The Holy Epistle: Epistle 17 – Part 2 – video

Share
Loading the player…

The Holy Epistle: Epistle 13 – Part 2 – video
The Holy Epistle: Epistle 17 – Part 3 – audio

לפי שההארה והגילוי שבגן עדן היא בחינת ממלא כל עלמין

 

For the manifestation and the radiation in Gan Eden are of the level called Memaleh Kol Almin13 — the light which “permeates all worlds”; i.e., the muted Divine life-force that contracts, descends and diminishes according to the receptive capacity of the particular created being which it is to permeate.

 

שהוא בחינת השתלשלות ממדרגה למדרגה, על ידי צמצומים עצומים

 

This [diminishment of the Divine life-force] is an evolving progression from one rung to another by means of immense contractions.

 

וכמאמר רז״ל: ביו״ד נברא עולם הבא

 

As was taught by our Sages, of blessed memory,14 “The World to Come — which here means Gan Eden was created by the letter yud,” a letter limited and contracted to a single point.

 

והיא בחינת חכמה עילאה

 

This [letter] signifies the level of Supernal Chochmah (the first of the ten Sefirot of the World of Atzilut),

 

הנקראת עדן העליון

 

which is referred to as the Higher Eden, that surpasses the level of Gan Eden, inasmuch as gan implies only a garden derived from Eden, and not Eden itself,

 

המשתלשלת ומתלבשת בכל העולמות

 

and which evolves and becomes vested in all the worlds,

 

I.e., Chochmah descends and vests itself in all the worlds in order to continuously create and animate them,

 

כמו שכתוב: כולם בחכמה עשית גו׳

 

as it is written,15 “ You have made them all with Chochmah…”; i.e., all created beings derive from the Sefirah of Chochmah.

 

והחכמה תחיה גו׳

 

[It is likewise written],16 “And Chochmah animates…,” again indicating that the Sefirah of Chochmah animates all the worlds.

 

ובגן עדן היא בבחינת גילוי ההשגה, לכל חד לפום שיעורא דיליה

 

In Gan Eden it is manifestly comprehensible to each according to his measure.

 

While the life-force that emanates from Chochmah is concealed from all other worlds, it is manifest in Gan Eden, so that the souls there are able to apprehend the Essence of Divinity.

 

כנודע שעונג הנשמות בגן עדן, הוא מהשגת סודות התורה שעסק בעולם הזה בנגלה

 

For, as is known, the delight of the souls in Gan Eden derives from [their] apprehension of the secrets of the Torah in whose revealed dimensions [they were] engaged in this world, so that what was secret in this world is revealed in Gan Eden,

 

כדאיתא בזוהר הקדוש, פרשת שלח

 

as is discussed in the sacred Zohar, Parshat Shlach,17

 

The Zohar speaks there about the various heavenly “academies” such as “Moses’ Academy” and the “Heavenly Academy,” and so too an academy in which Miriam teaches righteous women.

 

and in the Gemara,18 with reference to the incident involving Rabbah bar Nachmeni.

 

The Gemara describes a legal debate between G‑d and the Heavenly Academy regarding ritual purity in a situation where it is doubtful whether “the baheret preceded the appearance of a white hair, or whether the white hair preceded the baheret.” It was agreed that Rabbah bar Nachmeni would render the decisive opinion because of his singular knowledge in the field of Nega’im and Ohalot. In Likkutei Torah, Parshat Tazria,19 the Alter Rebbe explains this specific dispute, as well as the concept of the Heavenly Academy in general.

 

At any rate, the revelation attainable in Gan Eden is that of Memaleh Kol Almin, in which only a limited degree of light filters through.

Leave a Reply