והעלאת מין נוקבין במוחו ולבו של אדם, היא בחינת רשפי אש בלי גבול

The “elevation of mayin nukvin” in the mind and heart of man is [the love of G‑d] in a state of boundless flames of fire, and being boundless it relates to the infinite light;

ונקרא מאדך

it is described as meodecha — loving G‑d “with all your might,”9 with each individual’s capacity for infinitude,

Though man is inherently limited, and though, moreover, all of one man’s might may be considered less than ultimate in another man, nevertheless, even this limited degree of “limitlessness” suffices:

כדי לעורר בחינת אין סוף

to arouse the [Divine] state of infinity.

For the “arousal from below” need but resemble the response from above that it seeks to elicit. If an “arousal from below” may truly be considered “infinite” relative to the particular individual’s capacities, it suffices to draw down the infinite light from above.

והיינו על ידי גבורות דס״ג, שהן הן הרפ״ח ניצוצין כו׳

This is effected through the Gevurot (the attributes of severity) of [the Divine Name] Sa’g, which constitute the 288 sparks….

The love and longing (ratzo) which a man experiences during prayer to the extent of meodecha (“with all your might”) are aroused by the Gevurot of Sa’g, the Divine Name that is the source of the 288 sparks of Tohu. These sparks derive from the vessels of Tohu, whose Sefirot were originally in a state of infinite longing to become wholly one with G‑d. This longing parallels the soul’s love and longing for G‑d to the point of meodecha.

ולכן נקראת התפלה חיי שעה, היא מלכות היורדת בבריאה יצירה עשיה

For this reason worship is called10 “life of the moment,” for it is Malchut descending into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.

As Rashi explains on the straightforward level of pshat, the Talmud calls prayer “life of the moment” (lit., “life of the hour”) because people pray for health, peace and a livelihood — temporal things that are subject to the limitations of the passing moment.

Here the Alter Rebbe speaks of how these matters exist in their source, in the Supernal Sefirot. In the worlds above, the Sefirah of Malchut is the source of time. For it is the Sefirah of Malchut (“sovereignty”) that reflects the relationship of the Infinite One to time — “He reigns, He reigned, He will reign,” in the present, past and future.

This relationship is particularly evident as Malchut descends to animate the Worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah, for these worlds all exist in the category of time.

And because prayer draws down Divine energy into Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah through their source, the time-related Sefirah of Malchut, prayer is called “life of the moment.”

ותורה חיי עולם, הוא ז״א

Torah [by contrast is called]11 “eternal life,” which (in terms of the Sefirot) is Za,12

כי רמ״ח פקודין הן מתחלקין בי׳ כלים דעשר ספירות דז״א כו׳

for the 248 commandments of the Torah divide into the ten vessels of the Ten Sefirot of Za….

For Za comprises Sefirot within the World of Atzilut, and as stated in Torah Or, at the end of Parshat Terumah, Za marks the conclusion of the infinite worlds, utterly transcending the Worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah.

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