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For “Their beginning (i.e., the loftiest initial level) is wedged in their end.”36
כִּי “נָעוּץ תְּחִלָּתָן בְּסוֹפָן” דַּוְקָא,
This is explained in the teachings of Chasidut37 as follows: “Beginning” refers to a level of Divinity that utterly transcends the evolvement of any created worlds. This level of Divinity is wedged in the last level preceding the creation of the evolving worlds, the sefirah of keter. Keter is revealed only in the “end” of all worlds—i.e., within this physical world—during the time of the Resurrection. Gan Eden, by contrast, is incapable of receiving this transcendent level of revelation in an internalized manner.
Thus, while the lesser radiance that is muted to match the respective limitations of the evolving worlds can be absorbed by the soul (in Gan Eden) in its disembodied state, the transcendent radiance issuing from keter is revealed to the soul only when it is clothed within a body.
Likewise, as is known, “The final deed—i.e., the last stage of creation: this physical world—was first in thought….”38
וְ”סוֹף מַעֲשֶׂה בְּמַחֲשָׁבָה תְּחִלָּה כוּ’”, כַּנּוֹדָע.
Thought and creation both have aspects that are “first” and “last”; the “last” (i.e., lowest) level of creation, which is this world, is rooted in the “beginning” (i.e., in the highest level) of the Divine thought.
This is why specifically the deeds performed in this “last” world of creation, while the soul is clothed in a physical body, are able to elicit and draw down the radiance of keter. As explained here by the Alter Rebbe, this refers to the mitzvah of tzedakah, as well as to mitzvot in general, all of which are termed “tzedakah.”39
For it is the performance of physical mitzvot in this material world that arose first in G‑d’s thought and will, at the level of the Divine keter, for the physical mitzvot are the ultimate purpose of creation.
Returning to the earlier discussion: It is now clear why in future time, the righteous (and “Your people are all righteous”) will be lauded as holy: they will all have revealed to them that Divine radiance that is “holy” in the sense that it transcends apprehension. Moreover, they will become so unified with this revelation that the term “holy” will apply to them as well.
However, it is impossible to attain this level of being able to absorb the transcendent light of sovev kol almin until one has first been in Gan Eden,
אַךְ אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְהַגִּיעַ לְמַדְרֵגָה זוֹ, עַד שֶׁיְּהֵא בְּגַן עֵדֶן תְּחִלָּה,
to apprehend a degree of the supernal chochmah,40 each41 according to his measure.
לְהַשִּׂיג בְּחִינַת חָכְמָה עִילָּאָה (כוּ’) [אפשר צריך להיות: כָּל חַד] כְּפוּם שִׁיעוּרָא דִילֵיהּ,
For, as explained earlier, the lesser Divine light that radiates in Gan Eden is received by each soul according to its own particular degree.
(The Rebbe adds here that the soul will then rise at the time of the Resurrection of the Dead through the “dew of the Torah,” for, as our Sages teach, “[Whoever engages in the study of the Torah,]) the dew of the Torah revives him [at the time of the Resurrection].”42
וְ”טַל תּוֹרָה מְחַיֵּיהוּ”,
The verse upon which our Sages base this teaching reads: “Your dead shall be resurrected…; those who lie in the dust shall awaken and sing joyful praises, for the Dew of Lights shall be your dew….”43 It is thus clear that the revival effected by “the dew of the Torah” refers to the Resurrection of the Dead.
(The Rebbe adds: Thereafter,) “When you will awaken, it (i.e., the Torah) will cause you to Speak…,”44 and this promise, as expounded in Avot,45 refers to the time of the World to Come. This will suffice for the discerning.
“וַהֲקִיצוֹתָ הִיא תְשִׂיחֶךָ כוּ’”, וְדַי לַמֵּבִין.
In order to attain the level of sovev kol almin at the time of the Resurrection, the soul must first be in Gan Eden and apprehend supernal chochmah according to its particular degree and level. For though in Gan Eden, the soul apprehends no higher than the lesser, permeating Divine light called memalei kol almin, its perception is nevertheless augmented by the light of keter, which also illumines it. The soul indeed apprehends the latter enlightenment only to the extent of yediat hametziut (lit., “a knowledge of its existence”; i.e., by the “encompassing” perception known as makif), rather than with the penetrating revelation of hasagat hamahut (lit., “an understanding of its essence”).46 Nevertheless, this added illumination enables the soul at the time of the Resurrection to comprehend the essence of the revelation of sovev kol almin.
Since, as stated above, the soul in Gan Eden apprehends indwelling lights, its experience of Gan Eden consists of the revelation of the Torah within the soul, so to speak, for the Torah is likened to “food” (as in the verse, “for Your Torah is within my inward parts”47)—i.e., something that affects one from within, as explained at length above, in Part I, ch. 5. However, Gan Eden is also illumined by a glimmering of the radiance that results from the performance of mitzvot, and these act as “garments” and “encompassing lights” for the soul in Gan Eden, as mentioned in the above letter.
At the time of the World to Come, at the time of the Resurrection, the superior light of sovev kol almin will be revealed chiefly as a result of one’s present performance of mitzvot. This comes about through and together with the “dew of the Torah” that “revives him” and “causes [him] to speak.”
The Alter Rebbe now returns to the above-quoted verse, “Your commandment is very wide.” Having earlier explained that “Your commandment” (in the singular) refers to G‑d’s own commandment, viz., tzedakah, he now goes on to explain the words “is very wide”: the mitzvah of tzedakah is a vessel so capacious that it can contain the revelation of G‑d’s infinite light at the time of the Resurrection.
And this is the meaning of [the verse], “And your commandment is very wide.”
וְזֶהוּ “רְחָבָה מִצְוָתְךָ מְאֹד”,
This refers to the precept of charity, which is a vessel of great volume, in which the radiance from the [infinite] Ein Sof-light may be invested,
הִיא מִצְוַת הַצְּדָקָה, שֶׁהִיא כְּלִי וְשֶׁטַח רָחָב מְאֹד, לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בָּהּ הֶאָרַת אוֹר־אֵין־סוֹף בָּרוּךְ־הוּא
(48as it is written, “His garment is tzedakah”49).
(וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: “לְבוּשׁוֹ צְדָקָה”),
In the future, this [light] will radiate without limit or end,
אֲשֶׁר יָאִיר לֶעָתִיד בִּבְחִינַת בְּלִי גְבוּל וְתַכְלִית
with a gratuitous [Divine] kindness elicited by this arousal from below—by the kindness and tzedakah initiated by man—which is called “the path of G‑d.”
בְּחֶסֶד חִנָּם בְּ”אִתְעָרוּתָא דִלְתַתָּא” זוֹ, הַנִּקְרֵאת “דֶּרֶךְ ה’”.
As mentioned above, even when this Divine revelation is granted in response to an arousal from below, it is still considered “gratuitous kindness,” for it is granted out of all proportion to man’s actions; man’s tzedakah is no more than a vessel which enables him to receive the benevolence of this Divine revelation.
And this is the meaning of the term “very [wide],” signifying limitlessness and endlessness: tzedakah acts as an infinitely wide vessel for receiving an infinite degree of G‑dliness.
וְזֶהוּ לְשׁוֹן “מְאֹד”, שֶׁהוּא בְּלִי גְבוּל וְתַכְלִית.
However, at the beginning of the verse quoted above, [it is written,] “To every tichlah (lit., “conclusion”), I have seen an end.”50
אֲבָל “לְכָל תִּכְלָה רָאִיתִי קֵץ”,
The word tichlah is related to the term kalot hanefesh, the intense yearning—to the point of expiry—of the soul in Gan Eden,
“תִּכְלָה” הִיא מִלְּשׁוֹן “כְּלוֹת הַנֶּפֶשׁ” שֶׁבְּגַן עֵדֶן,
for it (i.e., the Divine light that is yearned for in Gan Eden) does have an end and a limit, and undergoes contraction, as mentioned above: this is the radiance of the finite light called memalei kol almin.
שֶׁהִיא בִּבְחִינַת “קֵץ” וְתַכְלִית וְצִמְצוּם כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל,
Likkutei Levi Yitzchak, authored by the father of the Rebbe, explains how “end,” “limit,” and “contraction” respectively refer to three kinds of illumination that radiate within Gan Eden. It also explains why the verse chooses to use the word “end” rather than “limit” or “contraction.”
As to the term “to every [kind of] tichlah,” when the verse is alluding only to the yearning of souls in Gan Eden,
וּ”לְכָל תִּכְלָה”
this is used because there are numerous levels and rungs of Gan Eden, one higher than the other, to the topmost of levels.
הוּא לְפִי שֶׁיֵּשׁ כַּמָּה וְכַמָּה מַעֲלוֹת וּמַדְרֵגוֹת גַּן עֵדֶן זֶה לְמַעְלָה מִזֶּה עַד רוּם הַמַּעֲלוֹת,
As is written in Likkutei Hashass of R. Yitzchak Luria, of blessed memory, in explanation of the teaching of our Sages, of blessed memory, “Torah scholars have no rest [in this world nor in the next],”51
כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בְּלִקּוּטֵי הַשַּׁ”ס מֵהָאֲרִיזַ”ל בְּפֵירוּשׁ מַאֲמַר רַבּוֹתֵינוּ־זִכְרוֹנָם־לִבְרָכָה: “תַּלְמִידֵי חֲכָמִים אֵין לָהֶם מְנוּחָה כוּ’”,
because they are constantly rising from level to level in [their] grasp of the Torah, which has no end…—
שֶׁעוֹלִים תָּמִיד מִמַּדְרֵגָה לְמַדְרֵגָה בְּהַשָּׂגַת הַתּוֹרָה שֶׁאֵין לָהּ סוֹף כוּ’,
until after the Resurrection, when they will have rest…, for that time will be “a day which is entirely Shabbat and rest.”52
עַד אַחַר הַתְּחִיָּה שֶׁיִּהְיֶה לָהֶם מְנוּחָה כוּ’:
At that time, there will be revealed a radiance from G‑d’s Essence that utterly transcends levels; elevation from level to level will thus be not only impossible but also unnecessary. At that time, mortal souls will finally find repose as they delight in the radiance of G‑d’s Essence.
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FOOTNOTES
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40. The parentheses and brackets are in the original Hebrew text.
41. The parenthetical text means “etc.,” and the bracketed text that follows it suggests instead “each one.” The Rebbe notes that the anomalous “etc.” grew out of a copyist’s error in which its Hebrew abbreviation כו‘ was substituted for כ“ח, an abbreviation for כל חד (“each one”).
42. Note by the Rebbe: “Cf. Ketuvot 111b, and see above, conclusion of ch. 36.” See also Likkutei Sichot, vol. 11, p. 193 (footnote).
45. 6:9.
46. Likkutei Torah, Tazria, in the maamar that begins Ka Mifligei Bimetivta Derakia.
48. Parentheses are in the original text.
49. Liturgy, High Holidays, Repetition of the Shacharit Amidah (Machzor, Annotated Edition—Rosh Hashanah, p. 118; Yom Kippur, p. 159).
51. Conclusion of Tractate Berachot.
52. Conclusion of Tractate Tamid.
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