The Holy Epistle: Epistle 05 – Part 2 – video

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The Holy Epistle: Epistle 05 – Part 1- audio
The Holy Epistle: Epistle 05 – Part 2 – audio

ולכן נקרא בשם נקודה בהיכלא, בזוהר הקדוש

In the holy Zohar,10 therefore, [Chochmah] is referred to as “the dot in the palace.”11

Chochmah is the “dot” or “point” of intellect that illumines the “palace” of Binah. Nevertheless, even when already housed in Binah, it still remains a seminal point of intellect that transcends the details that constitute the comprehension of Binah.

וזו היא תמונת יו״ד של שם הוי׳

[Indeed,] this is the shape of the yud of the Four-Letter Name of G‑d.

The letter yud is shaped like a point, alluding12 to the Sefirah of Chochmah, which is a mere point.

ונקרא עדן, אשר עליו נאמר: עין לא ראתה גו׳

[Chochmah] is also referred to as Eden, of which it is said:13 “No eye has beheld it”; i.e., it is a kind of illumination that transcends and defies comprehension.

ונקרא: אבא יסד ברתא

Moreover, [Chochmah] is referred to14 as “the ‘father’ who founded the ‘daughter’.”

Chochmah is the “father”, or source, of the letters of speech, which are called the “daughter”, the level of Malchut.

One might have expected the letters of speech to derive from the emotive faculties (the middot) or from Binah, for surely a person articulates letters of speech when he seeks to express an emotion or to speak of an idea that he has comprehended. The Alter Rebbe, however, now goes on to explain that the letters of speech in fact derive from Chochmah, which transcends comprehension.

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