Tanya Part 3 Chapter 5
By Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Gedalia Potash and William Schecter, MD
November 25, 2022
This draft has neither been edited nor approved by Rabbi Potash
The descent of the G-dly Soul to this world to be enclothed in the body of man flows from the attribute of the internal essence and the source of speech, it is the supernal breath hinted at in the lower letter Hay as referred to above, and as it is written, “The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground, and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 2:7) And who blew etc. And it is written “כִּ֛י חֵ֥לֶק יְהֹוָ֖ה עַמּ֑וֹ יַעֲקֹ֖ב חֶ֥בֶל נַחֲלָתֽוֹ׃
For יהוה’s portion is this people; Jacob, God’s own allotment.” (
Deuteronomy 32: 9)
Comment: Rabbi Potash commented that this passage can also be translated as His people Jacob are a part of G-d. In other words, by breathing the breath of life into man and choosing Jacob (Israel) as His people, the people have within them the internal essence of G-d enveloped in the material corporeality of this world. Every Jew then is a portion of G-d.
The word חבל means allotment or a place of dwelling. But it also means rope. The Elter Rebbe then explains this dual meaning.
The interpretation is just as a rope, by way of analogy, has one end bound above and the other end bound below. The simple meaning of the expression “He blew” is to teach us by way of analogy that when man blows in a certain direction, if there is a temporary obstruction of the air flow, the blown breath does not ascend and arrive at its intended destination. Similarly, the Divine Breath will not reach man if there is an obstruction between the body and the supernal breath.
But truly there is no material or spiritual entity blocking G-d because “Do I not fill the Heavens and the earth” (Jeremiah 23:24 ) and “Fill all the world with His Glory” (Isaiah 6:3) ), and there is no place void of Him, “And in the Heavens above and the earth below there is no other” (Deuteronomy 4:39), and He fill all the worlds etc.
Comment: The Elter Rebbe is quoting various passages above to demonstrate that there is no impediment to the flow of the G-dly soul down to our world to be enclothed in the corporeal body of the Jew.
But it is written in the book of Isaiah
“But your iniquities have been a barrier
Between you and your God,
Your sins have made Him turn His face away
And refuse to hear you.” (Isaiah 59:2)
And the reason is that they (the iniquities) are opposed to the G-d’s will which gives life to everything as it is written “Everything that the L-rd desires He made in the Heavens and the Earth” (Psalm 135:6) ) (as was explained above the Supernal Will is the source of the flow of sustenance from the Name of the Tetragrammaton {written as Havaya to avoid writing out the Name of G-d, and alluded to in the pointed projection of the yud [ first letter of Havaya. The pointed projection symbolizes Divine Will and the letter as a whole symbolizes Divine Wisdom]}…).
This is the issue of the Karet (the punishment of being cut off from the Jewish People and the World to come) for the cord which flows from the Havaya Blessed be He, from the letter Hay which is the last letter of the Tetragrammaton (Havaya)—indicating a lower level of Chochma, Knowledge. This letter Hay is cut off and stops. As it is written in Parashat Emor, ונכרתה הנפש ההיא מלפני אני ה
“That person shall be excised before Me, I am the L-rd” (Leviticus 22:3) with emphasis on the phrase “before Me”.
Comment: The final letter Hay in Havaya (The Tetragrammaton) represents Malchut in the world of Atzilut, the lowest of the ten Midot, where contraction (Tsimtsum) of the Infinite Divine Light begins. This contracted light flows down to the world of Briah where the creation of man occurs. The G-dly Soul of each person is attached by a “rope” to its Source—the Hay of Malchut. If a person sins, one of the strands of the “rope” breaks weakening the rope. Continuing to sin results in further breaking of the strands further weakening the rope. If such a severe sin occurs punishable by Karet (a cutting off from the Jewish people and the world to come) in effect the “rope” between the G-dly Source (Hay) and the G-dly Soul is broken.
The Hebrew word “before Me” (לפני) has the same root as the Hebrew word Pnimiut (פנימיות ) meaning internal essence. So, the Elter Rebbe is quoting the above passage to indicate that sins punishable by karet result in a cutting of the “rope” from its Source—the Divine Internal Essence and Will.
The remainder of the sins not punishable by karet still blemish the Soul as is known. And the word pagam (פגם ), meaning blemish, has the same root as pagima ( פגימה) a blemish or defect in a knife used for ritual slaughter (which invalidates the slaughter resulting in non-kosher meat). By way of analogy, the thick rope (connecting the G-dly Soul to its Source) is composed of 613 thin strands representing the 613 Mitzvot. In this way the rope referred to above is composed of the 613 Mitzvot. When one transgressed, G-d forbid, one of the Mitzvot, the thin strand (representing the particular Mitzvah) is broken.
But even for a person who commits a sin punishable by karet and death, there still remains within him a remnant of the Divine Soul which vitalizes him up to fifty or sixty years and no longer (and that which the Arizal stated: that the encompassing light enters but is not an issue of the physical life span of the body but lasts only for fifty years).
והנה המשכת וירידת הנפש האלקית לעולם הזה להתלבש בגוף האדם נמשכה מבחינת פנימיות ומקור הדיבור, הוא הבל העליון המרומז באות ה"א תתאה כנ"ל, וכמו שכתוב: "ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים ויהי האדם לנפש חיה", ומאן דנפח וכו'. וזהו שכתוב "כי חלק ה' עמו יעקב חבל נחלתו". פירוש, כמו חבל על דרך משל, שראשו אחד קשור למעלה וקצהו למטה. כי הנה פשט הכתוב מה שכתוב "ויפח" הוא להורות לנו, כמו שעל דרך משל, כשהאדם נופח לאיזה מקום, אם יש איזה דבר חוצץ ומפסיק בינתיים – אין הבל הנופח עולה ומגיע כלל לאותו מקום, ככה ממש אם יש דבר חוצץ ומפסיק בין גוף האדם לבחינת הבל העליון.
אך באמת אין שום דבר גשמי ורוחני חוצץ לפניו יתברך, כי הלא "את השמים ואת הארץ אני מלא", ו"מלא כל הארץ כבודו", ולית אתר פנוי מיניה, "בשמים ממעל ועל הארץ מתחת אין עוד", ואיהו ממלא כל עלמין וכו'. אלא כמו שכתוב בישעיהו: "כי אם עוונותיכם היו מבדילים ביניכם לבין אלקיכם". והטעם, לפי שהם נגד רצון העליון ברוך הוא המחיה את הכל, כמו שכתוב: "כל אשר חפץ ה' עשה בשמים ובארץ" (וכמו שנתבאר לעיל, שהוא מקור השפעת שם הוי"ה, ונרמז בקוצו של יו"ד).
וזהו ענין הכרת, שנכרת ונפסק חבל ההמשכה משם הוי"ה ברוך הוא שנמשכה מה"א תתאה כנ"ל. וכמו שכתוב בפרשת אמור: "ונכרתה הנפש ההיא מלפני אני ה'", "מלפני" דייקא. ובשאר עבירות שאין בהן כרת, על כל פנים הן פוגמין הנפש כנודע. ופגם הוא מלשון פגימת הסכין, והוא על דרך משל מחבל עב שזור מתרי"ג חבלים דקים, ככה חבל ההמשכה הנ"ל כלול מתרי"ג מצוות, וכשעובר חס ושלום על אחת מהנה נפסק חבל הדק וכו'. אך גם בחייב כרת ומיתה, נשאר עדיין בו הרשימו מנפשו האלקית, ועל ידי זה יכול לחיות עד חמישים או שישים שנה ולא יותר (ומה שאמרו בשם האריז"ל שנכנסה בו בחינת המקיף וכו', אינו ענין לחיי גשמיות הגוף, ומיירי עד חמישים שנה, או בזמן הזה כדלקמן).