ו זורע צדקה שכר אמת (במשלי י״א)

“He who sows tzedakah has a ‘reward’ of truth” (Proverbs 11).1

פירוש: ששכר זריעת הצדקה היא מדת אמת

This means that the attribute of truth is the (G‑d-given) reward for sowing tzedakah.

The term “this means” is generally used to forestall an alternative interpretation. Here, too, by this term the Alter Rebbe stresses that we are to understand the Hebrew word secher to mean “reward” rather than its being understood to mean “closing off and restraining” (water or whatever, in order to concentrate it). The latter interpretation is that of Rashi; a parallel term is the word ויסכרו in the verse,2 “And the wellsprings of the deep were sealed.”

Furthermore, even the Targum and other commentaries who do read secher to mean “payment of a reward,” can be understood to mean that the individual who sows charity receives a true reward, i.e., an everlasting reward, rather than a reward that consists of truth.

The Alter Rebbe therefore specifies: “This means” that the reward granted from above for sowing tzedakah is — the attribute of truth.

וכתיב: תתן אמת ליעקב

It is also written,3 “You give truth unto Jacob,” which would appear to indicate once again that the attribute of truth is granted from Above.

According to the commentaries of Rashi and Targum, however, this verse does not describe a state of affairs. Rather, it petitions that G‑d give truth (“Give truth unto Jacob”), that He fulfill for Jacob’s children the truthful promises that He had made to Jacob. Hence this verse does not prove that the attribute of truth is a gift granted from Above.

The Alter Rebbe therefore goes on to specify that this verse is to be understood in the same light as the verse quoted at the outset of this epistle, as follows:

ושבחא דקודשא בריך הוא מסדר נביא כו׳, כמו שכתוב בזוהר הקדוש

And [here] the prophet [Micah] speaks the praises of the Holy One, blessed be He, as is written in the holy Zohar.4 I.e., rather than petitioning G‑d, this verse extols Him for fulfilling his promise of granting the attribute of truth to Jacob.

פירוש: שהקדוש ברוך הוא, הוא הנותן מדת אמת ליעקב

This means that it is the Holy One, blessed be He, Who gives the attribute of truth unto Jacob.

וצריך להבין: וכי אין אמת ליעקב, חס ושלום, עד שהקדוש ברוך הוא יתן לו מלמעלה

Now this needs to be understood: Does Jacob have no truth, heaven forfend, until the Holy One, blessed be He, gives it to him from above?

אך הנה מודעת זאת דמדת יעקב היא מדת רחמנות

However, it is well known5 that the attribute of Jacob is the attribute of compassion.

Abraham epitomizes Chesed, the attribute of kindness; Isaac epitomizes Gevurah, the attribute of severity; the predominant attribute of Jacob is Tiferet, or Rachamim, compassion. The inward aspect of the soul’s divine service when motivated by Chesed is — the love of G‑d; the inward aspect of the soul’s divine service when motivated by Gevurah is — the awe of G‑d; so, too, divine service when motivated by compassion has its distinctive inward aspect:

ועבודת ה׳ במדת רחמנות

And the service of G‑d through compassion

היא הבאה מהתעוררות רחמים רבים בלב האדם על ניצוץ אלקות שבנפשו

derives from the arousal, in a man’s heart, of profound compassion for the Divine spark in his soul,

הרחוקה מאור פני ה׳, כאשר הולך בחשך הבלי עולם

which is distant from the light of G‑d’s Countenance whenever [the man] goes about in the darkness of the vanities of the world.

When a man finds himself straying forlorn in a state of spiritual darkness, he can thus awaken within himself a feeling of compassion for the soul-spark within him that he himself has banished from the light of its Divine Source.

והתעוררות רחמנות זו היא באה מהתבונה והדעת בגדולת ה׳

This arousal of compassion itself derives from (and is proportionate to) [a man’s] understanding and deep cognition of the greatness of G‑d:

איך שאפילו העולמות העליונים, למעלה מעלה עד אין קץ, כלא ממש חשיבי קמיה

[he reflects upon] how even the most infinitely sublime worlds are considered as truly naught before Him.

כי כל שפעם וחיותם אינו רק מזיו והארה מאות אחד משמו יתברך

For all their [G‑d-given] bounty and vitality derives from a mere gleam or reflection of a single letter of His blessed Name,

כמאמר: ביו״ד נברא עולם הבא כו׳

as it is written,6 “The World to Come was created [merely] by the letter yud [of the Divine Name].”

The spiritual worlds, all of which are included in the term “World to Come,” were thus all created by means of the single letter yud of the Divine Name.