In Parshas Chayei Sarah (24:1), the Torah tells how Avraham was getting old and needed to marry off his son Yitzchok. In describing Avraham, it says: “Avraham was old, coming along in his days, and Hashem blessed Avraham with everything.” Why does the Torah use the double expression “he was old, coming along in his days” and not simply say he was “old?”
The Zohar explains (vol. I, 129a and 224a) that “days” is also a metaphor for the spiritual accomplishments created by Mitzvos that we perform every day.
The purpose of why Hashem creates time, and creates a new day every day, is to reveal Hashem in the world through the Torah and Mitzvos. Therefore, the inner meaning of a “day” is what is accomplished that day.
When it says that Avraham was “coming along in his days” it does not just mean he had physically lived through many days, but rather, that he took with him all the spiritual accomplishments that he created from serving Hashem each and every day of his life.
For a better understanding of this maamar, see Tanya Igeres HaKodesh chapter 29, where the idea of the “garments” for the soul in Gan Eden created by Mitzvos is discussed at length.
The Zohar describes these daily spiritual accomplishments as “garments.” This is because each Mitzvah creates a Divine revelation that clothes the soul of the person and allows him to perceive and experience the deep wisdom of Hashem’s Torah in the spiritual realm of Gan Eden. Without those “garments” for the soul created by the Mitzvos, the finite soul is unable to fully experience the (relatively) infinite revelation of Hashem in Gan Eden.
The verse is thus saying that when Avaham was old, he came and brought with him all the spiritual “garments” that he created from his daily Mitzvos.
The Alter Rebbe in this maamar will explain this teaching from the Zohar in connection with a teaching from Pirkei Avos:
One Moment of Teshuva and Good Deeds
Let us explain what our Sages taught (Avos 4:17), “One moment of teshuva and good deeds in this world is better than the entire life in the World to Come.”
We need to understand: Isn’t the entire purpose of teshuva and good deeds that they make garments for the soul so that when it goes to the next world, it can enjoy the radiance of the Shechina-Divine Presence in the World to Come?
As the Zohar (I, 224a) explains on the verse (Bereishis 24:1), “And Avraham was old, coming in days”: The Zohar comments that these “days” are referring to “those “days” (garments) Above...woe to the one who ruins his “days” Above, because when they come to dress him in the “days,” which are the garments created from Mitzvos that are required to perceive G-dly revelation in the World to Come, the days that were wasted i.e., a day that a mitzvah opportunity was not fulfilled, will be missing from that garment.” This statement of the Zohar corresponds to what was mentioned before that daily mitzvos create garments for the soul in Gan Eden.
The question is: If the purpose of mitzvos is to create garments for the soul in Gan Eden, so that the soul can enjoy the Light of Hashem there, then seemingly, the Light of Hashem in Gan Eden is greater and more valuable than mitzvos.
However, in Pirkei Avos quoted above it says that one hour of mitzvos and Teshuva is greater than all the life of the soul in Gan Eden!
If mitzvos are greater than the life of the soul in Gan Eden, then why are they called merely “garments” for the soul to be able to receive the Light of Hashem in Gan Eden?
The Radiance of the Shechina in the World to Come
Now, the idea is: The radiance of Hashem’s Shechina-Presence in the World to Come i.e., Gan Eden, is not like the lifeforce of Elokus that extends into the other aspects and dimensions of the worlds, as it is written, “and You Hashem enliven them all” (Nechemia 9:6).
This is because the lifeforce of Elokus that is invested within each world outside of Gan Eden is not grasped or perceived by the creations of that realm.
This can be understood as in the analogy of the energy and life that extends from the soul into the body and becomes differentiated into each limb, allowing each limb to function according to its own characteristics.
Surely, it is not possible that this spiritual energy of the soul becomes separated into parts corresponding to the separate parts of the body, since spiritual energy has no image or form.
In Tanya chapter 51 the Alter Rebbe explain: The soul itself is essentially a singular indivisible spiritual entity. It contains the potential power to animate all the different parts of the body. When it comes into the body, each body part receives power from the soul according to its nature. However, the soul itself is not a conglomerate of different soul powers, it is a single indivisible entity that contains the potential power for all the various energies needed in the body.
Now, the activity of the soul’s energy in the limbs can be recognized and perceived.
A person can feel the fact that he has life from his soul in his body, which enables it live and function in various ways. However, the essential lifeforce and being of the soul that transcends the limitation and details of the body is not perceived directly.
Similarly, just because there is lifeforce from Elokus that enlivens all the limited worlds, certainly does not mean that this spiritual energy is in any way limited or finite.
This is analogous to the lifeforce of the rounded sphere of the heavens. Surely, it is not possible to say that also the spiritual energy that energizes the heavenly sphere is also round in shape. Rather, we must say that it is the undefined and unlimited energy that extends forth according to the structure and characteristics of the vessel that receives the energy.
The fact that every creation of every world receives a specific lifeforce from Hashem is connected to the limitation of the creature itself. The lifeforce from Hashem itself has no such details and limitations.
And, even though the lifeforce becomes invested within the recipient, the lifeforce itself does not become defined by spatial parameters or any other limitation applicable to the creature receiving life from Hashem.
The Alter Rebbe is emphasizing that the lifeforce from Hashem does in fact become invested in each creation, similar to how the lifeforce of the soul comes into the body. But nonetheless, the lifeforce from Hashem is still not affected on any level by the creature it gives life to.
Resolving the Contradiction: Hashem’s Presence and Revelation
Based on this, we can understand how to resolve the following contradiction: It is written in one verse (Yeshaya 6:3), “The world is filled with His Glory,” which the Targum Yonasan renders this as, “the ray of His Glory,” meaning that it is only a ray and glimmer of Hashem’s true Glory that fills the earth.
However, it is written in another verse (Yirmiya 23:24), “I [Hashem] fill the heavens and the earth” implying that Hashem Himself fills the earth, not just a “ray” of “His Glory”?
The idea is, that both concepts are true, as will be further explained.
This idea is understood based on what our Sages said (Megila 31a), “Wherever you find Hashem’s Greatness is where you will find His Humility.”
Meaning, that it is not like what the world thinks, that Hashem’s Greatness refers to the fact that he gives life to all the worlds. For, on the contrary, for Him this is a descent, that He lowers Himself and invests Himself within the worlds to give them life and existence.
And when the verse says, “And You enliven them all,” this is not a praise of Hashem’s Greatness, for “His Greatness cannot be understood” (Tehillim 145:3), and “His understanding is beyond reckoning” (Tehillim 147:5).
Rather, this a praise of Hashem’s humility, that He lowers Himself to such an extent that He even relates to and enlivens the worlds and the creatures within them.
However, the idea of the World to Come i.e., Gan Eden, in which Jewish souls “delight in the radiance of the Shechina-Divine Presence” is that they can grasp and perceive the actual essence of the lifeforce of Elokis in a revealed manner.
Two Ideas of the World to Come
The following explanation will be based on the Tzemach Tzedek’s comments in Or HaTorah (Bereishis vol. 3, p. 130a, Devarim vol. 6 p. 2,230):
There are two ideas of “the World to Come” which in this context refers to Gan Eden:
The first idea:
There is a fundamental difference between Gan Eden and the remainder of all the created worlds and their inhabitants:
In the worlds in general, Hashem’s lifeforce is not grasped or perceived directly. We know that it exists, and we feel its presence, but we do not “see” it directly.
However, the souls of the Jewish people, both those that are not born yet and those that left the body, enter the “World to Come” which is Gan Eden. The name Gan Eden means “garden of delight.” The delight is from the fact the soul can “see” and directly perceive and experience the lifeforce of Elokus that flows into Gan Eden and into the souls there. This level of perception of Elokus is on a completely different level than anywhere else in any of the created worlds. (The angels that live in the World of Beriah, which contains the Higher Gan Eden, have some perception of this lifeforce of Elokus, but not nearly on the same level as the Jewish souls in Gan Eden itself that directly perceive this power of Elokus.)
Based on the above we can explain the contradiction between the two verses:
The verse that says that “I [Hashem] fill the heaven and earth” means that He is present in heaven and earth, and gives life to heaven and earth, but He is not “seen” by the creations.
The verse that says that only a “ray of His Glory” fills the earth refers to the revelation of Hashem. The revelation of Hashem in the created worlds is only like a ray of light, a minute glimmer, of His true glory. In fact, outside of Gan Eden no one can directly see even Hashem’s power that is invested in the creation. Only in Gan Eden can they directly “see” the “ray of His Glory” that enlivens the creations.
However, there is a second idea to Gan Eden, that surpasses what was explained above:
Not only do the Jewish souls in Gan Eden directly “see” the power of Elokus that is creating and enlivening them, but the souls that left the body after doing mitzvos have something even greater:
They can perceive the Infinite Light of Hashem, the Essence of Elokus, that shines in the Ten Sefiros of the World of Atzilus. This Infinite Light is completely beyond the limited Light of Hashem that descends to create and enliven the worlds. This is only accessible to Jewish souls that performed mitzvos in the physical world and then left the body. The souls who were not born yet are not able to access this Infinite Light shining from Atzilus.
Now the Alter Rebbe will ask: How is possible for any creation to perceive the Infinite Light shining in Atzilus?
How Can a Created Soul Perceive the Infinite?
Now, we need to understand the following: How can the soul, which is a created entity, that perceives itself as having its own independent existence that is separate from Hashem, be able to perceive and “see” the Essence and true Being of Elokus, the Infinite Light shining in Atzilus that is then funneled down into Gan Eden, when this level of Elokus, is beyond the understanding of creations since it is essentially unlimited?
Now, the above it true even though the soul is a “piece of Elokus from Above.”
Perhaps we can answer: Since the Jewish soul is “a piece of Elokus from Above,” meaning that it derives from the Ten Sefiros of Atzilus, therefore, once it leaves the limitation of the body, it is in fact able to perceive the level of Elokus of Atzilus that shines into Gan Eden.
However, the Alter Rebbe rejects this explanation by saying that the soul we have down here only derives from the Ten Sefiros of Atzilus, but on a revealed level does not retain all the characteristics and infinitude of Atzilus. (See Tanya chapter 2 for more on this.)
This answer is not sufficient, for the following reason: This is analogous to the droplet of seed that derives from the brain of the father, about which it is impossible to claim that while it was still within the brain it was a physical droplet. For, if that were the case, then by leaving the brain, this droplet would cause the brain to be lacking part of its physical substance, and the brain is not diminished in any way by producing seed.
However, truthfully, at the beginning of the drawing down of the seed from the brain it exists as an intangible potential for producing seed. But, afterward, through the descent of this intangible potential for seed down the spinal cord, it changes, becoming a physical droplet.
Similarly, by way of analogy, the soul’s main root is in the actual Elokus of the Ten Sefiros of Atzilus. However, it came down by way of the chainlike system of spiritual levels known as Hishtalshelus to become a created entity that perceives itself to be an independent being.
In the physical sense, some explain this to mean as follows: The brain produces the hormone, the chemical message, that is sent to the part of the body that actually produces the seed. In the brain itself there is only the “message” about producing seed, which becomes actual seed only when this message travels all the way down the body to the organ that produces the substance of the seed.
In other words, as the soul comes down into an actual physical person it is still connected to Elokus, but it does not retain the original properties of limitlessness of the Elokus of the Sefiros of Atzilus. Rather, it takes on the limitations of created beings.
Just as the child derives from the brain of the father, but now he is separate from the father, so too, the soul derives from the Elokus itself, but descends to become a separate entity.
If so, how, then, can it possibly directly perceive the Essential Light of Elokus?
The idea is as follows:
The verse (Mishpotim 24;18) states regarding Moshe on Mount Sinai receiving the Torah, “And Moshe came in the cloud” and then ascended to the top of the mountain to learn from Hashem. Another verse states: “And he was there for 40 days and 40 nights; he did not eat any bread or drink any water” (Ki Sisa 34:28).
When Moshe went on Mount Sinai to receive the Torah from Hashem, he was first “wrapped up” in a “cloud” and then he was able to learn with Hashem at the top of the mountain for 40 days and nights without eating or sleeping.
During those 40 days, his physical body was nourished entirely by spiritual “food.”
As it is written: “Bread of the mighty did man eat” – literally like the angels.
