The written Torah has four components, which are symbolized by the acronym טנת"א which stands for: ta'amim (cantillation marks), nekudot (vowel marks), tagin (crowns on the letters), and otiyot (the letters themselves). In a Torah scroll, only the letters and the tagin are written, but when we read the Torah publicly, the reader orally adds the vowel points and the cantillation marks.
These four components of the written Torah correspond to the four levels of interpretation in the Torah, symbolized by the acronym PaRDeS (פרד"ס): Peshat (the literal, simple meaning), Remez (hints or allegorical meaning), Derash (the homiletical or interpretive meaning), and Sod (the secret or mystical meaning). Note that the cantillation marks correspond to Sod (the mystical meaning), the vowel points to Derash (the homiletical or interpretive meaning), the tagin to Remez (allegorical meaning), and the letters to Peshat (simple meaning).
It is obvious that the tagin, which are the small tags on top of the letters, are completely connected to the letters, and if in the Torah scroll there is whitespace separating the letter and the tag, it is not a tag, since the tag is an intrinsic part of the letter. Therefore, we need to reflect on the fact that the tagin, which correspond to the Remez of the Torah, and the letters, which correspond to the Peshat of the Torah, are entirely connected to each other.
THE TORAH AS A BASKET
Among the early Kabbalists, before the teachings of the Arizal, the word for basket in Hebrew was commonly used as an acronym for ta'amim (cantillation marks), nekudot (vowel marks), and otiyot (the letters themselves). According to this acronym, the Torah was given in a "basket" (אֶנֶט), and the tagin (crowns on the letters) are not mentioned at all. The rationale might be that since the tagin are completely connected and united with the letters, they are considered part of the letters and do not stand on their own. Thus, according to the hint of “basket” (אֶנֶט), there are only three levels in the Torah. How can this be? If we exclude the tagin, we omit the interpretative dimension of remez (hints or allegorical meaning) from the Torah. What happened to it? Where did the "Remez" go?
The acronym טנ"א seems to be a much richer and fuller hint than טנת"א because טנת"א is not a word with meaning and content, and therefore it cannot be interpreted in many ways. In contrast, טנא is an important word in the Torah, which appears in our portion, “And it shall be when you come into the land which the Havayah your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell therein. You shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which you shall bring from your land... and you shall put it in a basket (אֶנֶט) and go to the place which Havayah your God shall choose to place His name there."
The expression “you shall place it in a basket” (אֶנֶּטַ בָּתְמַׂשְו) is connected to the entry into the Land of Israel. Thus, the early sages expounded that the basket, the vessel in which the first fruits known as bikkurim are brought to the Temple, is in the secret of the Torah itself. In other words, all the levels through which we study the Torah, all the PaRDeS (Peshat, Remez, Derash, Sod) of the Torah, including the highest level—the cantillation marks and the Torah’s secrets—are collectively a basket, a vessel for something that is placed inside it. What is placed inside the basket? The "first of all the fruit of the earth." Therefore, we need to reflect on the meaning of "the first of all the fruit of the earth." It is the inner light that is clothed within the Torah.
TAGIN AND THE CROWN
It is noteworthy that among the words for the cantillation marks, the vowels signs, the tags, and the letters (תּוּדֻקְים נִמָעְט תּוּיִתֹין אוִגָּת), the word for the tags (יןִגָּת) is in Aramaic, the language of translation.
It turns out that the tagin come from an entirely different place and are not quite part of this acronym. Still, what is a translated word from a secondary language (compared to the Hebrew, the Holy Tongue—Lashon HaKodesh) doing here? The Aramaic word tag (גָּת) means "crown," indicating that the tagin are from a higher root than all other levels of the Torah. The crown is higher even than the cantillation marks, which correspond to the sefirah of wisdom.
Thus, when we use the acronym of “basket” (אֶנֶט), we require an additional revelation, which is the inner light that needs to be symbolically placed inside the basket. This light, or revelation, is described as “the first of all the fruit of the earth.” To go a little deeper, the placing of this “light” within the basket/vessel is the result of the tagin “disappearing,” or being elevated to their root in the crown to arouse the essence of the "luminary" (רֹאוָּמ)—"the first of all the fruit of the earth“—to enter into the basket.
In fact, the acronym טנא does not just mean “basket,” suggesting a vessel, the value of אֶנֶט is the same as the value of “vessel” (יִלְּכ). Therefore, the טנא is the vessel, par excellence, of the entire Torah. In Kabbalah, vessels draw light into them, and in this case, the light that enters the vessel is the luminary itself—the source of the light, the source of the revelation.
A word about the relationship between a luminary and its light. A luminary is the source of the light therefore we use it as a parable for God and His revelation. The luminary corresponds to the sefirah of crown, while light, the revelation of the luminary, corresponds to the sefirah of wisdom, which emerges from the unfathomable being of the luminary.
However, in this case, it is not the light (wisdom) that enters the vessel—the טנא, i.e., the Torah—it is the light of the crown itself. Indeed, this all happens in the Land of Israel (לֵאֲרׂשִץ יֶרֶא), whose numerical value is the same as “the light of the crown” (רֹאו רֶתֶּכַה). The light of the Crown is truly an extension and revelation of the essence of the luminary, and this is what needs to be placed inside the basket/Torah.
WHAT IS CHASIDUT?
According to the Arizal, there is an even higher level than the cantillation marks and the Torah’s secrets, but we have no comprehension of it. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, in his pamphlet titled “The Essence of the Teachings of Chasidut” explains that this higher level is Chasidut. Chasidut, in relation to the interpretation of the sod, is the revelation of the essence of the matter. When the essence is revealed, the power of unification that passes through all the levels and unites them together is also revealed.
Since the four levels of the soul known as nefesh, ru’ach, neshamah, and chayah (psyche, spirit, soul, and living-one) correspond to the four levels of the Torah appearing in the acronym טנת"א, Chasidut, which is above them all, corresponds to the yechidah (the singular one) of the soul. The fifth level, the yechidah of the soul, is also drawn and included in the Torah as "the luminary within it" (ּהָּבֶׁר שֹאוָּמַה). This phrase comes the midrash that states, "If only they had abandoned Me [God] but kept My Torah, by engaging with it, the luminary within it would have brought them back to the good"
The Torah is generally "light," as it is written, "For a commandment is a candle, and the Torah is light." But there is also the "luminary" within it, from which comes the awakening to repentance and the work of teshuvah. This atones for every distortion and wrongdoing of the ways of the Torah. Therefore, we see that teshuvah comes from a level higher than all the revelations of the Torah, and it has the power to rectify every distortion in the Torah.
Teshuvah is connected to the revelation of the very essence of the Jewish soul, the yechidah of the soul, the fifth and highest level within the Jewish soul, which is above all the revelations of the Torah. This is all hinted to in the phrase “the first of all the fruit of the earth” (הָמָדֲאִי רְּפלָּכ יתִׁאשֵר), whose initial letters spell “atonement” (הָרָּפַּּכ). From the “first of all the fruit of the earth” that is placed in the basket/Torah, comes atonement, "For on this day He shall atone for you, to cleanse you from all your sins."
The level of the yechidah of the soul is connected with God’s essence. God is the "Master of the Torah" and the "Giver of the Torah." The Torah of course expresses God’s will in the form of the commandments. But, beyond the God’s will there is the “Master of the will” (לַעַּב ןֹצוָרָה), to Whom the yechidah of the soul is connected, and from whom true teshuvah comes. It is from Him that comes the power to atone for all the sins and for all the blemishes one has caused in the letters. The yechidah is connected with God as Yachid (the Singular), “the Singular One of the world” (םָלֹל עוֶׁ שֹידוִחְי), with His very essence, with the "luminary." Therefore, the "luminary" is the yechidah of the soul, and it is written that the root of the souls of Israel is higher than the Torah: "The thought of Israel preceded everything," even the Torah.
Chasidut touches upon the level of the yechidah of the soul, and it is "the luminary within it." This is the essence of the Baal Shem Tov. When you study the secret (sod) within the Torah, learning the Etz Chaim and other writings of the Arizal, it is a part of the Torah, the part of the sod within the Torah.
In contrast, Chasidut is not exactly a part of the Torah. Although Chasidut is connected to and grasps the Torah, the study of Chasidut involves learning about the yechidah of the soul, and consequently, you learn about the essence of God. Since this level is above the Torah, it is hidden within the Torah and as quoted earlier from the midrash, it is the secret of " the luminary within it would have brought them back." The yechidah of the soul, "the luminary within it," unites all parts of the Torah: Peshat (simple meaning), Remez (hint), Derash (interpretation), and Sod (secret).
TORAH OF THE LAND OF ISRAEL
We previously mentioned the hint that the value of “the Land of Israel” (לֵאֲרׂשִץ יֶרֶא) is equal to “light of the crown” (רֶתֶּכַר הֹאו), indicating that our holy land is above "the Torah which emerges from wisdom. This provides a positive reason for the question of why the Torah was not given in the Land of Israel from the outset but rather in the wilderness, before the people reached the Land of Israel. Now, when we study the Torah, the primary study of the Torah is specifically in the Land of Israel: "There is no Torah like the Torah of the Land of Israel," "The air of the Land of Israel makes one wise," and "the Torah emerges from wisdom."
Indeed, there are various reasons and explanations in Chasidut that address the question of why the Torah was given in the wilderness and not in the Land of Israel. From what we have just learned, it appears that the Land of Israel is higher than the Torah. That is, the Land of Israel is included as one of the meanings of "the thought of Israel preceded everything"—even the Torah. There is a power in the Land of Israel to reveal the innate connection to God. In other words, to reveal that the Jew is connected to God naturally, instinctively.
CLARIFYING THE POWER OF IMAGINATION
The notion that every Jew has something essential in him or her that governs their relationship with God is revealed only in our holy land, the Land of Israel, because it possesses the unique quality of clarifying the "power of imagination" (הֶּמַדְמַ הַחֹכּ). The "power of imagination" is connected to the unique quality of the Land of Israel, the land about which it is said, "A land which Havayah your God seeks; the eyes of Havayah your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year." The gaze of God’s eyes is considered an extension of the sefirah of wisdom, and therefore the entire atmosphere of the Land of Israel is filled with the wisdom of God. Since the heart and gaze of the Holy Blessed One are directed toward the Land of Israel, there is a great power here of "everything is clarified through wisdom," as well as Divine assistance and the ability to clarify everything.
The main thing that needs to be clarified, through the power of God's Providence and gaze concentrated in this place, is our power of imagination. By doing so, we can reveal the hidden depths of each person's heart, the intrinsic connection to the One, Singular God, for the Jew is essentially "a part of God above, literally." Here, in the Land of Israel, is the unique place where it is possible to clearly and tangibly reveal, without illusion or deception, how a Jew is intrinsically connected to God.
IMAGINING FAITH
Therefore, our holy land is the land of true faith, meaning that here, in the Land of Israel, a Jew can formulate or imagine faith for themselves. A Jew living outside the Land of Israel, on the soil of foreign lands, also believes, for we are all "believers, the descendants of believers." However, it is impossible for them to formulate, that is, to imagine faith, which is entirely elusive outside the Land of Israel. The moment a Jew tries to imagine faith there, he falls into false imaginations and errors. Thus, outside the Land of Israel, faith must be left relatively clean of the imagination.
Going back to the fruit of the earth (יִרְּפ הָמָדֲא) that was placed inside the vessel/basket of Torah, this phrase is similar to the common expression "fruit of the imagination" (ןֹיוְמִּדַי הִרְּפ). “Earth” (הָמָדֲא) in Hebrew is related to the word for “imagination” (ןֹיוְמִּד). Therefore, just as we say, "fruit of the earth," we can say "fruit of the imagination"! Hence, “the first of all the fruit of imagination” refers to a Jew's simple faith, which is even higher than the basket that is the Torah.
Let’s explain this a bit. There is something within the soul of the Jew that resides there even before they begin to study Torah. Even in a small child who has not yet started learning the Aleph-Bet, there is an initial formulation of faith that we call “the first of all the fruit of the earth.” Because this child is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob it has, in its blood, so to speak, in its essence, in its soul, the beginning of the fruit of their imagination, which comes from the essence of its yechidah. This is higher than everything that will be revealed to them in the future. And throughout their life, they need to "place it in the basket," into the vessel of the Torah that they will learn.
The same applies to a Jew who did not have the merit to study Torah and is distant, who did not receive a proper Torah education. What is it that ultimately brings them to come closer and prompts them to begin learning Torah? It is their glimmer of "the first of all the fruit of the earth," a glimmer of the “first of all the fruit of imagination” of Divinity, that there is God in the world. Without this, they would never come to study Torah.
