Chapter 53

In this chapter the Alter Rebbe finishes the explanation he began in chapter 51 about the “Presence” of Hashem (Shekhinah), and how it resides and reveals itself in certain places more than in others. Even though Hashem It is everywhere, however there are some places where it can be felt more than in others.

The Great Temple in Jerusalem was one of those places. There, His “Presence” could be felt. And in what part of the Temple was the “Presence” of Hashem? In the Tablets of the Covenant (lujot habrit) who were in the holiest place in the Temple.

But no level of the “Presence” was revealed Hashem. In the previous chapter, we learned that His “Presence” descends world after world until it is revealed in the “brain” of the world of Action, and then, through the Reign of the world of Action, His “Presence” gives life and creates all the creatures of this material world. But a much higher level of the “Presence” of God was revealed in the Tablets of the Covenant. Hashem, because the Tablets were not part of the nature of this world, but, as the Torah¹, were made by Hashem The same. The Tablets of the Covenant were a projection of the level of Wisdom of the world of Emanation, invested in the Reign of the world of Emanation and then invested in the Reign of the world of Creation.

But in the second Great Temple in Jerusalem, the Ark where the Tablets of the Covenant were kept was not in its place, because it had been hidden even before the destruction of the first Temple. Therefore, the level of the “Presence” of Hashem In the second Temple, it was already inferior: it was the level of Reign of the world of Emanation invested in the Reign of the world of Creation, invested in the Reign of the world of Formation, invested in the “brain” of the world of Action. This level, in turn, was invested in the holiest place of the Temple, where the Tablets of the Covenant had been.

And today, when we don't have the Temple, where is the "Presence" of HashemThe Alter Rebbe explains that he is in the Torah, but at an even lower level than in the second Temple: the Reign of the world of Emanation, invested in the Reigns of the worlds of Creation, Formation and Action.

Why the “Presence” of Hashem Is it even lower now than it was during the Second Temple period? Because most of the Mitzvot of the Torah They are practical and concrete precepts, actions that must be taken with the material world, such as tzitzit woolen, tefillin leather, etc., and even the Mitzvot that are fulfilled through speech and thought, such as the study of Torah and the blessing after meals, our sages² They explain that the words must be verbalized; otherwise, we do not comply with the Mitzvah. Those spoken words are like the action of the Mitzvah.

Moreover, the six hundred and thirteen Mitzvot of the Torah next to the seven Mitzvot rabbinic³ are the Will of Hashem Likewise, invested in the Wisdom of Hashem. It then emerges that the Mitzvot Practical and concrete actions are directly connected to the Will of Hashem.

That is why our sages gave the example of the oil lamp (as explained in chapters 35 and 51), and said that the fire, that is, the “Presence” of Hashem, It needs oil to burn, that is, to be invested in the level of Wisdom (which is represented by oil) which, in turn, is linked to the observance of Mitzvot, Because, as the Alter Rebbe explained, the Mitzvot are directly related to the level of Wisdom (which in turn is connected to the Will of Hashem).

That fire burns in the candle wick, that is, in the Animal Soul. Just as the fire consumes the wick, in the same way, the “Presence” of Hashem It resides upon the Divine Soul by consuming the Animal Soul, transforming it into fire itself.

This is what the Righteous achieve (see Chapter 10 on this topic): transforming the Animal Soul into the Divine Soul. The “Intermediate Men” at least manage to consume the garments of the Animal Soul, which are the thoughts, words, and actions of worldly things, and transform them into the thoughts, words, and actions of the six hundred and thirteen Mitzvot of the Torah.

This work of consuming and transforming through the observance of Mitzvot, makes the fire burn Hashem upon us, that is, that the “Presence” of Hashem in the Divine Soul, in other words, that we can feel Hashem in our lives.

The first part ended, with the help of Hashem, blessed and exalted be he.