Chapter 3

So far, the Alter Rebbe has explained what a soul is and where it comes from. Now he will explain what a soul is like and what its parts are.

To understand this, here's an example: a person wants to build a house. First, they think about the house in general, visualizing it in their mind. Then they start thinking about every detail, like the rooms, the roof, the floors, and so on. They become so invested in the project that they make it their own, and they make sure nothing stops them from building the house.

To move from desire from building a house to action concrete to put it into practice, Hashem He gave ten special “Tools” to the soul.

Let's look at the example of the house with the "Tools" of the soul:

1) The general idea – that is called Wisdom (Chokhmah).

2) The details of the idea – that's called Understanding (biná).

3) Take the project seriously to get it done – that's called Understanding (daat).

These “Tools” are called Intellect (sejel), Hashem He put them in our minds.

(This is what Chabad means. Chabad Chabad is called that because we use our minds (sejel), the “Tools” of Chokhmah, biná y daat, to learn about Hashem and on how to serve it in the best possible way).

Then there are the "Tools" of the heart, for our feelings.

1) Wanting the project – that's called Kindness (Jesed).

2) To fear anything that might stop him – that's called Severity (guevurá).

These are the main “Tools” of the heart, called Emotions (midotThere are more, seven in total, but all the others stem from those two. These feelings help us to truly build our house.

(These are the names of the midot: Jesed (goodness), guevurá (severity), Tiferet (beauty), netzaj (victory), hod (radiance), Yesod (foundation) and Maljut (reign)).

When Hashem He created the world, and he also used these same “Tools”.

Using the Intellect to think in Hashem It makes us feel, In our hearts, love and fear of Hashem, Emotions. The Intellect has three “Tools” that generate Emotions.

Wisdom – Knowing that Hashem It's more special than anything else.

Understanding – Thinking about everything we know about Hashem (for example, how He is everywhere).

Understanding – Thinking about Hashem It is important in our lives, which will cause us to spend a lot of time thinking about Him, and meditating on what makes us Hashem be so important.

We must make sure we use Comprehension (daat), because it is the only way through which the Emotions will be strong and lasting.

These are the emotions created by the intellect:

Love (ahava) – to be “thirsty” to meet Hashem.

Fear (gonna) – wanting to be close to Hashem, But upon realizing how big it is, I feel fear and shame at being so close.