Answering the questions that the maamar came to address: We said in the introduction of the maamar, that it is coming to answer two questions on the verses regarding Sedom:
- Why would have to go down to judge people, doesn’t Hashem already know everything that happens without having to go to see it firsthand?
- Furthermore, what does it mean that He “went down,” Hashem is everywhere, there is nowhere for Him to “go”?
To answer these questions, the Alter Rebbe explained the concept of Ten Sefiros. This Sefiros serve as an “interface” between the Infinte Light of Hashem, and His creations.
This level that is between Hashem Himself and creations is called “Elokus,” or Divinity, or “G-dlyness,” meaning that it is not Hashem’s Essence, but it is not separate from Him at all, in any way. This is like a person’s soul powers of pleasure, will power, intellect, and emotion: They are not the essence of the person, but they are not separate from the person at all. They simply do not exist outside of the person. They are the power and capability of a how the simple essence of the soul comes into expression to be able to interact with itself and others. Similarly, the Sefiros are Hashem’s “powers” and revelation, His ability to express Himself and interact with creations. They do not exist outside of Hashem at all.
However, since His Sefiros are not His Essence, and they come into the category of limitation, they can be described in certain terms. It is regarding How Hashem puts Himself in the Sefiros that He is described as “going down” to judge people, and that He needs to “see” for Himself, as it were, how to judge them Kindly. In other words, as Hashem exists beyond the limitations of the Sefiros of Atzilus, He automatically knowns everything about everyone, so he does not need to “see,” and He is everywhere so there is nowhere for Him to “go.”
However, Hashem decided to also bring Himself down to a level of interaction with the creations according to the framework that they relate to: That after they do something, they are judged according to their actions, after they do something good, they are rewarded and after they sin they are punished.
Analogy of the Sage and the Child
This is understood with an analogy brought by the Magid of Mezritch (Or Torah of the Magid, first teaching, see there): There is a great sage whose only interest is in wisdom. However, he has a young child who likes to play with toys. So, the great sage sits on the floor and plays toy with the child at his level. Since he loves his child, he is fully invested in the game that he is playing with his child, even though, at the same time, he is essentially beyond ever caring about those toys and that game.
For an article on this topic, see https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2144811/jewish/G-d-and-Love.htm from Rabbi Tzvi Freeman.
Similarly, since Hashem cares about His creations, He is fully invested in relating to them at their level, through the Sefiros of Atzilus, while He is essentially infinitely removed from the entire category of worlds. In that sense, as He comes down into the Sefiros, He “goes down” to “see” how to interact with us, even while He is Infinite and Transcendent.
