Nefesh HaChayim, Gate I

And the intellectuals will understand that this situation also holds in his supernal root, that only the lowest part of the “mother of the children”286Heb.: eim ha-ba-nim—the secret of the supernal Neshama of life287Heb.: nishmaht chayyim—she enters and spreads out within the Supernal Man288“Supernal Man” here refers to the shiur koma ha-kollel, the entirety of creation which has the form (so to speak) of an upright man. via the secret of “temporary addition”289Heb.: toe-seh-fet, after being rectified by way of the desired actions of those in the lower worlds.290Rav Chayyim refers to the process by which those in the lower worlds effect a temporary addition of the aspect of Neshama to specific parts of the upper worlds.

And this is the secret of the holy brains291Heb.: mo-khin ka-deesheen, its three heads, whose essence is six parts (as is known), as is clear to one who understands the Etz Chayyim, Sha-ar Abba V’eema292Gate of Father and Mother, chapter 1; and in the Sha-ar P’ra-tei Ahteek Yomin293Gate of the Details of the Ancient of Days; and in the Sha-ar Ha-zeevoogim294Gate of the Couplings at the start of chapter 4; and at the end of the Sha-ar Mokhin D’tzellem295Gate of the Brains of the Tzellem; and in the Sha-ar D’rooshei D’tzellem296Gate of the Commentaries on the Tzellem, second commentary (refer there carefully in each commentary); and in the eighth commentary there; and in the Pri Etz Chayyim, chapter 3 from the chapter of T’fillin; and in the Sha-ar Ha-yikhoodim, chapter 5, from Tikkoon Ah-vo-note.

And that they said that the Neshama settles in the brain, as is written there in the Sha-ar O-rote, Neetzotzim, Keilim297Gate of Lights, Sparks and Vessels, chapter 6; and in the Sha-ar Ha-mokhin298Gate of the Brains in all of chapter 7 and in chapter 8 and in chapter 12; and in the Sha-ar D’rooshei D’tzellem in the beginning of the second commentary. And the matter is explained further there in the Rabbi Chayyim Vittal’s annotation (OBM), and in the Sha-ar Ha-partzoofin299Gate of the Aspects, beginning of chapter 1; and in the Sha-ar P’neemeeyoot V’khee-tzo-neeyoot300Gate of Innerness and Outerness, the fourth and ninth commentaries; and the Sha-ar Kleepaht Noga301Gate of the Husk of Nogah, beginning of chapter 1. And it will be clear to the exceedingly fastidious in all the commentaries on the tzellem.

And its edge hovers and surrounds from above and shines upon his head by its proximity, it being the secret of the “crown with which his mother crowned him” (Shir Hashirim, 3:11), by way of the secret of the breath302Heb.: n’sheema and the vapor that exits from the mother’s mouth, to the light that approaches to surround him. As is written in the Etz Chayyim, Sha-ar Ha-k’la-leem303Gate of General Principles, end of chapter 11; and in the Likutei TaNa”Kh304Collection from TaNa”Kh, in T’hillim, in the verse: “Ha-kol sog…,” as was described above, that the aspect of the Neshama is the breath of the supernal mouth, but its essence is completely hidden above, and disappears in its source inside the mouth, and shines from a distance.

And by this will be understood their (OBM) intention in Sh’mote Rabba, section 41, on the verse: “For God-YHV”H will give wisdom from His mouth, knowledge and understanding” (Mishlei 2:6) where they said: “To what does it resemble? To a king who had a son. His son came from school and found a platter of food in front of his father. His father took one piece of it and gave it to him…, He said to him: ‘I do not request anything other than a part of what is within your mouth’. What did he do? He gave it to him. … .” That is, what the beloved son is requesting to attain is that He should impress upon him from the sparks of the light of the aspect of Neshama, whose source is deeply hidden in the breath of His mouth (blessed be His name).

And they provided further hints in their holy phrasing, that the metaphor they used was a young child who comes specifically from school. They reliably informed us that there is no worldly entrance to attain the aspect of the sparks of the light of the Soul-Neshama if not via the engagement and in-depth study and reflection in the holy Torah, from within a state of holiness, for the two of them originate from a single source305The two being the Torah and the sparks of the Soul-Neshama. Here Rav Chaim sets the stage for presenting the nature of Torah and the necessity of and irreplaceable need for involvement with Torah. It’s only via involvement with Torah that one can merit the connection to soul-Neshama., as is known to one who understands.

Annotation: And based on this, one who looks into it will intellectually understand, according to the plain meaning regarding the matter mentioned in the Zohar (parshat Ah-kha-rei 73a), that the Holy One blessed be He, the Torah and Israel are connected one to another. It’s definite that his deep intention is toward profound secrets; even so it makes sense to also explain this matter in its plain meaning, based on this.

And the matter is, that the Holy One (blessed be He) is hidden and revealed (Zohar parshat Ehmore 98b), for the essence of the Lord of All, the Infinite-Ein Sof is inconceivable, and thought can not grasp it at all. What we can grasp is a tiny part of a tiny part, that is only from the perspective of His relationship to the worlds306Rav Chaim later explains (in Gate 3, chapter 11) the three aspects of God’s relationship to creation, and how they are perceived., from the moment that He created them and renewed them, to vivify them and to sustain them each moment and to guide them, as is written (N’khemya 9:6): “and You vivify them all”.

Therefore we praise Him (blessed be He) in our prayers that He is the “Life of the Worlds”307Heb.: chei oh-la-meem, for the whole intention of our hearts in all of our prayers and supplications, are forbidden towards any but the Unity of the Universe, He being the Infinite-Ein Sofe (blessed be He). However, not only from the perspective of His essence (blessed be He), in the sense of His being separate from the worlds, but rather from the perspective of His attachment (blessed be He) via His simple will to the worlds and his concealment within them to vivify them. This is the general principle regarding worship and all of the commandments. This is all that we can grasp.308Rav Chayyim says that our prayers are directed only toward the Infinite-Ein Sofe—towards both the essence (so to speak) of Ein Sofe which is separate and apart from the worlds, and the Chei Olahmim which is the Ein Sofe connected to the worlds, hidden within them (so to speak) to sustain them. And refer further on in this work in Gate Two, chapters four and five for the topic at length. The entire existence and sustenance of all the worlds are only the effect of the holy Torah when Israel is engaged with her, that she illuminates all the worlds and is their soul-Neshama and the vivifying force for all of them. And if the universe, from one end to the other, was empty even for one moment from engagement with and in-depth study of the holy Torah, all the worlds would return to chaos and emptiness, as they (OBM) said: “For the sake of Torah…”, and as they wrote: “and He planted eternal life within us”, for the source of her heavenly root is above all of the worlds, therefore all of their existences depends on her309The principle is that what is higher provides the sustenance for what is below. Torah is above all the worlds and so is the source of the sustenance for all the worlds below..

And they also said: “for the sake of Israel…”, as we will explain, for as a result of man’s involvement with and his reasoning in the holy Torah, he attains the sparkling of the light of the aspect of soul-Neshama within him, to make him intelligent in the depths of her holy secrets, and then is given the name Israel, as is known in the Zohar. “…But by all that comes out of God-YHV”H’s mouth” (Devarim 8:3)—it is the aspect of man’s soul-Neshama, His breath (blessed be He), they will also vivify and maintain all of the powers and worlds, for she is also the highest and the innermost of all the worlds, and this is ‘the Holy One blessed be He and the Torah and Israel are all bound one to another’, and that they said: “ ‘In the beginning…310Heb.: Bereshit’ is for the sake of Torah, who [fem.] is called “first311Heb.: rei-sheet”, and for the sake of Israel who are called “first312Heb.: rei-sheet”.

And this is what they stated there, that at the hour when Israel stood on Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, they requested to hear the spoken commandments from the mouth of the Holy One (blessed be He), and as is written (Shir Hashirim 1:2): “He will kiss me with the kisses of His mouth”.

For during the time of the holy event, they all merited the brilliant sparks of clarity, for it (the aspect of Neshama) was hovering over them and shining upon them, metaphorically from the breath313Heb.: nishmaht of his (blessed be He) mouth, and it is the secret of the crowns that they merited at Sinai: “and the world’s joy upon their heads” (Yeshayahu 35, and refer to Shabbat 88a).

And in this way they merited to attain secrets of the inner Soul-Neshama of the holy Torah, as is written in the Zohar (B’ha-ah-lo-t’kha 152a): “The Torah has a body… the sages, servants of the highest King. They who stood at Mount Sinai are not gazing at anything other than its Soul-Neshama, that is the essence of the entire Torah, in actuality.”

And this is what they stated in a number of places in Midrash Rabba: “They had armor at Sinai, and the ineffable Name was engraved upon it”—that is the high attainment in the Neshama, and the secret of the Torah is the ineffable Name. That’s how it was then, above in its supernal root, as we mentioned in the last chapter, the secret of “the crown with which his mother crowned him” (Shir Hashirim 3:11). And they expounded upon this in Chazeeta314Chazeeta is another name for Midrash Shir Ha-Shirrim.: “‘on the day he was wed’ is Sinai, and ‘the day his heart was joyous’—these are the words of Torah.” And the phrase “with the crown”… these are the crowns we mentioned above that were at Sinai, the regal life force. And refer to the Etz Chayyim, Sha-ar Ha-k’lalim, end of chapter 5.