ואדרבה

In fact, not only is it possible for the sinner to receive his nurture from kelipah as do animals and other living beings, but indeed,

ביתר שאת וביתר עז

with even greater emphasis and force.

על פי המבואר מזוהר הקדוש פרשת פקודי, שכל שפע וחיות הנשפעות לאדם התחתון

For, as explained in the holy Zohar, Parshat Pekudei, all the benevolence and vitality granted mortal man

בשעה ורגע שעושה הרע בעיני ה׳, במעשה או בדיבור או בהרהורי עבירה וכו׳

while he commits evil in the eyes of G‑d, in deed or speech, or by musing on sin, and so on,13 i.e., through any of the three soul-garments of thought, speech and action, —

הכל נשפע לו מהיכלות הסטרא אחרא המבוארים שם בזוהר הקדוש

all [this life-force] issues to him from the [various] chambers of the sitra achra described there in the holy Zohar.

והאדם הוא בעל בחירה, אם לקבל השפעתו מהיכלות הסטרא אחרא, או מהיכלות הקדושה שמהם נשפעות כל מחשבות טובות וקדושות וכו׳

The choice is man’s — whether to derive his nurture from the chambers of the sitra achra, or from the chambers of holiness14 from which flow all good and holy thoughts, and so on.

When one’s thoughts, words and deeds are wholesome and holy, he receives his nurture from holiness; when his thoughts, words and deeds are evil, he derives his nurture from the chambers of the sitra achra.

כי זה לעומת זה עשה האלקים וכו׳

For15 “one opposite the other did G‑d make….”

Every manifestation of holiness has a counterpart in the kelipah and sitra achra.

והיכלות הסטרא אחרא מקבלים ויונקים חיותם מהתלבשות והשתלשלות השפע די׳ ספירות דנוגה

The chambers of the sitra achra derive their vitality from the issue of the Ten Sefirot of nogah that is embodied within them and that descends into them by stages,

הכלולה מבחינת טוב ורע, היא בחינת עץ הדעת וכו׳, כנודע ליודעי ח״ן

and [this kelipah of nogah] is comprised of good and evil, as in “the Tree of Knowledge [of good and evil],” as is known to those who are knowledgeable in the Kabbalah.

Since the kelipah of nogah is composed of both good and evil it serves as a source, after a multitude of descents, for the evil of the chambers of the sitra achra — the reservoir from which a man is refuelled when he sins in thought, speech or action.

The Alter Rebbe now resumes his explanation of why a sinful person not only receives his vitality from the “other side” like other living creatures, but in fact does so to an even greater degree. Since through his freely-chosen thoughts, words and deeds it was the sinner himself who replenished the reservoirs of the kelipot with life-force of Divine origin, it is he who will now have to swallow the lion’s share of those reservoirs.

והנה: יעקב חבל נחלתו כתיב

Scripture states:16 “Jacob is the rope of [G‑d’s] heritage.”17

על דרך משל: כמו החבל שראשו אחד למעלה וראשו השני למטה

The analogy [compares the soul of a Jew] to a rope, with one end above and the other end below.

אם ימשוך אדם בראשו השני, ינענע וימשך אחריו גם ראשו הראשון, כמה שאפשר לו להמשך

When one pulls the lower end he will move and pull after it the higher end as well, as far as it can be pulled.

וככה ממש בשרש נשמת האדם ומקורה מבחינת ה״א תתאה הנ״ל

It is exactly so with regard to the root of the soul of man and its source in the latter hei.

הוא ממשיך ומוריד השפעתה על ידי מעשיו הרעים ומחשבותיו

Through one’s evil deeds and thoughts one draws down the life-force [issuing from the latter hei]

עד תוך היכלות הסטרא אחרא, כביכול, שמשם מקבל מחשבותיו ומעשיו

into the chambers of the sitra achra, as it were, from which he receives his thoughts and deeds.

Although a person punishable by excision has severed his ropes, so to speak, he is still able to draw down the life-force issuing from the latter hei into the chambers of the sitra achra. The reason, as is explained elsewhere in the literature of Chassidut, is that even after the rope is severed, some external vestige of it survives. And it is through this remnant that the life-force of holiness is drawn down into the chambers of the kelipot.

ומפני שהוא הוא הממשיך להם ההשפעה, לכן הוא נוטל חלק בראש, וד״ל

Because it is he, the sinful individual, who draws the flow of vitality into [the chambers of the sitra achra], it is he who receives the greatest portion from them.

I.e., in even greater measure than do other living creatures. Nevertheless, it is explained in the literature of Chassidut18 that ultimately the sinner will cease to draw vitality from this flow, for the sitra achra can serve a Jew as a source only temporarily.

This will suffice for the understanding.