Chapter 7

At the beginning of chapter 1, the Alter Rebbe said that there are two types of oneness of Hashem¹: the “Higher Unity” (ijuda ilaá) and the “Lower Unity” (ijuda tataá). That is, the question of the uniqueness of Hashem It does not mean that there is only one God and not two or more, but that, in reality, there is only one. Hashem, and nothing more. The two levels of uniqueness of Hashem They signify the way creatures perceive the fact that only one thing exists Hashem: whether they perceive it as “Superior” or “Inferior”.

We mention these two levels of oneness every day in prayer: the verse² “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One” (Shema Israel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem ejad) represents the “Higher Oneness”, while the phrase “Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever”³ It represents the “Lower Unity”.

The Alter Rebbe begins by explaining "Lower Oneness." And to understand it, we must know that the reason why Hashem He creates the entire universe to reveal His reign over us.

To be king, there must be a people separate from the king over whom he can rule. For even if the king had many children, he could not reign over them. It is precisely when there is a people separate from the king, made up of individuals who are strangers to him (neither his children, nor close ministers, etc.) that he can exercise his power to reign over them.

For this same reason, Hashem He hides His presence from us through contractions, creating a world that feels separate from Him. So that Hashem may be King over that world.

The Divine “Quality” that expresses Hashem as King it is called, precisely Reign (Maljut) of the world of Emanation. The name of Hashem The word that expresses this “Quality” is called Adnai. This name means “My Lord”, expressing Hashem as “Lord over all the earth” and is the name used during prayer to refer to Hashem.

This “Quality” and this name are responsible for creating and vitalizing the world as we know it, a material world where the presence of Hashem It is hidden, as explained in previous chapters.

If this “Quality” were to withdraw from its constant creative and vitalizing activity, the world would cease to exist as we know it (but it would continue to exist in its source, in Hashem, (as we will explain), returning to its source, to Hashem itself, completely canceling itself out, like the sun's ray inside the sun: it would not be called "world", just as the ray has no name inside the sun.

What does it mean that the world would cease to exist as we know it? The Alter Rebbe explains in chapter 33 of the first part of the Tanya that, just as the sun's ray exists outside the sun, it also exists within the sun, only that within the sun it is nullified by the sun. Nullified does not mean that it does not exist, but rather, as we explained regarding the world of Emanation in chapter 6, the sensation of that ray of light inside the sun is that the only thing that matters and exists is the sun itself: the ray does not "think" about itself nor "feel" itself.⁴.

One more point: up to this point the Alter Rebbe explained that the “Quality” of Goodness of Hashem It creates, while the “Quality” of Power conceals. In this chapter it says that it is the “Quality” of Kingship that is responsible for generating the concealment of Hashem in creation. So: Who is hiding, the Power or the Kingdom?

An example to understand the difference between these two concealments is the difference between thought and word. Thought is something hidden within each person, concealed from others. On the other hand, word is something revealed to others.

Creation as it is created by the “Qualities” of Goodness and Power is like thought. It exists, but is hidden, like sunlight within the sun. Creation as it is created by the “Quality” of Kingship is like the word. It is revealed and made concrete, like sunlight outside the sun.

For this very reason, the Alter Rebbe says that if the “Quality” of Kingship were to withdraw from its constant creative activity, the world would cease to exist as we know it (revealed and material), but would continue to exist in Hashem, like the thought in the mind of man (which exists even though he does not speak) and like the ray of the sun within him.

Now, the idea of “world” means space and time. To be precise, distinguishing something from other things, we must say: where it is (space) and at what moment (time). The same “Quality” of Reign that generates the feeling of separation from Hashem, is where space and time arise.

The definition of space encompasses east, west, north, south, above, and below, while the definition of time includes past, present, and future. That is to say, both space and time encompass different levels, a multiplicity of issues. The passage from creation in its spiritual form, like the sun's ray within the sun, to the "world" as we know it, is made by the "Quality" of Reign.

However, the “Qualities” superior to the level of Reign⁵ They are so spiritually elevated that the concepts of space and time have no possibility of manifesting there. It doesn't even make sense to think about space and time at those levels.

Now, the Alter Rebbe will explain⁶ that Hashem It is unified with His “Quality” of Kingship, thereby completely nullifying everything that arises from that “Quality” in Him. Since the “Quality” of Kingship is the spiritual source of space and time, these two are automatically nullified in Him. Hashem.

The conclusion is that Hashem, By uniting with His “Quality” of Kingship, which is the source of the creation of the entire world, both spiritual and material, He is present in this physical world as well. The world is like the sun's rays within the sun. Only the “Quality” of Kingship conceals that presence. Hashem, precisely so that there may be a world that is perceived as separate from Him. This is what “Inferior Oneness” means.

The Alter Rebbe explains with these ideas a concept of Jewish mysticism: the integration of the names of Hashem. In general we can talk about two names, the name Hawaii and the name Adnai.

Integrating names means interleaving the letters of both names, starting with the first letter of one name, followed by the first letter of the second name, the second letter of the first, and so on. The name with which the integration begins will determine the result and the spiritual level it represents.

The integration of the name Adnai within the name Hawaii It symbolizes the “Higher Unity”, because the first letter of the integration is from the name Hawaii, which symbolizes an aspect of Hashem that is beyond time and space. As explained⁷, the name Hawaii It is composed of four letters. These same letters can be represented as the past, present, and future verb tenses in Hebrew (haia, hove, ihie, It was, it is, and it will be., הָיָה, הֹוֶה, יִהִיֶה), all at the same time, which means that this aspect transcends time. In turn, this name is the vital source of all space, being superior to it in creating it. This is what it means that the world, that is, space and time, are annulled at their source when Hashem joins His “Quality” of Reign.

The integration of the name Hawaii within the name Adnai It symbolizes the “Lower Unity”, because the first letter of the integration is from the name Adnai, which symbolizes an aspect of Hashem which conceals His presence, allowing the world to perceive itself as “separate” from Hashem.

In other words, it's as if we were to say that we observe the world from the perspective of Hashem Or from our perspective. From “above”, from the perspective of Hashem, From the perspective of "Higher Oneness," the world is insignificant and completely nullified. From "below," from our perspective, from "Lower Oneness," the world exists because of the presence of Hashem It is hidden, but still, the world is nullified in Hashem.

What emerges from these mystical ideas is that Hashem It is actually present throughout the entire universe, both "above," in the spiritual worlds, and "below," in the material world. It's just that "below" His presence is hidden due to the "work" of the "Quality" of Kingship.

With this idea the Alter Rebbe explains another verse⁸“I am God, I have not changed.” This verse indicates that there was no change in Hashem Because He created the world: He is the same, after creation, just as He was before creation, without any modification. This sounds difficult to understand… However, according to what the Alter Rebbe has explained so far, we can understand that, since the entire world is nullified in Hashem, Like the sun's rays within Him, the creation of the world did not bring about any change in Him: before creation, the world was nullified, and after creation, it continues to be nullified!

However, we might think that something did change with creation: the knowledge of Hashem. Because before creation we cannot say that Hashem He knew His creation because it didn't yet exist! But now, after creation, Hashem He does indeed know her. Therefore, at least his knowledge of her has changed.

But the Alter Rebbe rejects this idea, saying that nothing changed in Hashem, not even His knowledge. Because the knowledge of Hashem It's different from that of human beings. In human beings, knowledge is something added to them. For example, before studying medicine, a person has no idea of medical concepts. By studying, they incorporate many new ideas into their life that were previously outside of them. The same thing happens every day; we become wiser by acquiring knowledge we didn't previously have. But the knowledge of Hashem It is different: through knowing Himself, He knows all things. The Rambam⁹ Express this idea by saying¹⁰"He is the one who knows, He is the known, and He is knowledge itself; all is one.".

This is such a complex issue that no one can fully understand it. Hashem His knowledge and His knowledge are one; they are not separable as in human beings. This is something only we can understand. believe, In other words, having faith that it is so is not something we can understand.

With this idea, the Alter Rebbe resolves the question he raised about a change in the knowledge of HashemSince He and His knowledge are one, through knowing Himself, Hashem He knows everything that exists, from the highest to the lowest creatures. That's why nothing changed in Hashem Because He created the world: just as He knew Himself before creating the world, in the same way, He continues to know Himself after creating it. Therefore, nothing changed.

But this is something so difficult to understand, that the prophets told us¹¹“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” In other words, it is something that the Torah It tells us through the prophets; it is not something we can comprehend with our minds.¹².

From here, using the ideas mentioned, the Alter Rebbe explains one more detail about contraction (tzimtzumThe original text where this concept appears is found in the writings of the Arizal.¹³. There the contraction is mentioned, but there is a detail that is ambiguous in the text, and it gave rise to discussions among the sages of Jewish mysticism (cabala) after the Arízal.

The text says (adapted and summarized)¹⁴: “In the beginning the “Infinite Light” (or ein sofIt filled all of space, and there was no room to create anything. When it arose in His will to create the world, He contracted His “Infinite Light,” and an empty space remained in which to create the world.” When the text says that by contracting the “Infinite Light,” “an empty space remained” to make room for the world that was to exist: is this literal or figurative?

If it's literal, then we must say that there are places in the universe where Hashem Simply put, it is not present. In this sense, Hashem He withdrew from a certain space, and His presence is no longer there. It is interesting to note that, for example, the Vilna Gaon (1720-1797) held this view.

But if it's figurative, then we must say that Hashem It is present throughout the entire universe equally, except that there are certain places where His presence is not perceived: Hashem It is hidden.

The Alter Rebbe maintains that it is impossible to say that the contraction is literal, that is, that Hashem He did not withdraw from some “place,” but the contraction is figurative, that is, Hashem He hid Himself in a “place,” and in that space where His presence is hidden, He created the world. The simplest reason why it is impossible to say that the contraction is literal is because it would be something that would happen to a physical body—the act of moving from one place to another—but Hashem It has no body, so it makes no sense to say that it "left" or "withdrew," but we can indeed say that it went into hiding because, as explained, that hiding does not exist for Hashem, only for the creatures.

In addition to this, the Alter Rebbe brings evidence of his position from various holy books.¹⁵, where the idea is mentioned that Hashem He is not “taken” by any of His creatures. The idea of “taken” refers to understanding; that is, there is no creature, not even in the highest spiritual worlds, that can understand Him. Hashem and, furthermore, “to take” means the creation of Hashem It doesn't "grab" Him, that is, it doesn't affect Him at all. If we were to say that "empty space" is literal, then creation would have generated a change in Hashem, because there would be a place where it used to be Hashem And after creation, it is no more.

One of the texts that the Alter Rebbe quotes¹⁶ mentions two energies that Hashem It uses in its creation: an energy that “Fills all worlds” (memalé col almin) and an energy that “Surrounds all worlds” (sovev col almin).

What does it mean that there is an energy that “fills” and one that “surrounds” worlds? The energy of Hashem that which is revealed in the worlds through which the worlds live and are sustained, we say that it fills the worlds, like the soul, which fills the body and gives it life.

But the energy of Hashem That which is hidden in the worlds, because it is infinite and so powerful that it would annul everything if it were revealed, we say that it surrounds the worlds.

An example to understand these two types of energy is imagination. Let's think about a house we've seen from the outside and whose interior we also know. We can say that this house and everything inside it is "inside our head," and our head "surrounds" that house (what we see from the outside), and, in turn, our head "fills" that house (knowing everything inside it), even though, in reality, that physical house is probably not inside our head. It's just a product of our imagination.

The energy of Hashem that surrounds the worlds is the way our imagination perceives the house from outside of it, and the energy of Hashem What fills the worlds is similar to how our imagination fills that house, that is, what we see inside it.

But the thoughts of Hashem They are different from ours, and His thought and His knowledge of all things that exist “surrounds” and “fills” all things in reality (not just in the imagination). That knowledge of Hashem is so powerful and infinite that if it were not limited by contractions (tzimtzumím) would not create the physical and limited world as we know it. Therefore Hashem It hides that infinite capacity through contractions and allows only a limited and minuscule reflection of that energy to be revealed to give life to all the things we know in the world.

A reflection is like a small mirror reflecting the image of a larger mirror. The image in the large mirror appears large, but when the reflection in the large mirror passes into a smaller one, it appears smaller. This example helps us understand how the vital energy of Hashem It goes down level by level, until it becomes invested in this material world, similar to how the image in mirrors gets smaller as it is reflected in a smaller mirror.

We can conclude, then, that the infinite energy of Hashem “It ”surrounds“ all things and His finite energy ”fills” all things.

Now, we find another case we already know of “something” filling a “thing”: the soul fills the body. However, despite the fact that Hashem “It ”fills“ all of creation, but not in the same way that the soul fills the body, because the soul is ”taken over” by the body: the soul is affected and modified by the body. But Hashem It is not affected or modified by His creation despite filling it.

The energy of Hashem The energy that “fills” creation is limited and contracted according to each creature's capacity to bear it. It is like the sun, for example, which, being a limited entity, expands its light to a certain point and no further. The vital energy of Hashem that invests itself in the sun to give it life is very contracted and limited.

In turn, Hashem “It ”surrounds“ creation, and everything that exists is ”within“ it. Moreover, this energy that ”surrounds all worlds” is the very existence and vitality of the entire universe, because, through knowing all worlds, Hashem He creates them. In other words, every creature comes into existence through him. Hashem She knows her.

An example to understand this last idea is that of a writer. The writer creates and brings to life the characters of a story in their imagination. The place where the story takes place, the faces and bodies of the characters, their thoughts, words, and actions are all in the writer's mind, and through that, everything comes to life.

This example can even be taken a step further: the writer's intellect, where the entire story "lives" with all its details and characters, is transformed into the writer's capacity for action, into their hands, to write the story. The writer's hands don't think or decide; they are simply subordinated to their intellect and, through a pen, ink, and paper, materialize the story so that others can read it.

When we take this example to Hashem, In the example, the hands would represent the "Quality" of Reign, through which the presence of Hashem to give rise to a material world. The writer's intellect would be the "Quality" of Wisdom of Hashem And finally, the writer would, of course, be, Hashem same.

It is important to note the difference between the writer's example and Hashem, The point is that the writer neither creates nor gives life to (and is in fact completely separate from) the pen, ink, and paper, and, after all, the story as it exists in the writer's mind does not exist in a concrete, material form. Whereas in the case of Hashem, He creates and gives life to everything that exists through knowing Him.

So, we can say that just as the writer's mind surrounds and encompasses all the details of the story, and their knowledge of each of those details gives life to the story itself and its different parts (the place, the characters, etc.), in the same way, Hashem, Through knowing and encompassing, so to speak, "surrounding," His creation gives it life and sustains it.

As the Alter Rebbe explained in chapter 1, the source of all the world's vitality is the words of the creation story in the Torah. But those words are so powerful that they could create worlds and creatures without limit, both in quantity and quality; that is, an infinite number of creatures of an infinitely high spiritual level, and this limited, material world would never be created (because Hashem It is infinite and is unified with His “Qualities” of Goodness, Power, and so on, giving these qualities infinite power as well. Then these “Qualities” are invested in the words of creation, also giving them infinite power.

However, to avoid this infinite creation, Hashem It contracts creative and vital energy and invests it in combinations, exchanges, and sums of letters.

The Alter Rebbe explains that the combinations and exchanges indicate a decrease in the energy of those letters so that they can create and give life to creatures of a lower level than those created by the letters and words themselves in the creation story.

The sum of the letters also indicates a decrease in the energy of those original letters, to the point that only the sum of all the letters remains. Each letter has a specific energy. In turn, when a group of letters combines to form a word, it has an additional energy that corresponds to that word. This concept is called Numerology (gematria).

We find many Hebrew words that represent different things, and yet the sum of their letters is the same. But that doesn't mean those two different things are truly related. Only when both words share a common meaning does Numerology serve as a sign that both words possess the same amount of energy descending from the letters of the creation narrative. Torah to create and bring to life those two things represented by those two words.

The Alter Rebbe gives the numerological example of a stone. The word stone in Hebrew (even) is composed of three letters: Aleph (א), Bet (ב) and Nun (ןThe letters Bet y Nun represent a name of Hashem extremely high: evidently the stones receive vital energy from this name. The Alter Rebbe adds that the third letter of the word stone in Hebrew, a Aleph, it must come from some other name of Hashem to form the word even.

Moreover, our wise men say¹⁷ that the entire text of the Torah consists of names of Hashem. The idea behind this phrase is that by using exchanges, combinations, and other systems of interpretation, a huge number of names, that is, expressions, are generated. Hashem That is why the Alter Rebbe says that the Hebrew word for stone is composed of two letters from one name, while the third letter comes from another name.

Now, for that name to be invested in a stone, to create it and give it life, it must descend through many powerful contractions until it generates a small vitality capable of being invested in a stone. And that vitality is called the "soul" of the stone; it creates it and gives it life constantly. This is the same energy of Hashem that “Fills all worlds.”.

In turn, the energy of each sum of letters could create and give life to infinite creatures according to their level, since, within it, lies the infinite energy of Hashem invested in His “Qualities” and, in turn, these invested in the words of the creation story from which those added letters came… only that creative and vitalizing capacity is inferior to the capacity of the letters of the creation story itself¹⁸.

In other words, if we take the letters of the creation story in the Torah And if we combine, exchange, and add them up, we will have a certain level of creatures created by those "new letters". If we combine, exchange, and add up those "new letters" again, we will obtain another group of "new letters", of a lower level than the previous ones, which will create creatures of a lower level than the creatures created by the previous "new letters".

Thus, the letters gradually descend in level, step by step, to create and give life to this material world.

SummaryTwo levels of uniqueness of Hashem, upper and lower. Hashem He creates the universe to be King, and for that, there must be creatures separate from Him over whom He reigns. The “Quality” of Kingship generates this separation and gives rise to the world as we know it: space and time. Hashem It unites with His “Quality” of Kingship, so the world is like a ray of sunlight within the sun, only creation does not perceive this union due to the constant work of the “Quality” of Kingship. Integration of the names of Hashem: Havaie and Adnai. “Looking” at the universe from the perspective of Hashem or from the perspective of creation: “Higher Oneness” and “Lower Oneness” respectively. “I am Hashem, ”I have not changed.” Nor has His Knowledge changed. Faith that He and His Knowledge are one. The knowledge of Hashem It is different from that of a man. The contraction is figurative: Hashem It is present throughout the universe. Hashem “"Fill all worlds" and "Surround all worlds." The power of the letters in the creation story is diminished through combinations, etc., to create lower creatures. Numerology and the soul of stones.