והנה כמו שבנשמת האדם יש בה כח התענוג שמתענגת ממה שיש לה ענג ממנו כמו מהשכלת שכל חדש וכה”ג

Now, in the soul of man there is a faculty for pleasure: [the soul] takes pleasure in what it finds pleasurable,31as in the conception of a new insight, or the like.

ובחי’ חיצוניות ואחוריים של כח ובחי’ התענוג שבה היא בחי’ כח הרצון שבה שהוא רוצה מה שהוא רוצה דהיינו דבר שאינו צער שהצער היפך התענוג

The external and hindmost aspect of [the soul’s] power and state of delight is its faculty of will, willing that which it wills, i.e.,32 something that is not painful, for pain is the opposite of delight.

A person desires something because it gives him pleasure. Thus, pleasure is the “inner” (or motivating) aspect of desire, which is considered “external” (i.e., consequent) to it.

וככה עד”מ באור א”ס ב”ה ג”כ כביכול

Metaphorically speaking, it is the same with the [infinite] EinSof-light, as it were:

הרצון העליון ב”ה היא בחי’ חיצוניות ואחוריים לבחי’ ענג העליון ונועם ה’ וצחצחות ועלמין דכסופין הנ”ל

The Supernal Will is the external and hindmost aspect [i.e.,the resultant chitzoniyut and achorayim] of the above-mentioned Supernal Delight, the “pleasantness of G‑d,” the “pleasurable thirst,” and the “Worlds of Longing.”

Thus, when we state that the garment for the soul derives from the achorayim and chitzoniyut of the Supernal Delight, this means that it derives from the Supernal Will.

הגם שהם מיוחדים בתכלית היחוד שהוא ית’ ורצונו אחד

Though these – [the Supernal Delight and the Supernal Will] -are fused in absolute unity, for [G‑d] and His Will are one,

ולא כרצון האדם ח”ו לא מיניה ולא מקצתיה

and not (heaven forfend) like the will of man, neither wholly nor partially,

ואין דמיון ביניהם כלל

there being no similarity whatever between them,

Man’s will is not wholly one with the person himself; it is one of the soul-faculties that he possesses. By contrast, G‑d and His Will are one. How, then, can we differentiate Above between Pleasure and Will,saying that G‑d’s Pleasure is internal and His Will is external?

אעפ”כ דברה תורה כלשון בנ”א לשכך האזן מה שיכולה לשמוע במשל ומליצה מנשמת האדם הכלולה מכח התענוג והרצון והחכמה והבינה וכו’

nevertheless,33 “the Torah speaks in human idiom” in order34 “to modulate for the ear what it is able to hear,” with allegory and metaphor relating to the soul of man, which compounds the faculty of delight, will, wisdom, understanding, and so on.

just as in man pleasure is described as “internal” and will as “external”, so too do we describe the corresponding attributes Above.

וכנראה בחוש שכשאדם משכיל איזה שכל חדש נפלא אזי באותה רגע עכ”פ נולד לו תענוג נפלא בשכלו

This is empirically evident, for when a person conceives some wonderful new insight, then at that moment, at least, a wondrous delight is born35 in his mind.

מכלל שהתענוג הוא למעלה מעלה מבחי’ השכל והחכמה רק שמלובש בבחי’ שכל וחכמה

Thus it follows that the capacity for pleasure surpasses by far the faculty of intellect and wisdom; it merely is vested in the faculty of intellect and wisdom.

וכשהאדם מרגיש השכל וחכמה דהיינו שמשיגה ומבינה היטב אזי מרגיש ג”כ בחי’ התענוג המלובש בחכמה

Thus when a man feels [a subject of] intellect and wisdom, that is, he apprehends and understands it well, he then also senses the faculty of pleasure which is vested in the [subject of] wisdom.

ולכן נקראת בחי’ בינה בשם עוה”ב בזוה”ק

That is why in the sacred Zohar,36 the faculty of Binah is referred to as “the World to Come.”

שהיא בחי’ התגלות החכמה עם התענוג המלובש בה שמשיגים הצדיקים בג”ע ומשכילים בפנימיות התורה

For it is the state of manifestation of Chochmah, together with the delight vested in it, which the righteous in the Garden of Eden apprehend, and conceive [new insights] in the pnimiyut[i.e., the innermost, mystical dimension] of the Torah.

דאורייתא מחכמה נפקא ואורייתא וקב”ה כולא חד:

For37 the Torah derives from Chochmah, and38 the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one.39

Thus, through gaining a perception of pnimiyut in the manner in which the soul apprehends it in the Garden of Eden, where it apprehends the essence of G‑dliness – and “this delight itself (as the Rebbe adds) is utterly inward, as explained above”- the soul gains an apprehension of G‑d’s infinite light. And in order for it to be able to absorb this degree of illumination, it must be equipped with the protective and receptive garments of the mitzvot, as previously explained.

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