Continuing from the previous chapter, the Alter Rebbe explains one more detail about contraction, this form of Hashem He hides himself from us, yet nothing is hidden from him. He is like a mirror: the one on one side sees everything that happens on the other, but the one on the mirrored side sees only himself and cannot see what is on the other side.
That's why the Torah Use the example of the word to tell us how it works Hashem to create the world, because, as we saw in the previous chapter, the word is separate from the one who speaks it. That is our way of understanding things, as human beings who live in this world, and that is how the Word speaks to us. Torah, so that we can understand.
Now the Alter Rebbe takes this idea of concealment a step further: so much is hidden Hashem, which gives rise to impure things and the “impure shell” (explained in chapters 6 and 7). However, the “impure shell” is still nourished by Hashem…because everything receives energy and life from Hashem, There is nothing else except Him! Therefore: if everything receives energy from Him Hashem, Both pure and impure things are all the same! Why is one thing pure and another not?
The Alter Rebbe explains that there are two ways in which Hashem It nourishes and feeds the world: directly and indirectly. It's like a king preparing a lavish meal for his closest ministers, placing so much food on the table that it spills over and is eaten by the dogs that roam around the table. Did the king intend to feed the dogs? No! The king intended to feed the ministers directly, but indirectly, he also fed the dogs.
In Tania's language, this is called the "direct" and "internal" Will of Hashem (pnimiut haratzón) and the “indirect” and “external” will of Hashem (hitzoniut haratzónPure things receive vitality from the “Direct Will” (like the ministers invited to the king’s table), while impure things and the “Impure Shell” receive energy from the “Indirect Will” (like the dogs around the table).
But there's a problem: if Hashem It doesn't directly want the "impure shell," so what is its purpose? It exists because Hashem He wants us to choose to do good, and for that to happen there has to be something that is good and something that is not, so that we can choose what is good, and that Hashem give us a reward for that. Furthermore, so that we can choose freely, Hashem It is hidden. If we could see and feel how our lives truly depend on being close to Hashem, It would never occur to us to separate ourselves from Him by transgressing the Torah, because we would realize that it is the opposite of life.
The Alter Rebbe explains that idolatry also exists in this way (avoda zaráThis doesn't only refer to someone who thinks a stone or a piece of wood is their god, but rather, idolatry is when a person thinks there is something separate and independent of God. Hashem, something that is not part of Hashem.
Idolatry is denying the uniqueness of Hashem, That is, to deny that He is the only thing there is. Let's imagine to what extent. Hashem It is hidden that it gives rise to something that comes to oppose Him completely! The energy of Hashem It's so hidden in that thing that it makes it feel separate from Hashem. We must know that, although we too feel separate and independent from Hashem, This is only so that we choose to do good, but the deep and real truth is that we depend on Hashem to exist, and, even more, the only thing that exists is Him.
Despite the fact that the “impure shell” feels separated from Hashem, He does not deny Him entirely, but simply considers that there are other things besides Him. This is what is called associating with Hashem with something else (shitufSome peoples think that Hashem He created the world, but he has "partners" who help him manage it, such as the stars in the sky.
That's fine with them, because their souls come from a spiritual level where it doesn't feel like the only thing that exists is... Hashem. But for a Jew, to consider that Hashem It has “partners,” it is forbidden, because the soul of a Jew comes from the deepest part of Hashem, Where it is felt that He is the only thing that exists, then a Jew is expected to know the truth and act accordingly…