תורה 21

14. And know! also in the future, when the earth will be filled with knowledge and the transcendent intellect will become an immanent intellect, there will also be other transcendent intellects. For certainly, they will not know the Holy One’s essence. Rather, each individual will attain commensurate to his level and in line with his service, endeavors and efforts—that which he strove and labored for God in this world.

And even though they will all be purified, even the gentiles, nevertheless, there will be a great difference between them and us. For that which will then be great insight and knowledge for them, will be a joke and a simple matter for us. In our eyes this will not be considered an insight at all. As explained above, “Then our mouth will be filled with laughter…. Then they will declare among the nations, ‘God has done greatly….’” That which for them will be an insight—to understand and know the greatness of the Jewish people, and that all their good and greatness in this world was entirely on behalf of the Jews; which in truth is a great insight, for presently, in this world, this is not understood—will nevertheless for us not be considered an insight at all, but a joke and simple matter. For our comprehension and knowledge will then be very great.

And even among the Jewish people themselves, there will certainly be a great difference between each and every tzaddik; and all the more so between a tzaddik and a wicked person. For that which will be transcendent for one will be immanent for the other, as mentioned earlier, “Each tzaddik will be singed by the canopy of his friend.” See there. And as in the explanation of the verse, “For the earth shall be filled with knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea.”

For in the common intellect, everyone will be equal. Everyone will know God, even the gentiles. But in the depth of the wisdom, each individual will be in accordance with his level—like the waters which cover the sea. On the surface the waters are level in each place, but in depth they are very different. In one place the waters are shallow and not much above the ground. However elsewhere they get deeper and deeper. And in another place they reach down into the depths. In the future, this will likewise be the case with the knowledge of God.

This is the meaning of, “Each tzaddik will be singed by the canopy of his friend.” For when he attains an insight which he had no knowledge of beforehand, which for him is something original, he is then inspired and set on fire by the light of this insight, for it amazes him. But someone who has already surpassed this insight, and he now comprehends things which are more awesome and greater than this insight—he has no inspiration from this insight. This is, “Each tzaddik will be singed”—set on fire and inspired—”by the canopy of his friend”—by the insight which for his friend is a simple matter that neither sets him on fire nor warms him at all. He thus has to cover and canopy himself, for this insight neither warms him nor sets him on fire at all. But the other tzaddik, the one lower than he—he is singed and set on fire by it.

{This matter is better elucidated by what has been explained above, that as a result of the motion of the intellect—synonymous with the Godly influx/comprehension of the transcendent intellects/comprehension of the holy knowledge—heat is born in the heart. Thus, in the main, the heat and inspiration of holiness stems from comprehension of the transcendent intellects, comprehension of the knowledge.

With this, this matter of “Each tzaddik will be singed by the canopy of his friend” is explained very well. That is, for this tzaddik it will be considered a great insight. So much so, that he is singed by it. Because, as explained, the comprehension of knowledge brings forth heat, and he will therefore be singed by it. But, for the tzaddik who is on a higher level than he, this is not considered an insight at all. He is not at all singed or warmed by this comprehension. Rather, he has to canopy and cover himself with a different, more exalted, insight, in order to warm himself.

Thus, that which is explained above regarding the statement “Each tzaddik will be singed by the canopy of his friend,” that he will be singed by the transcendent intellect of his friend—for the transcendent intellect of this one is greater than the transcendent intellect of the other, and the intellect which is transcendent for one is immanent for another, because the canopy alludes to the transcendent lights—is one and the same as that which is written here. This is because the ChuPah (the canopy), which is the transcendent/encircling, is literally synonymous with ChiPuy (canopying) and covering, for it warms a person. For principally, the heat and inspiration stems from the aspect of comprehension of the transcendent intellects, as above. Understand this well.}