ואף דהקדוש ברוך הוא נקרא אין סוף, ולגדולתו אין חקר, ולית מחשבה תפיסא ביה כלל

Although the Holy One, blessed be He, is called Ein Sof (“Infinite”), and5 “His greatness can never be fathomed,” and6 “No thought can apprehend him at all,”

וכן ברצונו וחכמתו

and so are also His Will and His wisdom (infinite and unfathomable),

כדכתיב: אין חקר לתבונתו, וכתיב: החקר אלוקה תמצא, וכתיב: כי לא מחשבותי מחשבותיכם

as it is written,7 “There is no searching of His understanding”; and it is also written,8 “When you will search (to understand) G‑d, will you find?”; and it is further written,9 “For My thoughts are not like your thoughts,” says G‑d to man;

Thus human thought is incapable of grasping Divine “thought”. How, then, can it be said that in understanding Torah man grasps G‑d’s wisdom?

To this the Alter Rebbe answers that G‑d “compressed” and “lowered” His wisdom, clothing it in the physical terms and objects of Torah and its commandments, so that it might be accessible to human intelligence, in order that man may thereby be united with G‑d.

הנה על זה אמרו: במקום שאתה מוצא גדולתו של הקדוש ברוך הוא, שם אתה מוצא ענותנותו

concerning this disparity between human intelligence and Divine wisdom, our Sages have said,10 “Where you find the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, there you find His humility.”

I.e., how can we approach G‑d’s greatness, to “find” it and be united with it? — Through His “humility”, by His lowering Himself to our level.

וצמצם הקדוש ברוך הוא רצונו וחכמתו בתרי״ג מצות התורה ובהלכותיהן

G‑d compressed His Will and wisdom in the 613 commandments of the Torah and in their laws,

As mentioned above, the logic of the law represents Divine wisdom, and the ruling, Divine Will —

ובצרופי אותיות תורה נביאים וכתובים

and in the letter-combinations of Scripture (Torah, Nevi‘im and Ketuvim),

The very letters and words of Scripture contain G‑d’s Will and wisdom; wherefore even one who is ignorant of their meaning fulfills the precept of Torah study by merely reciting them —

ודרשותיהן שבאגדות ומדרשי חכמינו ז״ל

and G‑d’s Will and wisdom are also contained in the exposition of these verses found in the Aggadot and Midrashim of our Sages, of blessed memory.

בכדי שכל הנשמה או רוח ונפש שבגוף האדם תוכל להשיגן בדעתה

In all of these did G‑d “compress” His Will and wisdom in order that every Neshamah or even the lower soul-levels of Ruach and Nefesh, situated as they are in the human body, will be able to grasp them with its intellect,

ולקיימן כל מה שאפשר לקיים מהן במעשה דבור ומחשבה

and [in order] that it (the Nefesh or Ruach or Neshamah) fulfill them, as far as they can be fulfilled, in action, speech and thought;

ועל ידי זה תתלבש בכל עשר בחינותיה בשלשה לבושים אלו

thereby clothing itself with all its ten faculties in these three garments (of the thought, speech and action of Torah and mitzvot).

ולכן נמשלה התורה למים: מה מים יורדים ממקום גבוה למקום נמוך

Therefore has the Torah been compared to water,11 for just as water descends from a higher level to a lower level,

The water which reaches the lower level is the same water that left its source within the higher level; unlike light, for example, which also travels from its source, but in whose case it is not the source (the luminous body) itself that is transmitted, but only a ray of it; and unlike intellect which can also be communicated from one person to another, but in whose case, too, it is not the source (the teacher’s mind) itself that transmits itself to the lower level (the student’s mind), but only the idea, a product of the source.

כך התורה ירדה ממקום כבודה

Just as we find in the analogy of water, so has Torah descended from its place of glory, i.e., the lofty spiritual plane which is its source.

שהיא רצונו וחכמתו יתברך, ואורייתא וקודשא בריך הוא כולא חד, ולית מחשבה תפיסא ביה כלל

In its original state it is G‑d’s Will and wisdom, and “Torah is one and the same with G‑d,” Whom no thought can apprehend at all — on that plane, Torah is incomprehensible to man, as is G‑d Himself.

ומשם נסעה וירדה בסתר המדריגות ממדרגה למדרגה בהשתלשלות העולמות

From there the Torah has journeyed in a descent through hidden stages, stage after stage, in the Hishtalshelut of the Worlds (i.e., the chain-like order of interconnected spiritual “Worlds”, explained more fully in ch. 2; Torah descended through all these levels —)

עד שנתלבשה בדברים גשמיים ועניני עולם הזה, שהן רוב מצות התורה ככולן והלכותיהן

until it clothed itself in material matters and things of this corporeal world, which comprise nearly all the Torah’s commandments and their laws.

Nearly all the mitzvot involve material objects: tzitzit are made of wool, tefillin of leather, and so on. Even the “spiritual” mitzvot involve material objects in their halachot — the laws governing their practical application. For example, the mitzvah of loving one’s fellow, although essentially a “spiritual” mitzvah, as it consists of an emotion — love, demands that one aid his fellow-Jew materially, financially, etc.; these being concrete, material expressions of a “spiritual” mitzvah.

ובצרופי אותיות גשמיות בדיו על הספר, עשרים וארבעה ספרים שבתורה נביאים וכתובים

Thus, the Torah clothed itself in the material objects with which the mitzvot are performed and also in the physical letter combinations written with ink in a book, namely the twenty-four books of Torah, Nevi‘im, and Ketuvim.

(As mentioned above, the letters and words contain the holiness of G‑d’s Will and wisdom.)

כדי שתהא כל מחשבה תפיסא בהן, ואפילו בחינת דבור ומעשה שלמטה ממדרגת מחשבה תפיסא בהן ומתלבשת בהן

Torah underwent this great descent so that every human thought be able to grasp them, and so that even speech and action, which are on a level lower than thought, be able to grasp them (— G‑d’s Will and wisdom) and clothe themselves in them — by performing the commandments in speech and action.

ומאחר שהתורה ומצותיה מלבישים כל עשר בחינות הנפש וכל תרי״ג אבריה מראשה ועד רגלה

Now, since Torah and its commandments clothe all ten faculties of the soul, and all of the soul’s 613 “organs”, from head to foot, i.e, from its highest level — its “head” — to its lowest level,

הרי כולה צרורה בצרור החיים את הוי׳ ממש, ואור הוי׳ ממש מקיפה ומלבישה מראשה ועד רגלה

it the soul is truly completely bound up with G‑d in the12 “bond of life,” and the very light of G‑d envelops and clothes it from head to foot.

כמו שכתוב: צורי אחסה בו, וכתיב: כצנה רצון תעטרנו

So it is written:13 “G‑d is my Rock, in whom I take refuge” (and naturally, only that which surrounds a person can protect him); and it is further written,14 “As with a shield G‑d’s Will surrounds him,”

שהוא רצונו וחכמתו יתברך, המלובשים בתורתו ומצותיה

meaning His Will and wisdom that are clothed in Torah and its commandments.

We see, at any rate, that although G‑d’s wisdom and Will are beyond man’s reach, they are made accessible to him because the Torah is clothed in physical terms, and its commandments are vested in physical objects.

ולכן אמרו: יפה שעה אחת בתשובה ומעשים טובים בעולם הזה מכל חיי עולם הבא

For this reason, it has been said:15 “One hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is better than the whole life of the World to Come.”

כי עולם הבא הוא שנהנין מזיו השכינה, שהוא תענוג ההשגה

For the reward in the World to Come consists of enjoying the radiance of the Divine Presence;16 it is the pleasure derived from comprehension of G‑dliness.

ואי אפשר לשום נברא, אפילו מהעליונים, להשיג כי אם איזו הארה מאור הוי׳

Now no created being, even a spiritual being of the higher realms such as angels or souls, can comprehend any more than a glimmer of the Divine light,

ולכן נקרא בשם זיו השכינה

for which reason the reward of the souls in the World to Come is referred to as “the radiance of the Divine Presence,” since it is no more than a remote gleam of the Divine light.

אבל הקדוש ברוך הוא בכבודו ובעצמו לית מחשבה תפיסא ביה כלל

But as for the essence and glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, no thought can apprehend Him at all.

כי אם כאשר תפיסא ומתלבשת בתורה ומצותיה, אזי היא תפיסא ומתלבשת בהקדוש ברוך הוא ממש

Only when it apprehends and clothes itself in Torah and its mitzvot does it grasp and clothe itself in G‑d Himself,

דאורייתא וקודשא בריך הוא כולא חד

for “Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are one and the same.”

Hence the superiority of Torah and mitzvot in this world over the life of the World to Come. In the World to Come the soul grasps only a glimmer of G‑dliness; in this world, through Torah and mitzvot, it is united with G‑d Himself.

ואף שהתורה נתלבשה בדברים תחתונים גשמיים

For, although the Torah has been clothed in lowly material things, and it is only these material things that man’s intellect grasps when studying Torah, not the essence of G‑d’s Will and wisdom, yet —

הרי זה כמחבק את המלך, דרך משל

it is, by way of illustration, like one who embraces a king.

שאין הפרש במעלת התקרבותו ודביקותו במלך, בין מחבקו כשהוא לבוש לבוש אחד, בין שהוא לבוש כמה לבושים

There is no difference in the degree of his closeness and attachment to the king whether he embraces him when the king is wearing one robe or many robes,

מאחר שגוף המלך בתוכם

since the king’s body is in them.

Similarly, when a Jew “embraces” G‑d’s wisdom in Torah study, the fact that His wisdom is clothed in material “robes” is irrelevant.

Another point understood from this analogy: in the study of Torah, man is also “embraced”, enveloped and encompassed by, G‑d’s wisdom that the Torah contains (as will be explained further in ch. 5) — as the Alter Rebbe continues:

וכן אם המלך מחבקו בזרועו גם שהיא מלובשת תוך מלבושיו

Similarly, when the king embraces one with his arm, though it be dressed in his robes.

To illustrate that Torah is analogous to a royal embrace, the Alter Rebbe quotes:

כמו שכתוב: וימינו תחבקני

As it is written,17 “His (G‑d’s) right hand embraces me,”

שהיא התורה, שנתנה מימין

which refers to Torah, called “the right hand” because Torah was given by G‑d’s18 “right hand,”

שהיא בחינת חסד ומים

for [Torah] is related to the attribute of Chesed (“kindness”), and “water”.

As explained in the Kabbalah, the right hand represents both Chesed and water (and, as said earlier, Torah is compared to water), and the left hand represents Gevurah (“severity”) and fire. When the verse states that G‑d’s right hand “embraces me,” the intention is that G‑d “embraces” and envelops the soul through Torah — G‑d’s “right hand.”

Thus, the bond that Torah study creates between the soul and G‑d is two-fold: The soul “embraces” G‑d and is “embraced” by G‑d. In this, Torah study is superior to other mitzvot, as discussed in the following chapter.

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