At this point the Alter Rebbe qualifies his earlier statement: Only those tzaddikim whose souls are on the level of Neshamah (i.e., the highest of the three soul-levels — Nefesh, Ruach and Neshamah) abide in Beriah. Neshamah represents Mochin deGadlut — a “superior intellectual grasp” of G‑dliness; those on the level of Neshamah understand G‑dliness directly as it is, without recourse to analogy or anthropomorphic terms. Love and fear follow from such direct understanding of G‑dliness as its natural extensions; they are not products of intellect, a generation removed. In this case, in fact, the emotions may be considered as part of an intellectual process, rather than emotion proper.

אך היינו דווקא נשמות ממש

However this statement, that the abode of tzaddikim who serve G‑d with intellectual love and fear is in the World of Beriah, applies only to those souls which are actually on the level of Neshamah — the level of Neshamah being that of intellect, as the verse states,3 “The divine Neshamah will give them discernment” —

שהן בחינת מוחין דגדלות אין סוף ברוך הוא

and which represent a “superior intellectual perception” of the Blessed Ein Sof.

אבל בחינת הרוח של הצדיקים

But the tzaddikim who are at the level of Ruach,

וכן שאר כל נשמות ישראל, שעבדו את ה׳ בדחילו ורחימו המסותרות בלב כללות ישראל

and similarly all the other souls of Israel, who served G‑d with the natural fear and love hidden in the heart of all Israel, not with love and fear born of intellect,

אין עולות לשם רק בשבת וראש חודש לבד

ascend thereto (to Beriah) only on Shabbat and the New Moon when all creation ascends to a higher level (as it is written, “…every month, on the New Moon, and every week, on the Shabbat, all flesh will come to prostrate themselves before Me, says G‑d”); it is only then that these souls ascend to the World of Beriah, the Higher Garden of Eden,

דרך העמוד שמגן עדן התחתון לגן עדן העליון, שהוא עולם הבריאה, הנקרא גן עדן העליון

by means of the pillar that extends from the Lower Garden of Eden (Yetzirah) to the Higher Garden of Eden, i.e., the World of Beriah, which is called the Higher Garden of Eden.4

להתענג על ה׳ וליהנות מזיו השכינה

By means of this pillar, these souls ascend thereto to delight in G‑d, and to bask in the radiance of the Shechinah.

Such pleasure is the prerogative of the souls in Beriah, since the soul’s delight is from its understanding and appreciation of G‑dliness — to the extent that a soul is capable of such understanding.

כי אין הנאה ותענוג לשכל נברא אלא במה שמשכיל ומבין ויודע ומשיג בשכלו ובינתו

The intellect of a created being delights and derives pleasure only in that which it conceives, understands, knows (— corresponding to ChaBaD) and grasps with its intellect and understanding,

מה שאפשר לו להבין ולהשיג מאור אין סוף ברוך הוא, על ידי חכמתו ובינתו יתברך המאירות שם, בעולם הבריאה

as much as it can grasp of the Blessed Ein Sof-light, through His wisdom and His understanding which radiate there (in Beriah), enabling the soul to perceive G‑dliness. For, as mentioned earlier, the ChaBaD of Atzilut (to which the Alter Rebbe refers as “His wisdom,” “ His understanding”) radiate in Beriah, for which reason Beriah is the “World of understanding.”

With this the Alter Rebbe concludes his statement that on Shabbat and Rosh Chodesh the souls of other Jews (who had not served G‑d with intellectual love and fear) ascend to Beriah.

ומה שזוכות נשמות אלו לעלות למעלה מהמלאכים, אף שעבדו בדחילו ורחימו טבעיים לבד

These souls (who served G‑d with natural love and fear) are privileged to rise occasionally to Beriah, higher than the angels, whose abode is in Yetzirah, as mentioned above, never rising to Beriah, although they too, like the angels, served G‑d only with natural fear and love; why, then, is their service of G‑d considered superior to that of the angels?

היינו מפני שעל ידי דחילו ורחימו שלהם, אתכפיא סטרא אחרא המלובשת בגופם

because through their fear and love, the sitra achra clothed in their body is subdued,

בין בבחינת סור מרע, לכבוש התאוות ולשברן

whether (in the case of fear) in the realm of “turning away from evil” (refraining from doing evil, and thereby) conquering and crushing their desires through not giving their illicit desires expression in thought, speech and action,

ובין בבחינת ועשה טוב, כנ״ל

or whether (in the case of love) subduing the sitra achra in the realm of “doing good” as mentioned above, i.e., actively pursuing the observance of the mitzvot out of love for G‑d, despite the contrary desire of the animal soul which is rooted in the sitra achra.

והם היו בעלי בחירה, לבחור ברע, חס ושלום

These souls, while in the physical world, had freedom of choice; they might have chosen evil, G‑d forbid,

ובחרו בטוב, לאכפיא לסטרא אחרא, לאסתלקא יקרא דקודשא בריך הוא כו׳ כיתרון האור כו׳, כנ״ל

yet they chose good — to subdue the sitra achra, so that G‑d’s glory be elevated… [in all Worlds], with an elevation similar to the superiority of light… [emerging from the darkness] over ordinary light, as mentioned above. By dispelling the darkness of sitra achra, these souls added to the light of holiness.

Thus, although these souls served G‑d as angels do, with love and fear that are natural, not intellectual, yet their service ranks higher than that of an angel; for the soul acts out of free choice, while the angel is a creature of compulsive instinct (albeit holy instinct). Therefore it is occasionally granted to the soul, unlike the angel, to rise to the Higher Garden of Eden in Beriah.

In the following paragraphs, the Alter Rebbe will differentiate between the respective stations of the souls on the one hand, and of their divine service (i.e., the actual Torah and mitzvot that the soul studies and observes) on the other. But before examining his words, an introduction is in order:

Although we spoke above of the Sefirot of each of the Four Worlds, it must nevertheless be understood that the Sefirot of each World do not constitute that World itself. The Sefirot represent, rather, the G‑dliness inherent in each World — its divine life-force. The World itself, on the other hand, is a Yesh, a separate being, which comes about through the Sefirot.

The significance of this distinction with regard to our discussion is as follows: The Alter Rebbe spoke above of the abode of the soul in either the World of Yetzirah or the World of Beriah (depending on the level of its divine service). The emphasis here is on the word “World”: the soul’s abode is in the World of Beriah or Yetzirah (also described as the heichalot (“Chambers”) of these Worlds), not in the Sefirot of these Worlds.

The soul’s divine service, on the other hand, ascends to the Sefirot (of the appropriate World); this means, in effect, that it is absorbed in the Ein Sof.