As is explained in Sefer Yetzira, (1:7) “Before “אֶחַָּׁד-One” - what can you count?”
Since the Essence of Hashem is elevated and exalted infinite levels beyond the concept of “counting.”
The number “one” is the first in a numerical series and is followed by two, three, four, etc. Thus, the number one implies that something is connected to other numbers, like ‘volume one’ of a set, which implies that there must be more volumes. For a single book, a number would not be needed. Similarly, when describing Hashem as “One,” this implies that Hashem is connected to two, three, four, etc. This refers to the way in which Hashem relates to the finite, created worlds, and He creates and rules over them all.
However, Hashem Himself is beyond any real connection to any worlds and any count. He is truly above the idea of a countable “one,” since He is beyond any count or definition at all.
This is the level of the first time the name הֲוָּיָּ"הַׁ-Havaya appears in the verse of Shema, where we say, “ה'ַַׁׁ ַׁ
וניֵּקֹלֱא-Hashem Himself is our G-d,” since His true Essence is specifically “our personal G-d” for the Jewish people, who relate to Him the way He is beyond any connection to worlds, unlike the rest of creation, which only relates to Hashem as the Creator and Ruler of the world.
This level cannot be grasped by even the angels, who say that Hashem is “Holy” and removed from all worlds, and they ask, “Where is the place of His (Essential) Glory?” This implies that the angels cannot grasp and determine the “place” of Hashem’s Glory.
Only the souls of the Jewish People are able to connect to His Essence, since they derive from that very level of His Essence, as explained above; they come from Hashem without any filter or concealment at all, like it says, (Devarim 32:9) “Because a portion of Havaya are His people, Yaakov is the portion of His inheritance.”
And, like our Sages say, (Shabbos 88a) “Hashem said: Who revealed this secret to my children?”
The Sages relate as follows: When the Jewish People came to receive the Torah, they first said “נעשה-we will do” before saying “נשמע -we will understand.” A Heavenly Voice came forth and said, “Who to My children revealed this secret that the ministering angels use?” We find that the angels also first obey Hashem’s command before they understand, like the verse says, (Tehillim 103:20) “Bless Hashem, His angels who fulfill His Will, to listen to the sound of His words.” They fulfill first, even before they listen and understand.
Even though this ‘secret’ (that action is more important than understanding) is something that the angels also know and use, it is mainly expressed in the Jewish People. The angels don’t have a yetzer hara (evil inclination) to fight, and the fact that they obey even if they don’t understand is not such a novelty. However, the Jewish People work extremely hard to fulfill Hashem’s Will, even if we do not understand it or feel like it.
The fact that specifically the Jewish People received the Torah and not the angels (even though they also know this ‘secret’) is because they are truly rooted in Hashem’s very Essence, and from there they receive the power to overcome the most difficult yetzer hara in existence. This is unlike the angels, who do not have that direct connection, and therefore, would not be able to overcome the yetzer hara in this world (as was the case of the ‘fallen angels’ in the times of Noach).
Thus, this ‘secret’ that the Jewish People have in their ability to serve Hashem beyond understanding comes from their essential connection to Hashem’s Himself.
This is the level called the ‘Secret Essence of Hashem, Above Revelation,’ as in the verse, (Tehillim 18:12) “He (Hashem) makes darkness His hiding place,” showing how His Essence is hidden and beyond any revelation, and is therefore hidden even from the ‘eyes’ of the angels. However, the Jewish People are connected to the level of His Essence.
Now, the word “ש ְמ ַׁע-Hear” also means “understand,” so “ש ְּמַע יִּש ְּרָ אֵּל-Hear Yisroel” also means “understand, Yisroel.”
Meaning that when an intelligent person will contemplate and think deeply and seriously about the fact that Hashem put aside the higher worlds and the lower worlds and chose to be “ַׁ
וניֵּקֹלֱאַׁ'ה-Hashem Himself is our G-d,”, literally, and the Divine soul descended from such a lofty level, as “a portion of actual Divinity,” to an extremely low place, to become invested into the life-giving animal soul, then it is proper that a person’s soul and spirit should yearn exceedingly to return to Hashem.
After this contemplation, a person will then reach the level of “וְאָּה בְת ַָּׁ- and you will love אֵּתַׁ ה'ַַַׁׁׁ ַׁ ךיֶקֹלֱא-Hashem your G-d,” the word “וְּאָהַבְּת ָ ” can have two different possible meanings; one of them is that it is an active commandment to the person: you should love and want to experience how Hashem is your G-d.
And it also has a second meaning that refers to the effect of the person’s contemplation, which is that it will cause Hashem to reveal His love to us from Above, as it is written, (Malachi 1:2) “‘I have loved you (the Jewish People), says Hashem.’”
Meaning that Hashem shows His love to us in such a way that it awakens a reciprocal love for Him in us.
This means that one’s soul will become inflamed with a fiery, burning love and desire to become absorbed in Hashem’s Light. This intense love is awakened in the person through a revelation of love from Hashem Above, as it is written, (Shir Hashirim 1:7) “ה ג ִּידָּהַׁל ִּי-tell me (where to find) ש ֶאָּהֲבָּהַׁנ פְש ִּי-the one that my soul loves.”
The word “הַג ִּידָה-tell over” can also mean to draw down (נגיד), and we are interpreting the verse to mean that Hashem draws down into us the love of our souls for Him.
From this, a person will come to the level of loving Hashem “ב ְכַָּׁלַַַׁׁׁ ךֶדֹאְמ-with all of your might.” The word “מְאַֹׁד-exceedingly/mightily” means without any limits or boundaries, referring to a love of Hashem beyond all reason and logic.
This is what the verse says, (Iyov 12:22) “He (Hashem) reveals deep things from darkness, and He takes out to light from the shadow of death.”
Meaning that through a person revealing in his heart “deep things from the dark,” meaning the level of deep love for “הַׁויַַׁׁ
וניֵּקֹלֱאַׁ'-Hashem Himself who is our G-d,” which comes from the level of “He (Hashem) makes darkness his hiding place (for his Essence);”
Then, automatically, this will transform the darkness of his animal soul into light, “and he (the person) will take out to light from the shadow of death” the bad of his animal soul, which is now transformed into good.
We see from all of this, that by reaching a deeper appreciation and love for Hashem in Krias Shema than the love for Hashem one had in Pesukei Dezimra, this will totally nullify the ego of the animal soul and transform its unholiness into a deep and unlimited love for Hashem.
Chapter 6
Now, in the earlier generations where the bad of the animal soul wasn’t expressed so strongly, the recital of Shema (with the contemplation of its meaning) was enough to completely nullify the unholiness of the animal soul.
This is not the case now, in the time called “the footsteps of Moshiach,” when the bad of the animal soul is very strongly expressed. It is now impossible to completely eradicate it’s unholiness with only the recital of Shema. For this reason, our Sages instituted the 18 blessings of Shemona Esrai.
The word “ב ַַָּׁׁ ך ור-blessed” is also an expression meaning bestowing and drawing down from Above, meaning that when we say a ב ְּרָ כָה-blessing using the phrase “ב ָ ָ תַא ך ורה הֲוָיָ ה אֱלֹהֵּינו -blessed/drawn down are You, Hashem, our G-d,” we are actually requesting that “הַׁויַׁ
וניֵּקֹלֱאַׁ'-Hashem Himself who is our G-d,” be drawn down and bestowed upon us so that He should be revealed directly to us, so that when we say “You” to Hashem, we should feel how that “You” in “הוי' אֱלֹקֵּינו -Hashem Himself, is our own personal G-d;” (i.e. that our connection to Hashem’s Essence should be revealed in a way that we connect to directly).
Meaning that in Shemona Esrai we are asking that our love for Hashem’s Essence should be revealed in our hearts, and then the unholiness of the animal soul will automatically be totally nullified, like darkness is dispelled by light, as explained above.
When we reach the blessing of “Please pardon us Hashem,” we aren’t asking forgiveness from our fear of punishment, that He should forgive us so that He will not punish us, G-d forbid; rather, the explanation of why we are asking forgiveness is as follows: This is like a person who asks forgiveness and pardon from his friend so that his friend’s good will and favor should be expressed to him. This is accomplished by arousing his friend’s mercy.
So too, we ask forgiveness from Hashem so that His good will and favor should be expressed to us, and we accomplish this through calling on Hashem’s “13 Attributes of Mercy.”
These “13 Attributes of Mercy” are also called “13 rivers of scented pure oil,” which purify and clean the sins of the Jewish People, so that there should not be any barriers (from sin) blocking out the revelation of His Will and good favor.
Now, the days of the month of Elul are a special time to awaken the “13 Attributes of Mercy,” so that by the time Yom Kippur comes, Hashem’s good will and favor can be fully revealed to the person, just like when the Jewish People sinned by making the golden calf, and after doing Teshuva, they were informed on Yom Kippur that they were forgiven, since that day is a time when His good will is fully expressed (after Teshuva).
Similarly, after removing all the barriers blocking out that good will through the Teshuva of Elul and Rosh Hashana, we experience the revelation of Hashem’s good will and love to us on Yom Kippur.
Chapter 7
Now, this level of great love for Hashem described above, which is “ב ְכַָּׁלַׁ ךֶדֹאְמ-with all your might/unlimited,” is much loftier and more powerful, above and beyond the love that the Divine soul had for Hashem before it came into this world, and it comes specifically through refining the life-giving animal soul and nullifying the bad in it, as it is written, (Iyov 12:22) “He reveals deep things (deeper love for Hashem) from the darkness (of the animal soul),” and, like it says, (Koheles 2:13) “The advantage of light is when it comes from (transformed) darkness,” specifically.
This is the purpose of the descent of the Divine soul into this world- to refine and clean out the bad of the animal soul, in order that the Divine soul should reach this greater love for Hashem.
The explanation of this: Since the source of the life-giving animal soul is from a very high level, as it is written, (Bereishis 36:31) “And these are the kings who ruled in the land of Edom, before there was a ruling king for Children of Yisroel.”
Edom is another name for Eisav, who represents the World of Tohu, in contrast to his brother Yaakov, who represents the World of Tikkun.
The World of Tohu is a level of Hashem’s revelation where the Light is unlimited and infinitely intense, but the “Keilim-Vessels” - the capacity to define that Light and channel it - is not able to handle the intensity of the Light. Thus, the Keilim “broke down” and became the source for unholiness.
The World of Tikkun is a level of Hashem’s revelation where the Light is limited to the capacity of the “Keilim-Vessels.” The light of Tikkun must be channeled properly, but the Light is inherently limited to the capacity of those “Keilim,” as opposed to the Light of Tohu, which has no such limitation.
Because Eisav/Edom is connected to the World of Tohu, he had so much energy. Since it was too intense, he could not contain it properly and broke down into channeling all of his energy into unholiness.
Yaakov, who is connected to the World of Tikkun, was able to properly channel all his energy into holiness.
This is the idea of saying that the animal soul comes from the “kings of Edom before the Children of Yisroel:” The animal soul derives its life in its original source from the World of Tohu. This is why it has so much passion and energy, but has a very hard time channeling it into holiness. This World of Tohu is called “the kings of Edom,” meaning the strength and power of the source of Eisav/Edom in the World of Tohu. This is called “before there was a ruling king for the Children of Yisroel,” since the Light of Tohu is on a higher level, the level of “before,” the level of Tikkun, which is called “a ruling king for the Children of Yisroel,” since Yisroel/Yaakov and his children are sourced in the World of Tikkun.
Even though the source of the animal soul in Tohu is very high, it fell down through the “breaking of the Keilim/Vessels,” and through many levels of concealment and constriction on Hashem’s revelation, which cover over and conceal the True Oneness of Hashem’s Infinite Light, i.e. they conceal the perception of Hashem’s True Oneness, that He is...
