Likutei Amarim Chapter 44, Class 5

 Continuation of Chapter 44

והנה ב׳ בחינות אהבות אלו

The said two categories of love — that of “My soul…,” the love a Jew feels for G‑d upon realizing that He is his true life, and that which is “Like a son…,” loving G‑d as one’s true father —

אף שהן ירושה לנו מאבותינו, וכמו טבע בנפשותינו, וכן היראה הכלולה בהן, שהיא לירא מליפרד, חס ושלום, ממקור חיינו ואבינו האמיתי, ברוך הוא

though they are an inheritance unto us from our Patriarchs, and like a natural instinct in our souls (and so, too, as a natural instinct, is the fear that is comprised in them, namely the fear of being sundered, G‑d forbid, from the Source of our life and our true Father, blessed be He),

When one feels that G‑d is the true Source of his life he will fear to transgress, so as not to become separated from his source of life. The feeling of G‑d being one’s true father will likewise keep him from sinning, since he does not want to be torn away from his father.

Although both the above-mentioned degrees of love and fear are instinctively found within Jews,

אף על פי כן אינן נקראות בשם דחילו ורחימו טבעיים, אלא כשהן במוחו ומחשבתו לבד ותעלומות לבו, ואז מקומן בי׳ ספירות דיצירה, ולשם הן מעלות עמהן התורה והמצות הבאות מחמתן ובסיבתן

they are, nevertheless, not termed “natural” fear and love unless they be in the mind and thought alone and in the latency of the heart. Then their place is in the Ten Sefirot of Yetzirah, the place and level of the “natural” emotions, whither they raise up with them the Torah and mitzvot of which they have been the inspiration and cause.

These levels of love are the cause of the performance of one’s Torah and mitzvot, for they result from the portrayal of this love in his mind.

אבל כשהן בהתגלות לבו, נקראים רעותא דלבא בזהר

But when they (the two degrees of love) are in a manifest state in the heart, as a result of his contemplation,they are called in the Zohar, re‘uta delibba (“the heart’s desire” — a more exalted love than “natural” love),

ומקומן בי׳ ספירות דבריאה, ולשם הן מעלות עמהן התורה והמצות הבאות מחמתן

and their place is in the Ten Sefirot of Beriah, where they raise up with them the Torah and mitzvotof which they have been the cause, i.e., which have been performed with the ardor of this love.

The reason this is indeed so, notwithstanding the fact that they are “naturally” found with the soul of every Jew, is now given:

מפני שיציאתן מההעלם והסתר הלב אל בחינת גילוי היא על ידי הדעת, ותקיעת המחשבה בחוזק והתבוננות עצומה מעומקא דלבא יתיר ותדיר באין סוף ברוך הוא, איך הוא חיינו ממש ואבינו האמיתי, ברוך הוא

For their emergence from the latency and concealment of the heart into a state of revelation comes through the faculty of Daat, i.e., through a powerful fixation of the mind and an intense concentration — from the depths of the heart, powerfully and frequently — on the blessed Ein Sof,as to how He is our very life and our blessed true Father. And since his contemplation is so powerful and deep:

ומודעת זאת מה שכתוב בתיקונים כי בעולם הבריאה מקננא תמן אימא עילאה שהיא ההתבוננות באור אין סוף חיי החיים ברוך הוא, וכמאמר אליהו: בינה לבא, ובה הלב מבין

Moreover, what is written in the Tikkunim20 is well known, that “there, in the World of Beriah, nests the ‘Supernal Mother,’” i.e., the level of Binah of Atzilut, which in terms of man’s spiritual service, is the contemplation of the (infinite) light of the blessed Ein Sof, the Giver of life, blessed be He. And this is in accordance with the teaching of Elijah in Tikkunei Zohar,21 in the section beginning Patach Eliyahu: “Binahis the heart, and with it the heart understands.” This means to say that the meditation and understanding taking place in the mind illuminate the heart.

Since the contemplation of G‑dliness is related to the World of Beriah, the World which is illuminated by Binah ofAtzilut, it follows that the various forms of love which are revealed through such contemplation have their place in that World as well, and it is there that they elevate one’s Torah and mitzvot.

The Alter Rebbe now goes on to say that the two kinds of love — “My soul…” and “Like a son…” — not only have the quality of love that results from contemplation, but they also have the quality of ahavah rabbah, the love that is granted from above. For they, too, are granted from above, inasmuch as Jews inherit them from the Patriarchs, as explained earlier.

Since these two kinds of love possess all these qualities, it would seem that they should suffice, and love born wholly of intellect is superfluous. Nevertheless, the Alter Rebbe concludes that a Jew should also strive to attain the love that results wholly from contemplating G‑d’s greatness, because of the reasons he will soon give.

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Footnotes

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20.  Tikkun 6.

21.  Introduction to Tikkunei Zohar, 17a.

 

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