Likutei Amarim Chapter 35, Class # 4

Continuation of Chapter 35

It is thus clear why (in the above-mentioned metaphor) the mitzvot can serve as oil for the light of the Shechinah: for they are truly absorbed within and transformed into the light of the Divine Will just as oil is absorbed within a flame. (The Alter Rebbe will arrive at this conclusion, after a preliminary discussion on what the Zohar means when it says that the light of the Shechinah “rests” on man. This exposition now follows:)

והנה ענין השראת השכינה

The “resting” of the Shechinah means i.e., when we single out a specific object from a world filled with the Shechinah, by saying that the Divine Presence “rests” upon that object, its uniqueness lies in

הוא גילוי אלקותו יתברך ואור אין סוף ברוך הוא באיזה דבר

the revelation of G‑dliness and the Ein Sof-light in that particular object.

והיינו לומר, שאותו דבר נכלל באור ה׳, ובטל לו במציאות לגמרי

This means to say that this object is comprised within G‑d’s light and is nullified out of existence toward Him (i.e., it has no separate identity);

שאז הוא ששורה ומתגלה בו ה׳ אחד

for [only] then can the One G‑d rest upon it (upon that object) and reveal Himself in it.

אבל כל מה שלא בטל אליו במציאות לגמרי, אין אור ה׳ שורה ומתגלה בו

But anything not completely nullified out of existence toward [the G‑dly light] cannot have G‑d’s light rest and reveal itself within it.

ואף צדיק גמור שמתדבק בו באהבה רבה, הרי לית מחשבה תפיסא ביה כלל באמת

Even a perfect tzaddik, who cleaves to Him with “abundant love” — a most lofty level of love and attachment to G‑d; yet even in the case of such a tzaddik “no thought can truly grasp Him at all.”

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