עד שמשתלשל מעשרה מאמרות ונמשך מהן צירוף שם אבן
so that ultimately the combination of letters [that forms] the name אבן descends from the Ten Utterances, and is derived from them,
והוא חיותו של האבן
and this combination of letters is the life-force of the stone.
וכן בכל הנבראים שבעולם
And so it is with all created things in the world.
The Holy Tongue, the Hebrew of the Torah, was the language used in creation. Thus, all created things are directly affected by their Hebrew names, as well as by the component letters of their names. In this, the Holy Tongue is unlike other, arbitrary languages, the meaning of whose words is the result of mere concensus.
השמות שנקראים בהם בלשון הקודש הן הן אותיות הדבור המשתלשלות ממדרגה למדרגה מעשרה מאמרות שבתורה
The names [of all creatures] in the Holy Tongue are the very letters of speech which descend, degree by degree, from the Ten Utterances recorded in the Torah,
על ידי חילופים ותמורות האותיות ברל״א שערים, עד שמגיעות ומתלבשות באותו נברא להחיותו
by means of substitutions and transpositions of letters through the “two hundred and thirty-one gates,” until they reach a particular created thing and become invested in it, thereby giving it life.
לפי שאין פרטי הנבראים יכולים לקבל חיותן מעשרה מאמרות עצמן שבתורה
This descent is necessary because individual creatures, unlike the more pervasive beings such as the heavens, earth, sun and moon, cannot receive their life-force directly from the actual Ten Utterances recorded in the Torah,
שהחיות הנמשך מהן עצמן גדול מאד מבחינת הנבראים פרטיים
for the life-force issuing directly from them is far greater than the capacity of the individual creatures; i.e., it is far too intense to serve as their life-force.
ואין כח בהם לקבל החיות אלא על ידי שיורד החיות ומשתלשל ממדרגה למדרגה פחותה ממנה, על ידי חילופים ותמורות האותיות
They can receive the life-force only when it descends and is progressively diminished, degree by degree, by means of substitutions and transpositions of the letters,
וגימטריאות, שהן חשבון האותיות
and by means of gematriot, their numerical values,
The life-force may be so muted that it reaches a created being not even through a transposition of letters, but merely through their numerical equivalent.
עד שיוכל להתצמצם ולהתלבש ולהתהוות ממנו נברא פרטי
until [the life-force] can be condensed and enclothed, and a particular creature can be brought forth from it.
וזה שמו אשר יקראו לו בלשון הקדש, הוא כלי לחיות המצומצם באותיות שם זה
And the name by which [the creature] is called in the Holy Tongue is a vessel for the life-force condensed into the letters of that name
שנשתלשל מעשרה מאמרות שבתורה, שיש בהם כח וחיות לברוא יש מאין ולהחיותו לעולם
which has descended from the Ten Utterances recorded in the Torah, that have the power and vitality to create a being ex nihilo and give it life forever.
דאורייתא וקודשא בריך הוא כולא חד
Why does it have the power to do so? — For11 “the Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are one.” Just as G‑d has the ability to create ex nihilo, so too do the Ten Utterances of the Torah.
Footnotes
1.Devarim 4:39.
2.Note of the Rebbe: “This verse continues the idea of an earlier verse [4:35], which begins with the phrase אתה הראת (‘You have been shown…’), and which refers to the time at which the Torah was given. At that time ‘G‑d spoke to you…’ (4:12), [with a warning against worshiping any of the components of the created universe]: ‘Lest you become corrupt’ [and worship creatures] of the lowest level, [viz.,] ‘any fish in the water below the earth’ [4:18], or of the highest level, [viz.,] ‘Lest you raise your eyes heavenward…’ [4:19].”
3.Tehillim 119:89.
4.Note of the Rebbe: “As mentioned in Likkutei Torah, beginning of Parshat Acharei, the germ of this concept is to be found in Midrash Tillim [on this verse].”
5.Bereishit 1:6.
6.Yeshayahu 40:8.
7.Liturgy, Morning Prayer.
8.Note of the Rebbe: “See also Etz Chayim, Portal 50 (ch. 2, 10).”
9.Note of the Rebbe: “Enumerated in detail in Sefer HaPardes, Shaar HaTziruf, ch. 5.”
The twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet in two-lettered combinations yield a total of 462 combinations. Of these, half are the exact reverse of the other half, e.g., alef-bet, bet-alef. Hence, there are 231 two-lettered combinations in direct order and the same number in reverse order.
10.Ch. 2:4-5.
11.Cf. Zohar I, 24a; II, 60a.
