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Since we are speaking here of Supernal Mercy, there must first be a sufficiently vigorous “arousal from below” that will cause it to descend to this lowly world. The required arousal initiated from below must therefore spring from the palpable realities of this lowly world. In plain words, as the Alter Rebbe will now conclude, this is the practice of tzedakah.
ומודעת זאת כי אתערותא דלעילא, באתערותא דלתתא דוקא תליא מלתא
It is known16 that an arousal from above is specifically dependent on an arousal from below,
דהיינו, על ידי התעוררות רחמים רבים בלב רחמנים וגומלי חסדים
meaning [that the abundant mercies from above are secured] by an arousal of great mercies in the hearts of “the compassionate…and the kindly,” as Jews are characterized in the Gemara,17
להשפיע השפעה גשמיית, זהב וכסף וכו׳
so that they bestow physical gifts of gold and silver, and the like.
ולכן פעולת הצדקה היא פעולת נחל איתן ממש
Thus the effect of tzedakah is actually the effect of the “mighty river” (nachal eitan).
For the “arousal from below” expressed by the practice of tzedakah draws forth the loving self-nullification of the vigorous essence (the “eitan”) of the soul, so that it becomes revealed — through the “river” of Binah — within the innermost core of man’s heart.
The Alter Rebbe now goes on to write that one’s tzedakah should be given unstintingly, without regard for limitations. Just as a person in jeopardy spends without limit in order to save his life, so, too, should one hold one’s own G‑dly soul in high regard, and give tzedakah boundlessly.
והנה מודעת זאת מה שכתוב: עור בעד עור, וכל אשר לאיש יתן בעד נפשו האלקית
All know the verse,18 “Skin for skin,”19 i.e., a person will protect one limb at the expense of another, “but all that a man possesses he will give for his soul” — he will give away everything in order to save his life. The Alter Rebbe adds a word to the quoted verse, so that it ends, “…for his G‑dly soul.” One should be willing to forego everything for the sake of his G‑dly soul,
להאירה באור החיים, אין סוף ברוך הוא
in order to illumine it with the light of life — the Infinite One, blessed be He.20
Parentheses are in the original text.
Verse 24.
Sefer HaMaamarim 5703, p. 71ff.
Sotah 9:5.
See I Kings 8:2 and Targum there.
Cf. Zohar I, 20a.
Zohar III, 4a.
See Likkutei Torah, Parshat Re’eh 18d.
Yeshayahu 52:13.
Devarim 10:16.
Ibid. 30:6.
Ovadiah 1:20. The phrase may alternatively be translated as “this valley.”
Yeshayahu 29:22. Note of the Rebbe: “The verse states beit Yaakov (‘the house of Jacob’). However, Sanhedrin (19b) and Bereishit Rabbah (63:2) explain plainly that it is ‘Jacob who redeemed Abraham.’ The phrase is likewise cited in many other sources. Indeed, this too is the meaning in the continuation of this very verse (quoted in Sanhedrin, loc. cit., and elsewhere): ‘Now will Jacob not be ashamed….’”
See Bereishit Rabbah, loc. cit.
Note of the Rebbe: “Cf. Tanya, ch. 45.”
Zohar I, 88a, et al.
Yevamot 79a.
Iyov 2:4.
Note of the Rebbe: “At the end of Epistle XVI in Iggeret HaKodesh, this verse is quoted [in its entirety] as well. This is not the case at the end of Epistle X [which quotes only the conclusion of the verse, ‘but all that a man possesses he will give for his soul’], and so too in many other places. Evidently, since the opening phrase (‘skin for skin’) signifies a limited degree of tzedakah (as in the plain meaning of the verse), this phrase is quoted only when the Alter Rebbe speaks (also) of this degree of tzedakah.”
The conclusion of this letter appears in Igrot Kodesh (Letters) of the Alter Rebbe (Kehot, N.Y., 5740), p. 95.
