ובזה יובן מה שהפליגו רז״ל במאד מאד במעלת הצדקה, ואמרו ששקולה כנגד כל המצות

In light of the above, where it was explained that the advantage of the “active” mitzvot lies in their elevating effect on the body and vital soul, we can understand why our Sages so greatly extolled the virtue of charity,8 declaring it equal to all the other mitzvot together.

ובכל תלמוד ירושלמי היא נקראת בשם מצוה סתם, כי כך היה הרגל הלשון לקרוא צדקה בשם מצוה סתם

In all of the Talmud Yerushalmi charity is called simply “The Commandment,” for such was the idiomatic expression commonly used to refer to charity: “The Commandment,”

מפני שהיא עיקר המצות מעשיות, ועולה על כולנה

because charity is the core of all the mitzvot of action and surpasses them all.

שכולן הן רק להעלות נפש החיונית לה׳, שהיא היא המקיימת אותן ומתלבשת בהן

For the purpose of all these mitzvot is only to elevate one’s animal soul to G‑d, since it is this vital soul that performs them and clothes itself in them,

ליכלל באור אין סוף ברוך הוא המלובש בהם

so as to be absorbed into the blessed Ein Sof-light clothed in them.

ואין לך מצוה שנפש החיונית מתלבשת בה כל כך כבמצות הצדקה

Now, you will find no other mitzvah in which the vital soul is clothed to the same extent as in the mitzvah of charity.

שבכל המצות אין מתלבש בהן רק כח אחד מנפש החיונית, בשעת מעשה המצוה לבד

For in all other mitzvot only one faculty of the vital soul is clothed (e.g., the faculty of action in the hand donning Tefillin or holding an etrog); and even this one faculty is clothed in the mitzvah only while the mitzvah is being performed.

אבל בצדקה, שאדם נותן מיגיע כפיו

In the case of charity, however, which one gives from the proceeds of the toil of his hands,

הרי כל כח נפשו החיונית מלובש בעשיית מלאכתו, או עסק אחר שנשתכר בה מעות אלו

surely all the strength of his vital soul is clothed in (i.e., applied to) the effort of his labor, or in any other occupation by which he earned this money which he now distributes for charity.

וכשנותנן לצדקה, הרי כל נפשו החיונית עולה לה׳

Thus when he gives to charity this money to which he applied all the strength of his vital soul, his entire vital soul ascends to G‑d. Hence the superiority of charity over other mitzvot.

But this seems to imply that if one does not invest all his strength into earning his livelihood, his charity lacks this quality; to which the Alter Rebbe rejoins:

וגם מי שאינו נהנה מיגיעו, מכל מקום הואיל ובמעות אלו היה יכול לקנות חיי נפשו החיונית, הרי נותן חיי נפשו לה׳

Even he who does not earn his livelihood from his labors, nevertheless, since he could have purchased with this money that he gave for charity, sustenance for the life of his vital soul, he is actually giving his soul’s life to G‑d in the form of charity. Thus, charity comprises and therefore elevates more energy of the vital soul than any other mitzvah.

ולכן אמרו רז״ל שמקרבת את הגאולה

This is why our Sages have said9 that charity hastens the Messianic redemption:

לפי שבצדקה אחת מעלה הרבה מנפש החיונית, מה שלא היה יכול להעלות ממנה כל כך כחות ובחינות בכמה מצות מעשיות אחרות

For with one act of charity one elevates a great deal of the vital soul; more of its faculties and powers, in fact, than he might elevate through many other active mitzvot [combined]. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, the Messianic Era is a result of our efforts in purifying and elevating the vital soul; charity, which effects this elevation in such great measure, thus hastens the redemption.

We see, at any rate, that charity is superior to all other mitzvot, including Torah study. But here one may object:

ומה שאמרו רז״ל שתלמוד תורה כנגד כולם

As for the statement of our Rabbis10 that Torah study outweighs all other mitzvot — including charity; how can this be reconciled with what was said above?

היינו מפני שתלמוד תורה היא בדבור ומחשבה, שהם לבושים הפנימיים של נפש החיונית

This is because the study of Torah employs speech and thought, which are the inner garments of the vital soul — unlike action, which is external. Thus, only Torah study, and not other mitzvot, can suffuse the inner garments of the soul with the light of Torah.

וגם מהותן ועצמותן של בחינות חב״ד מקליפת נוגה שבנפש החיונית נכללות בקדושה ממש, כשעוסק בתורה בעיון ושכל

Furthermore, the very substance and essence of the intellectual faculties of ChaBaD (Chochmah, Binah, Daat) of the kelipat nogah in the vital soul are actually absorbed into holiness when one studies Torah with concentration and intelligence.

The intellectual faculties applied to Torah study are absorbed in the holiness of the mitzvah of Torah study, and thereby ascend from the realm of kelipat nogah (to which they previously belonged, being a part of the vital soul) to the realm of holiness.

Although it was explained in ch. 12 that the Beinoni is capable of transforming to holiness only the garments of the animal soul, not the soul faculties themselves, there is no contradiction here: the latter statement applies only to the middot (the emotional attributes) of the animal soul. The Beinoni is indeed incapable of transforming the middot to holiness; ChaBaD, however, can be transformed even by the Beinoni. The Alter Rebbe now explains the difference between them.

ואף שמהותן ועצמותן של המדות חג״ת כו׳ לא יכלו להם הבינונים להפכם לקדושה

Although Beinonim are incapable of mastering the substance and essence of the middot — Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, and so on — so as to transform them into holiness,

היינו משום שהרע חזק יותר במדות מבחב״ד, מפני יניקתן שם מהקדושה יותר, כידוע ליודעי ח״ן

this is because the evil of kelipah is stronger in the middot than in [ChaBaD:] the intellectual faculties, since on that level (of middot) they [the kelipot] draw more vitality than they do on the level of ChaBaD, as is known to students of the Kabbalah.

The “shattering of the vessels,” which gave rise to the existence of kelipah, occurred primarily in the middot, and it is therefore more difficult to elevate the evil of middot. The evil of ChaBaD, however, can be transformed to good through intensive Torah study.

Thus we have two reasons for the superiority of the mitzvah of Torah study: (a) it is practiced with the innermost soul garment — thought; (b) it transforms the actual soul faculties of ChaBaD themselves to holiness.

זאת ועוד אחרת, והיא העולה על כולנה, במעלת עסק תלמוד תורה על כל המצות

Aside from this, there is another, far more important, aspect to the superiority of Torah study over all other mitzvot,

על פי מה שכתוב לעיל בשם התיקונים, דרמ״ח פיקודין הן רמ״ח אברים דמלכא

based on the statement quoted above (ch. 23) from Tikkunei Zohar that “the 248 positive commandments are the 248 ‘limbs’ of the King (G‑d).”

Just as a limb of the human body is a receptacle for a corresponding soul faculty, so is each mitzvah a receptacle for a corresponding expression of the Divine Will.

Concerning Torah, however, it is written in Tikkunei Zohar: “Torah and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one” (unlike mitzvot which are merely “limbs”). The Alter Rebbe now elucidates the difference:

וכמו באדם התחתון, דרך משל, אין ערוך ודמיון כלל בין החיות שברמ״ח אבריו לגבי החיות שבמוחין, שהוא השכל, המתחלק לג׳ בחינות חב״ד

Just as, for example in the case of a human being, the vitality in his 248 organs bears no comparison or similarity to the vitality in his brain — i.e., the intellect, which is divided into the three faculties of Chochmah, Binah and Daat, —

Every limb of the body is of course bound to the soul which provides it with life — yet they are two separate entities which have been joined together. It is otherwise, however, in the relationship between one’s intellect and his soul. The intellect is an extension and a part of the soul itself: thus its unity with the soul is not that of two separate entities which have been joined, but of two components of a whole.

This difference between the limbs and the intellect illustrates the difference between the other mitzvot and Torah study, as the Alter Rebbe continues:

ככה ממש, דרך משל, להבדיל ברבבות הבדלות לאין קץ, בהארת אור אין סוף ברוך הוא המתלבשות במצות מעשיות, לגבי הארת אור אין סוף שבבחינת חב״ד שבחכמת התורה, איש איש כפי שכלו והשגתו

Just as it is in the case of a human being, so, too, by way of analogy — allowing for the qualification that any comparison between human and divine traits must be distant, however, by myriads of degrees — is it with regard to the illumination of Ein Sof-light clothed in mitzvot of action, compared to the illumination of Ein Sof-light [clothed] in the ChaBaD faculties [of one immersed] in the wisdom of Torah, an illumination commensurate with the level of each man’s intellect and his grasp of Torah. To the extent that his intellect grasps the Torah which he studies, it is united with G‑dliness with a unity comparable to that of one’s intellect with his soul.

Herein, then, lies the superiority of Torah study over other mitzvot, even over charity: Torah study effects a much higher level of unity with G‑dliness than do the mitzvot of action.

ואף שאינו משיג אלא בגשמיות

Although one grasps [Torah] only as it is clothed in physical terms (e.g., the law concerning “Two men who clutch a garment…,” or “One who trades a cow for an ass…”); how, then, can it be said that through study of such laws one attains this lofty level of unity with G‑dliness? —

הרי התורה נמשלה למים שיורדים ממקום גבוה כו׳, כמו שנתבאר לעיל

yet the Torah has been compared to “water descending from a high place….” The water on the lower level is exactly the same as it was on the higher level. Similarly, the laws of Torah, although they have “descended” to deal with ordinary physical situations, still consist of G‑d’s Will and Wisdom. Thus, in studying Torah, one is united with G‑d’s Will and Wisdom, and thereby with G‑d Himself, as discussed above (ch. 4).