Nefesh HaChayim, Gate III

And so it is that all of the fundamental principles of the holy Torah, every one of the warnings and commandments, positive and negative, all operate within this context, that from our perspective there absolutely exist differences and variations between places. In clean/pure places we are permitted and also obligated to discuss and to reflect on the Torah’s words. And in filthy places we are prohibited even to reflect on the Torah’s words. And so it is with all the matters and the system of behavioral obligations that we are directly commanded in the holy Torah, and lacking this context of our perspective there wouldn’t be any room for the Torah and commandments at all.

And even though, in truth, from His (blessed be He) perspective that has the capability of grasping His essential nature, he permeates everything with complete uniformity, without any barriers, and with no differences or variation between places at all; only that everything is a simple unity, exactly as before the creation. However, we are not able— and also not permitted—to engage in any way contemplating an understanding of this awesome matter, to intimately know and to grasp how the Sole Master (blessed be He) permeates every thing and all places with a simple unity and absolute uniformity—absolutely not [emphatic]!

And it’s as the Ro-kei-ahkh (OBM) wrote in the Shoresh K’dooshaht Ha-yikhud—these are his holy words: “‘Into what is too wondrous for you do not delve…’—This is what is written in the beginning of b’raita d’seifer y’tzeera: ‘return the Former onto His foundation, He is the Former of all…’. And in another b’raita: ‘If your heart/mind runs, return to the place’. For that reason it was stated (Yechezkel 1:14): ‘The living beings801Heb.: cha-yote ran to and fro802Heb.: ra-tzo va-shove’, meaning that when you think with your heart/mind regarding the Creator of the universe, what is He and how He is present in every place, and about His actions, block your mouth from speaking and your heart/mind from pondering—remove the thought from your heart/mind. And if your heart/ mind [persistently] runs to this thought, hurry quickly and do not ponder it, and return to the unity of the Place of the Universe to worship Him and be in awe/fear of Him… . And specifically regarding this matter a covenant was established, to not think about His godly qualities, for none of the wise ones can know it.” This concludes his words. And refer there at length [for more details].

And all the hosts of the supernal multitudes ask: “Where is His place of glory?”, for they can’t grasp the true nature of the matter of the aspect of Him being the universe’s place, mentioned above. And this is what the sages (OBM) stated in Chagigah, in chapter Ein Dorsheen (13b): “but it is written: ‘blessed is the glory of God-YHV”H from His place’ (Yechezkel 3:15). This indicates that no one can know His place.” And Moshe Rabbeinu’s (OBM) soul-Neffesh craved to grasp the matter when he stated (Shemot 33:18): “Show me, please, Your glory”, namely the aspect of the place of His glory that we mentioned above, and he was not given permission.

And only He (blessed be He) alone—the one who is able to grasp His essence—He knows the essential true nature of this wondrous and recondite matter—“the hidden are for God-YHV”H our God-Elohi”m…” (D’varim 29:28). We are permitted to contemplate only that for which we’ve been given permission—“but the revealed are for us”—according to our capacity to grasp, that being our perspective, that He (blessed be His name) is called by the name “surrounding all the worlds”. In the end, even though it is so803That even though He permeates all of creation with perfect uniformity, He (blessed be He) constrained His glory with His simple will so that what appears to the perceiving eye is the reality of worlds and powers and creations continuously being renewed.

And for that reason, we are obligated to know and to fix in our heart/minds a firm and unshakable faith, that from our perspective there are definitely variations in place and different situations to which the legal system applies, as I stated above; for that is a cornerstone of the foundation of faith, and a central tenet of the Torah and all of the commandments.

And this is also one of the reasons that after the unification804A unification is an action (physical, speech or thought) that asserts God’s unity. in the first verse of the kree-aht sh’ma 805The kree-aht sh’ma is the verse (Devarim 6:4) that translates as “Hear o’ Israel, God-YHV”H is our God-Elohi”m, God-YHV”H is one”. we say “Blessed be the name of the glory of His sovereignty forever and ever”. And this is (as we will discuss later in chapter 11) that the matter of the unification in the first verse is in the word “one”; namely to intend that the Sole Master (blessed be He), is one in each and all of the worlds and creations, a simple unity, just as it sounds. And all of them are considered as nothingness, and there is absolutely nothing other than Him (blessed be He). And we shouldn’t come to contemplate—(absolutely not!)—the true nature of this matter, how and what. And for that reason we say after it “Blessed be the name of the glory of His sovereignty forever and ever”, so that it should be clear in saying that, that our intention is the matter as seen from our perspective: that it exhibits the existence of worlds and creations that are renewed by His Will (blessed be He), that need to be blessed from Him, and that He is sovereign over them—this being the “Blessed be the name of the glory of His sovereignty…”. (And this is the context in which the Zohar calls the first verse the Supernal Unification806Aram.: yee-khoo-da ee-la-ah, literally Upper Unification, and the verse “Blessed be the name of the glory of His sovereignty forever and ever” is called the Lower Unification807Aram.: yee-khoo-da ta-ta-ah, literally Lower Unification. And now it’s clear why.)