Video is also available – click to open Part (i) In order to “enable” the Ein Sof-light, by definition infinite, to create worlds, which are finite, an intermediary is needed — to bridge the chasm between infinity and finitude. This intermediary, Torah,1 is alluded to in our opening verse,2 “He enwraps [Himself with] light […]
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Epistle 19 – Part 2
Video is also available – click to open ולכאורה יש להפליא הרי נאמר: ולא קם עוד נביא בישראל כמשה Now this seems surprising. After all, it is said,10 “There rose no other prophet in Israel like Moshe.” ואיך השיג האריז״ל יותר ממנו, ודרש כמה דרושים בבחינת פנימיות, אפילו בספירות ומדרגות רבות שלמעלה מהחכמה […]
Epistle 19 – Part 3
Video is also available – click to open ואראה את ה׳ Likewise even with Isaiah, a lesser prophet than Moshe Rabbeinu, who was the greatest of prophets:15 “And I saw G‑d.” וירא אליו ה׳ Furthermore, even before G‑d gave the Torah we find Abraham’s prophecy referred to in these terms:16 “And G‑d […]
Epistle 19 – Part 4
Video is also available – click to open והנה בחינת חכמת אלקות ברוך הוא, המלובשת בתרי״ג מצות התורה, נקראת בשם בחינת אחוריים דחכמה Now, the aspect of the blessed Divine Chochmah that is vested in the 613 commandments of the Torah, is referred to as the hindmost aspect of Chochmah. The Alter Rebbe […]
Epistle 19 – Part 5
Video is also available – click to open Part (ii) The Epistle that follows, beginning “The Letters that are Revealed,” is one of the Epistles that was appended to the edition of Tanya published in Vilna in the year 5660 (1900), these additions being noted by R. Asher of Nikolayev in his introductory declaration […]
Epistle 20 – Part 01
Video is also available – click to open Epistle 20 The present Epistle deals with a subject that has not been touched upon in the Tanya until now. Though it is one of the most profound and abstract principles of Chassidut, it has a practical application. It will be recalled that the introduction to Epistle […]
Epistle 20 – Part 02
Video is also available – click to open איהו וחיוהי חד “He3 and His life-giving emanations (chayohi) are one; I.e., the “lights” (orot) of the Sefirot, which (like souls) animate the “vessels” (kelim) of the Sefirot, are not merely connected to G‑d: they are actually one with Him. איהו וגרמוהי חד בהון He and His […]
Epistle 20 – Part 03
Video is also available – click to open ויש מאין נקרא בריאה בלשון הקדש The coming about of substantiality ex nihilo (yesh me’ayin) is in the Holy Tongue called beriah (“creation”). As the Ramban points out in his commentary to the Torah,26 beriah is the only term in the Holy Tongue for absolutely innovative creation, […]
Epistle 20 – Part 04
Video is also available – click to open והגם שהיש הנברא הוא גם כן כלא חשיב קמיה And although created substance is also as naught before Him, for everything, including the created yesh, is as naught before Him — דהיינו: שבטל במציאות לגבי הכח והאור השופע בו that is, it is essentially non-existent (Insertion by […]
Epistle 20 – Part 05
Video is also available – click to open Having explained in general terms why the creation of a substantial yesh from spirituality can only come about in a manner of ex nihilo (and not in a manner of ilah and alul), the Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain that the first stage of the […]
