ […]

The subject of this letter, the Ten Sefirot of the World of Atzilut and of the other worlds, is a fundament of both Kabbalah and Chassidut. All the worlds are both created and conducted by means of the Sefirot, the emanations by which the various attributes of Divinity become manifest. Thus we find in the […]

ואפילו נפש דעשיה, היא באה מזיווג ז״א ונוקבא דעשיה For even a Nefesh (i.e., a soul of the lowest grade) of Asiyah (i.e., the lowest world) derives from the union of Za (ז״א: the initials of זעיר אנפין, i.e., the bracket of six masculine middot, or emotive attributes) with nukva (i.e., the feminine attribute called […]

The Alter Rebbe now goes on to make it perfectly clear that the Sefirot are, however, infinitely higher than the corresponding faculties within the soul. Indeed, even Abraham’s attribute of Chesed could in no way compare to the Chesed of the Sefirot, notwithstanding the fact that Abraham was considered a “chariot” to G‑d,20 i.e., a […]

והנה כללות היו״ד ספירות שבנשמת האדם Now, as regards the totality of the Ten Sefirot [as they appear] in the soul of man, נודע לכל שהמדות נחלקות בדרך כלל לז׳ מדות It is known to all25 that the emotive attributes divide into seven general categories,26 וכל פרטי המדות שבאדם באות מאחת מז׳ מדות אלו and […]

והנה מדות אלו, הן בחינות חיצוניות שבנפש Now, these emotive attributes — those involved in imparting enlightenment, and the like — are the external aspects of the soul. ובתוכן מלובשות מדות פנימיות Within them are vested the inner attributes, which bring about the external attributes involved in the actual imparting of knowledge, שהן בחינות אהבה […]

והנה כל זה הוא רק על דרך משל לבד Now all this — the above-mentioned effect of the emotive traits upon the resultant teaching or influence — is only by way of allegory, and does not provide a completely true picture of the Sefirot as they exist within man’s soul, כי כל זה הוא בנפש […]