ואף שאין לו דמות הגוף חס ושלום

Now “He has no corporeal form,” G‑d forbid.

How, then, can one differentiate Above between those letters that possess substance and those that do not?

אך דברה תורה כלשון בני אדם

Nevertheless, “the Torah speaks as in the language of men.”

Since on the mortal plane this differentiation exists, it is also applied to the Divine plane, for spiritually, too, there exists a corresponding difference between the letter hei and the other letters.

בשגם

Moreover (i.e., there is yet another reason why this analogy is apt, notwithstanding the fact that G‑d has no corporeal form):

שגם דבר ה׳ כ״ב אותיות המתחלקות לה׳ חלקי המוצאות, ובהן נברא כל היצור

for G‑d’s speech as well consists, as it were, of twenty-two letters that separate into the five articulations that produce the Divine speech from which all beings were created.

וכמו שכתוב בליקוטי אמרים חלק ב׳ פי״א ביאור ענין אותיות אלו

(35For a discussion of these letters and their significance, see Likutei Amarim, Part II, ch. 11.)

We thus see that all the Ten Sefirot are included and represented within the Tetragrammaton. The Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain that likewise within the soul, which is part of the Tetragrammaton, there exist ten corresponding levels or faculties.

וככה ממש, על דרך משל, המבדיל הבדלות לאין קץ, בנשמת האדם

Analogously, exactly the same applies to the soul of man, again keeping in mind the infinite separation between the Creator and the created soul,

שהיא בחינת נפש האלקית דמתוכיה נפח

which is the divine soul which “He blew from within Himself.”

Since the soul derives from the internal aspect of G‑dliness, the Tetragrammaton, which comprises the Ten Sefirot, the soul likewise comprises the following characteristics:

יש בה בחינת שכל הנעלם, המרומז באות יו״ד

There is [the initial state of Chochmah,] the hidden concept alluded to by the letter yud,

Just as the letter yud lacks length and breadth and is but a simple point, so, too, is Chochmah a faculty that lacks intellectual length and breadth, merely —

שבכחו לצאת אל הגילוי, להבין ולהשכיל באמתתו ית׳ ובגדולתו וכו’

possessing the potential of being revealed, and thereby understanding and conceiving G‑d’s true existence and greatness,

כל חד וחד לפום שיעורא דיליה, לפי רוחב שכלו ובינתו

in each person according to his measure, according to the breadth of his intellect and understanding.

While the degree of one’s comprehension of G‑dliness depends on the breadth of one’s intellect, a Jew’s essential ability to find G‑d’s true being and greatness securely integrated in his mind, stems from the soul’s attribute of Chochmah, alluded to in the letter yud.

וכפי אשר מעמיק שכלו ומרחיב דעתו ובינתו להתבונן בגדולתו ית׳

As a man deepens his intelligence, as he broadens his mind and comprehension, to contemplate G‑d’s greatness,

אזי מרומזת בינתו באות ה״א, שיש לה רוחב

his now-developed understanding, the faculty of Binah, is alluded to by the letter hei, that has breadth, indicating the breadth of his understanding.

וגם אורך, המורה על ההמשכה מלמעלה למטה

[The hei] also has length, to indicate downward extension,

להוליד מבינתו והתבוננותו בגדולת ה׳ אהבה ויראה ותולדותיהן

so that from his understanding and contemplation of G‑d’s greatness, he arouses love and fear and their offspring, i.e., the other emotive attributes, which are termed the offspring or branches of love and fear,

במוחו ותעלומות לבו

in his mind and in the recesses of his heart,

At this early stage in the generation of the spiritual emotions of love and fear and so on, they are not yet manifest.

ואחר כך בבחינת התגלות לבו

until ultimately they find overt expression in his heart.

The downward progression of intellect into the realm of emotions is thus indicated by the vertical length of the letter hei.

ומזה נמשכה עבודה האמיתית בעסק התורה והמצות, בקול ודבור או מעשה

These [spiritual emotions] lead to the true service of G‑d, in Torah study and mitzvah observance, with voice and speech or with deed.

True divine service is that which is motivated by the love and awe of G‑d, as explained above in Part I, ch. 4.

הן אותיות וא״ו ה״א וכו׳

This is the import of the [final] letters vav and hei [of the Four-Letter Name, Havayah]…, for vav alludes to voice and speech, while hei alludes to action.