Tanya/ Iggeres Ha’Kodesh – The Holy Epistle, Epistle 14, Class 3
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“G‑d by chochmah established the earth” thus means that the sefirah of chochmah diffuses its creative light upon Eretz Ha’elyonah (“the Higher Land,” i.e., malchut of Atzilut) as well as upon its terrestrial counterpart, the Land of Israel.
This radiance and efflux from supreme chochmah, that irradiates the “land” at both these levels, is renewed annually by a truly new light,
וְהֶאָרָה וְהַמְשָׁכָה זוֹ הִיא מִתְחַדֶּשֶׁת בְּאוֹר חָדָשׁ מַמָּשׁ בְּכָל שָׁנָה וְשָׁנָה,
for G‑d (blessed be He) and His chochmah are one, in an absolute unity,
כִּי הוּא יִתְבָּרֵךְ וְחָכְמָתוֹ אֶחָד בְּתַכְלִית הַיִּחוּד,
which is called “the [infinite] Ein Sof-light,”
וְנִקְרָא בְּשֵׁם “אוֹר־אֵין־סוֹף בָּרוּךְ־הוּא”,
because there is no limit nor end to the quality and greatness of the light and vitality that issues forth from Him and from His chochmah,
שֶׁאֵין סוֹף וְאֵין קֵץ לְמַעֲלַת וּגְדוּלַּת הָאוֹר וְהַחַיּוּת הַנִּמְשָׁךְ מִמֶּנּוּ יִתְבָּרֵךְ וּמֵחָכְמָתוֹ,
in elevation upon elevation, to no end or limit, to the peak of the loftiest levels.
בְּעִילּוּי אַחַר עִילּוּי, עַד אֵין קֵץ וְתַכְלִית, לְרוּם הַמַּעֲלוֹת לְמַעְלָה מַעְלָה.
Since the life-giving light that issues from supreme chochmah is infinite, it follows that whatever the intensity of the light drawn down in the previous year, it is still possible that a greater degree of light be drawn down in the new year.
And every year there descends and radiates a new and renewed light which has never yet shone, from the supreme chochmah4 to the Eretz Ha’elyonah.
וּבְכָל שָׁנָה וְשָׁנָה יוֹרֵד וּמֵאִיר מֵחָכְמָה עִילָּאָה אוֹר חָדָשׁ וּמְחוּדָּשׁ, שֶׁלֹּא הָיָה מֵאִיר עֲדַיִין מֵעוֹלָם לָאָרֶץ הָעֶלְיוֹנָה,
The light that reaches down to this level is here described as “new and renewed,” for in the first instance, a new light radiates into chochmah from the Ein Sof that transcends it, then a new light issues from chochmah and irradiates the Eretz Ha’elyonah.
For the light of every year withdraws to its source in the essence of the Ein Sof on the eve of every Rosh Hashanah,
כִּי אוֹר כָּל שָׁנָה וְשָׁנָה מִסְתַּלֵּק לְשָׁרְשׁוֹ בְּכָל עֶרֶב רֹאשׁ־הַשָּׁנָה
“when the moon is covered.”
כְּשֶׁ”הַחֹדֶשׁ מִתְכַּסֶּה בּוֹ”,
Rosh Hashanah is known as “the holiday when the new moon is covered”5 and is not seen. In a spiritual context, this means that the sefirah of malchut (represented in the Kabbalah by the moon), the light that animates the worlds and created beings, is concealed and withdraws to its source.
Afterward, by means of the sounding of the Shofar and by means of the prayers, a new and superior light is elicited,
וְאַחַר כָּךְ, עַל־יְדֵי תְּקִיעַת שׁוֹפָר וְהַתְּפִלּוֹת, נִמְשָׁךְ אוֹר חָדָשׁ עֶלְיוֹן
[a light] of a yet higher rank in the sphere of the supreme chochmah,
מִבְּחִינָה עֶלְיוֹנָה יוֹתֵר שֶׁבְּמַדְרֵגַת חָכְמָה עִילָּאָה,
to radiate to the Eretz elyonah and those who dwell upon it,
לְהָאִיר לָאָרֶץ עֶלְיוֹנָה וְלַדָּרִים עָלֶיהָ,
i.e., to all the higher and lower worlds that receive their vitality from it,
הֵם כָּל הָעוֹלָמוֹת הָעֶלְיוֹנִים וְהַתַּחְתּוֹנִים הַמְקַבְּלִים חַיּוּתָם מִמֶּנָּה,
i.e., from the [infinite] Ein Sof-light, and from [G‑d’s] chochmah, which is vested in it, i.e., in “the Higher Land,”
דְּהַיְינוּ, מִן הָאוֹר־אֵין־סוֹף בָּרוּךְ־הוּא וְחָכְמָתוֹ הַמְלוּבָּשׁ בָּהּ,
as it is written, “For with You is the source of life; in Your light shall we see light.”6
כְּדִכְתִיב: “כִּי עִמְּךָ מְקוֹר חַיִּים, בְּאוֹרְךָ נִרְאֶה אוֹר”,
supreme chochmah, which is the source of life, is “with You,” i.e., nullified and unified with the Ein Sof; “in Your light” (i.e., in the light that radiates from chochmah to “the Higher Land”), “we shall see light” (i.e., the light that descends from “the Higher Land” and illumines all the created beings which receive their vitality from it).
4. Note by the Rebbe: “Cf. Likkutei Torah (Shir Hashirim 50b): ‘Surely in supreme chochmah too this new light is drawn down from Above….’”
5. Rosh Hashanah 8a.
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