וגם ההתבוננות, להבין ולהשכיל באמתתו וגדולתו ית׳, נמשכה גם כן מן התורה

Furthermore, contemplation that endeavors to understand and conceive of G‑d’s true being, also derives from Torah,

I.e., such contemplation must necessarily be preceded by the study of Torah,

דאורייתא מחכמה נפקא, היא בחינת יו״ד של שם הויה וכו׳

for36 “Torah proceeds from Chochmah,” which is the yud of the Tetragrammaton.

Footnotes

1.Beg. of ch. 2. See also Likutei Sichot, Vol. XIX, p. 401, note 12, and the marginal comment on this note.

2.III, 122a.

3.Zohar I, 60a, 219b; Zohar II, 214b.

4.Note of the Rebbe: “Rambam, conclusion of ch. 3 of Hilchot Teshuvah, following Yerushalmi, Peah 1:1; Zohar Chadash, conclusion of Parshat Bereishit.”

5.Shaar HaKedushah, ch. 17.

6.Note of the Rebbe: “Perhaps this expression is used (as opposed to, say, מעט מן המעט) because the former term (מעט) suggests that the extent of understanding is minute, while the latter term (מזעיר) suggests that qualitatively too this understanding is a mere glimmer.”

7.Note of the Rebbe: “Possibly the Alter Rebbe’s intention here is to negate the opinion of the Ramban at the end of Parshat Acharei.” The Ramban says there that it is sometimes possible that violators liable to excision “are not punished by physical excision; sometimes they may live to a ripe old age.” In specifying here that they would “actually” die, the Alter Rebbe evidently seeks to negate this opinion.

8.Note of the Rebbe: “As in Yerushalmi, Bikkurim, beg. of ch. 2, as explained in Tosafot, s.v. כרת, Shabbat 25a.”

9.Note of the Rebbe: “As above” — i.e., as in fn. 7.

10.Ch. 28.

11.Parentheses are in the original text.

12.Note of the Rebbe: “See above, end of ch. 1.”

13.Asked why the Alter Rebbe added the word “pleasant”, the Rebbe replied that this was done “in order to rule out the (labored) interpretation that this punishment was undergone by virtue of their having suffered poverty or the like, which is also called ‘death’ in Scripture (Shmot 4:19) and in Rabbinic terminology (quoted in Rashi, ad loc.).”

14.Devarim 32:9.

15.Bereishit 2:7.

16.See above, Part I, beg. of ch. 2, citing the Zohar.

17.The Rebbe suggests that “etc.” alludes to the continuation of this statement above, Part I, beg. of ch. 2: “…from his inwardness and his innermost being.”

18.Note of the Rebbe: “ ‘Etc.’ signifies ‘nor body’ — from the hymn entitled Yigdal. See also beg. of Likutei Torah leGimmel Parshiyot.”

19.Berachot 31b.

20.Tehillim 33:6.

21.Parentheses are in the original text.

22.Bereishit 1:26.

23.The Rebbe notes that the Alter Rebbe cites three verses to adduce that angels are called Elokim, possibly in order to allude to the three general categories of angels — in the Worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah and Asiyah. The angels closest to souls (souls having “arisen in the Divine thought”) are those of the World of Beriah, the World of Thought. They are alluded to in the first verse, which states that “Your G‑d,” i.e., the G‑d of souls, is “the G‑d of angels.” The second verse, which mentions neither “Your G‑d” nor the Tetragrammaton, may be said to refer to the angels in the World of Yetzirah. The final verse, which speaks of the angels who give testimony with regard to the worldly affairs of man, may be said to apply to the angels of the nethermost world, the World of Asiyah.

24.Devarim 10:17.

25.In line with Scripture, the Rebbe restored the word “He” to the paraphrase in the text.

26.Tehillim 136:2.

27.Iyov 1:6.

28.The Rebbe asks the following question: The statement that the purpose of the Ten Sefirot (which, as he shall soon say, are included within the Tetragrammaton) is “to conduct the concealed worlds,” seems to contradict the earlier statement that the Tetragrammaton transcends by far the state of “letters” (from which the various worlds and their creatures come into being).

The Alter Rebbe resolves this, explains the Rebbe, by now going on to quote, “You are wise, but not with a knowable attribute of wisdom; You understand, but not with a knowable attribute of understanding….” This cannot possibly refer to the state of “letters”, since their purpose is to make known and to reveal (as oft stated in Part II of Tanya). Rather, the above-mentioned conduct of the worlds first relates only to the “concealed worlds,” worlds that are “not known.”

29.Parentheses are in the original text.

30.Note of the Rebbe: “The Alter Rebbe stresses ‘above’, for the ‘thorn’ that projects beneath the yud has a different significance.”

31.Note of the Rebbe: “In the analogy the Alter Rebbe speaks of ‘one who wishes to reveal his thoughts to another,’ for this mirrors the ‘Divine traits of benevolence and goodness’ that are mentioned below.”

32.I Divrei HaYamim 29:11.

33.Kohelet 8:4.

34.From the hymn entitled Akdamut.

35.Parentheses are in the original text.

36.Zohar II, 85a, 121a.