ויעש דוד שם
The simple meaning of the verse is either (as Rashi explains) that David gave the Jewish people a good name by burying the dead of their enemies, or (as other commentators explain) that David made a name for himself through his heroism.
ופירש בזוהר הקדוש, משום שנאמר: ויהי דוד עושה משפט וצדקה לכל עמו כו׳
The holy Zohar2 relates the above phrase to the verse:3 “And David executed justice and tzedakah with all his people.”
The “name” that he thereby made is thus the Divine Name. In the words of the Zohar:
בכה רבי שמעון ואמר: מאן עביד שמא קדישא בכל יומא, מאן דיהיב צדקה למסכני כו׳
“Rabbi Shimon wept and said: ‘Who makes the Holy Name every day? He who gives charity unto the poor.’ ”
Two questions, however, present themselves: (a) How can we possibly say that the Holy Name is “made”? (b) How is the Name “made” through the giving of charity?
ויובן בהקדים מאמר רז״ל על פסוק: כי ביה ה׳ צור עולמים
This may be understood in the light of the comment of our Sages,4 of blessed memory, on the verse,5 “For by [the Divine Name that is composed of the letters] yud-hei, G‑d is the strength of the worlds.”
The Hebrew word here translated “strength” (lit.: “rock”) is צור, whose root letters imply an additional meaning, namely (in this context): “By means of [the Divine Name that is composed of the letters] yud-hei, G‑d formed (or created) the worlds.”6
בה׳ נברא עולם הזה, ביו״ד נברא עולם הבא
On the above-quoted verse the Sages comment: “This world was created by the letter hei [of the Divine Name yud-hei]; the World to Come was created by the letter yud [of the Divine Name yud-hei].”
In what respect is this world connected with the letter hei and the World to Come with the letter yud? The Alter Rebbe answers this question by first explaining the concept of the World to Come and Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden.
פירוש: שהתענוג שמתענגים נשמות הצדיקים, ונהנין מזיו השכינה המאיר בגן עדן עליון ותחתון
This means that the delight which the souls of the righteous experience, as they enjoy the splendor of the Shechinah which radiates in the upper and lower Gardens of Eden,
הוא שמתענגים בהשגתם והשכלתם
consists of their pleasure in their apprehension and conception,
שמשכילים ויודעים ומשיגים
for they conceive (with the faculty of Chochmah), know (with the faculty of Daat) and understand (with the faculty of Binah)
איזה השגה באור וחיות השופע שם מאין סוף ברוך הוא, בבחינת גילוי, לנשמתם ורוח בינתם
some degree of apprehension of the light and vitality which effuses there, in a revealed manner, from the blessed Ein Sof unto their soul and their spirit of understanding,
Spiritual life-force finds its way down into this world in so concealed a manner that all we know of it is the mere fact of its existence (yediat hametziut). In Gan Eden, by contrast, the spiritual life-force issues forth in such a manner that its very essence is apprehended (hassagat hamahut),
להבין ולהשיג איזה השגה, כל אחד ואחד לפי מדרגתו ולפי מעשיו
so that each and every one can understand and attain some perception according to his level and his deeds.
Likkutei Levi Yitzchak, authored by the saintly father of the Rebbe, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, explains the distinction between “his level” and “his deeds” as follows.
“His level” alludes to those souls which are to be found in the Upper Garden of Eden, whose comprehension is commensurate with the level of their devout intent and the level of their re’uta delibba (lit., “the desire of the heart”), i.e., the unbounded yearning of the innermost point of their souls to cleave rapturously to their Maker. This state of divine service results from intellectual endeavor, which is denoted by the term “level”. (In ch. 9 of Shaar HaYichud VehaEmunah, for example, the Alter Rebbe adds this term to the phrase that speaks of the intellectual activity known by its acronym as ChaBaD.)
“His deeds,” by contrast, refers to those souls in the Lower Garden of Eden, which earn the above-described spiritual delights through the actual performance of practical mitzvot. These souls, therefore, are rewarded “according to their deeds.”7
In either case, it is clear that the delight that souls experience in Gan Eden is the intellectual delight of the apprehension of G‑dliness.
ולכן נקרא עולם הבא בשם בינה, בזוהר הקדוש
That is why in the Zohar8 the World to Come is referred to as Binah (“understanding”), for that world is permeated by the light of the Sefirah of Binah,9 which enables souls to apprehend and understand G‑dliness.
והשפעה זו נמשכת מבחינת חכמה עילאה
This flow issues from the plane of Supernal Chochmah,
שהוא מקור ההשכלה וההשגה הנקרא בשם בינה
which is the source of the conception and apprehension known as Binah.
Chochmah is the initial, intuitive, seminal flash of perception; Binah is the process of mental gestation that systematically develops and expands that inspiration into comprehensive understanding.
והוא קדמות השכל, קודם שבא לכלל גילוי השגה והבנה
For [Chochmah] is the primordial stage of the intellect, before apprehension and understanding become manifest;
רק עדיין הוא בבחינת העלם והסתר
rather, [Chochmah] at this stage is still in a state of obscurity and concealment,
The Alter Rebbe is speaking here of the particular level of Chochmah that transcends intellect and comprehension. It differs from the more external level of Chochmah which is the germ of intellect and is already illumined by it, though it too is as yet the unparticularized seminal point of a concept which is still to be analyzed and comprehended by the faculty of Binah. Preceding this, the primordial level of Chochmah discussed here utterly transcends revealed intellect; it is still obscure,
רק שמעט מזעיר שם זעיר שם שופע ונמשך משם לבחינת בינה
except for some miniscule measure that here and there flows forth and issues from it to the faculty of Binah,
The dual form of the Biblical idiom borrowed here (cf. Yeshayahu 28:10) implies that the light of this primordial level of Chochmah undergoes two distinct stages of tzimtzum, or self-contraction. The first stage limits this light; the second attenuates it so that it is able to descend into Binah,
להבין ולהשיג שכל הנעלם
making it possible [for a soul] to understand and apprehend a concept which is [intrinsically] concealed.
This higher form of Supernal intellect is the “radiance of the Shechinah,” a ray of G‑d’s infinitude that illuminates Gan Eden. Ordinarily, no created being — even a soul of such stature that it inhabits the Upper Gan Eden — could possibly fathom this degree of intellect. In order for it to be understood by mortal man’s soul, it must undergo the twofold descent mentioned above. Nonetheless, even after this descent it still pertains to the very essence (mahut) of G‑dliness that is comprehended by the soul in Gan Eden.
ולכן נקרא בשם נקודה בהיכלא, בזוהר הקדוש
In the holy Zohar,10 therefore, [Chochmah] is referred to as “the dot in the palace.”11
Chochmah is the “dot” or “point” of intellect that illumines the “palace” of Binah. Nevertheless, even when already housed in Binah, it still remains a seminal point of intellect that transcends the details that constitute the comprehension of Binah.
