Nefesh HaChayim, Gate III

And this is the matter of the verse (Yirmiyahu 23:24): “Do I not fill the heaven and the earth?” And it is explained even more clearly in the Mishneh Torah (D’varim 4:39): “You shall know this day… that God-YHV”H is the God-Elohi”m in the heaven above and on the earth below—there is none other”. And also (D’varim 4:35): “You have been shown in order to know that God-YHV”H is the God-Elohi”m—there is none other than Him alone”. This is literally true as written, that there is nothing at all other than Him (blessed be He), in any aspect or solitary detail in all the worlds, supernal and terrestrial, and all the creations—only the essence of His simple unity (blessed be His name) alone.

And that is the inner meaning of their (OBM) statements in D’varim Rabba (parsha Bet): “Another matter: ‘for God-YHV”H is the God-Elohi”m…’—Yitro actually worshipped the heavenly bodies… . Rah-khav… . Moshe asserted His presence even in the voidness of the universe, as is stated (op. cit.): “that God-YHV”H… in the heaven above and on the earth below—there is none other”— even [emphatic] in the voidness of the universe.

And this is also included in their (OBM) statement that He (blessed be He) is the universe’s place and the universe is not His place; that is, that all the places perceived by the senses as existing, are not the essential nature of “place”. Rather, He (blessed be His name) is the space in which all places exist, that from His (blessed be He) perspective they are considered as if they don’t exist at all—now is the same as before creation.

However, in our introduction at the beginning of our discourse, [we stated] that their (OBM) words were likened to fiery embers, that one should be exceedingly careful with their embers, not to engage in contemplating and researching them excessively, in matters for which permission is not granted to contemplate a lot, and be burned (heaven forefend). And so too is this awesome matter, the matter is intended only for one who is wise and capable of understanding based on his own knowledge767Heb.: Cha-kham u-may-veen me-da-ah-toe—Literally, a wise person who understands based on his own knowledge. This carefully chosen phrase uses the names of the three parts of the head: chohkma, beena and da’aht, implying a mature, refined, balanced and integrated personality. the inner dimensions of the matter, educating the heart/mind solely by momentarily considering it and then withdrawing768Heb.: b’rah-tzoe vah-shove, and in this way to enflame the purity of his heart/mind toward the service of prayer, while excessive contemplation of this matter is an enormous danger, and regarding this the Seifer Y’tzeera states: “If your heart/ mind runs769Heb.: eem rahtz leeb-kha, return to the place770Heb.: la ma-kome”, as I previously wrote in chapter 2, and as I will write (God willing) further on in chapter 6.

And truthfully, I might have stopped myself from discussing this matter at all, for the early sages771Heb.: ree-sho-neem (OBM) greatly hid this matter, as you’ll see in the writings of the holy one of God, the Ro-kei-ahkh (OBM—quoted above), who addressed this topic using only hints, for their souls-Ruakh were faithful to God-Ei”l, and they hid it772Paraphrasing Mishlei 11:13.

However, I reconsidered and noted that while this was proper for them in their generation, now a very long time has elapsed without a guide, and the ways of man are to follow the path that, led by his rational intellect, seems right. And the inclination of a person’s heart/mind’s thoughts is exclusively to fly-off in fantasies to wherever his heart/mind leads him. And the most important reason is that this teaching has reached the general public, and is a metaphor espoused even by fools saying that every place and everything is absolute Godliness. And they aim constantly to deepen their understanding and to study it, to the point that it captures the heart/minds of the young and immature, and they determine their actions and behavior based on this rationale.

A person must exercise extreme caution in this matter and constantly guard his soul-Neffesh. For if (heaven forefend) our heart/mind would fixate on this idea773Heb.: likbo-ah lah-noo makh-shah-va zoo, to permit ourselves to act based on this idea, it’s possible for the effect of this (heaven forefend) to be the destruction of many of the holy Torah’s basic principles (may the Merciful save us). And with ease he would be trapped (heaven forefend) in the snare of the [evil] inclination who will demonstrate to him that it is permitted based on this idea, for example, to ponder the words of Torah when in a state of disgust, even in filthy places, after he’s first determined for himself that everything is absolute Godliness. And our sages (OBM) strongly opposed this, and employing their holy spirit774Heb.: roo-akh kode-shahm, cut him off from having a share in the world-to-come (may the Merciful save us), as is written (Berakhot 24b) that included in the category of “for he has denigrated God’s word” is also one who ponders words of Torah in filthy alley ways. And in any case, the last part of that text says “he shall be cut off [emphatically]775Heb.: hee-kah-rate tee-kah-rate”, and the sages (OBM) explained it to mean that he will be cut off both from this world and the world-to-come. And many more errors could be caused (heaven forefend) if one determines active behavior in that way.

This is what brought me to initiate a discussion of this matter and to caution and distance others from errors that could be caused by this (heaven forefend), and to thoroughly understand what our sages (OBM) hinted at on this topic. And they are like all of God’s righteous ways, this being an era with a pressing and urgent need776Heb.: v’eit la-ah-sote.