אגרת הקודש

FOURTEEN.1This letter appears in Bonei Yerushalayim, sect. 31 (repr. in Igrot Kodesh Admur Hazaken (Kehot, 2012), p. 167 ff.), with additional parts at the beginning and end which do not appear in our text here. To arouse the ancient love and the fondness for our Holy Land,2V. L. in Bonei Yerushalayim: and to renew it as aforetimes, that it…. that it flame as flashes of fire from the innermost of man and with a profound heart3Par. Psalms 64:7. as if but this very day4V. L. in B. Y.: “as if but that very day did the L–rd begin to show us His grace and enlighten our eyes in the darkness with the light of the L–rd that radiates to the Holy Land and to those that dwell in it; and (the light) radiates and shines within our confines ever more, so that our soul be bound to (the Holy Land) with the thick ropes of a magnanimous love, and the bond becomes stronger and renewed every morning by a new light, as our Sages, of blessed memory, said on the verse ‘which I command you this day’ (Deuteronomy 6:6): ‘Every day they are to be in your eyes as truly new, as if the Torah was given but this very day.’ (Pesikta Zutrata, ad loc.; cf. also Sifrei, and Rashi, and Tanchuma, ed. Buber, Yitro 13.) Thus beautiful is for us the precept of strengthening and settling in the Holy Land, which is equivalent unto all the commandments, as explained in Sifrei, sect. Re’eh (80), on the verse ‘and you will dispossess them, and you will dwell in their land.’ (Deuteronomy 12:29) And “Israel will not be redeemed except through charity” (see above, Epistle 10, note 58)—which they perform with the L–rd and with His Holy Land to rectify the basis of the degeneracy and the blemish, (i.e.,)—“and they scorned the desirable land,” etc. (Psalms 106:24). A fortiori, then, it is befitting for us to uphold (this precept) with great joy and an ardent love, as if but this very day did the spirit of the L–rd begin to move us, and this very day did the L–rd set His spirit upon us….” did the L–rd set His spirit upon us, a spirit of generosity, when the people volunteer to consecrate themselves for the L–rd5Par. Judges 3:2 and I Chronicles 29:5. with a full and liberal hand, with one increase after another, from year to year, rising over the head, like unto the measure of kodesh ha’elyon6Supreme chochmah (see above, Epistle 10, note 41).—which radiates to the Holy Land and is constantly renewed and increased, as it is written: “Forever are the eyes of the L–rd your G–d upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”7Deuteronomy 11:12.

Now, (the phrase) “to the end…” is apparently incomprehensible, for at the end of one year begins the second year. Thus it should have said: for everlasting!

However, this matter will be understood by considering the Scripture8Proverbs 3:19.—“The L–rd has founded the earth with chochmah.” That is, the foundation of the eretz ha’elyonah9The “upper earth,” or “upper land,” i.e., the celestial model of the Holy Land; cf. above, Epistle 8, notes 37 and 45. [i.e., the aspect of memalei kol almin], and of the nether (land) [i.e., the eretz chefetz10“Land of desire” (Malachi 3:12), cf. above, Epistle 8, note 37. which truly corresponds to it and is called by its11Of the eretz ha’elyonah. name—eretz hachayim12Land of life; see above, end of Epistle 8, and notes, ad loc.] issues from the efflux and radiation from the Supreme chochmah which is the source of the supernal life, as it is written:13Ecclesiastes 7:12. “Chochmah animates those who have it….”14See Pardes Rimonim 12:1; also 3:5.—Cf. Addendum, Mystical Concepts in Chassidism, s.v. Chochmah.

This radiation and efflux is renewed annually by a truly new light. For He, blessed be He, and His chochmah are one, in an absolute unity15See Maimonides, Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 2:10; Likkutei Amarim, Part I, beg. of ch. 2. and it is called the “light of the En Sof, blessed be He,” because there is no limit and no end to the quality and greatness16V. L. in B. Y.: the quality and increase of. of the light and vitality that issues forth from Him, blessed be He, and from His chochmah, by way of elevation upon elevation to no end and limit, to the peak of the highest levels.

And every year there descends and radiates a new and renewed light which never yet shone, from the supreme chochmah to the eretz ha’elyonah. For the light of every year withdraws to its source on the eve of every Rosh Hashanah “When the moon is covered.”17Rosh Hashanah 8a-b. Afterward, by means of the blowing of the shofar and of the prayers, a new, supernal light [of a yet higher rank in the sphere of the supreme chochmah] is elicited to radiate to the eretz ha’elyonah and them that dwell upon it, i.e., all the upper and lower worlds that receive their vitality from it [i.e., from the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, and18V. L. in B. Y.: and from His chochmah. His chochmah which is vested in it, as it is written: “For with You is the source of life, in Your light we see light”19Psalms 36:10.—which refers to the light that radiates from the supreme chochmah, the source of life]. (20Brackets appear in the text.And as known to the students of Kabbalah, that every Rosh Hashanah there is the nesirah,21V. L. in B. Y.: “nesirah, etc.”—Nesirah, of the root נסר (to saw, to plane), is the Kabbalistic term generally referring to the withdrawal of the “old light” and the egression of the “new” one. This term, abounding in (Lurianic) Kabbalistic and Chasidic literature dealing with the period of Rosh Hashanah relates to the theme of Genesis 2:21 ff. [the removal of Adam’s rib (to which the Zohar applies the term nesirah; cf. I:34b and Derech Emet, ad loc.; II:55a; III:19a and 44b) and the formation of Eve]. and it receives new, more sublime mochin….22Brains, intellectual faculties, referring to chochmah, binah, and daat.)

In a very specific way, this takes place every day. More sublime mochin are elicited by every morning prayer,23See Arizal, Shulchan Aruch, beg. of Kavanat HaTefillah; Likkutei Torah, Beshalach 2d; Bamidbar 5d. and these are not the original mochin that withdrew after the prayer, but more sublime ones.24V. L. in B. Y.: more sublime ones, etc.

In a general way, with respect to the world as a whole during25V. L. in B. Y.: as regards the world of the six thousand years as a whole. the six thousand years,26Of the world’s existence (Sanhedrin 97a). this occurs every Rosh Hashanah.

And this is the meaning of the Scripture—“Forever are the eyes of the L–rd your G–d upon it” [for the eyes are an epithet for the efflux and radiation of the light of chochmah,27See Zohar II:218a; Etz Chaim 8:1. wherefore the sages are referred to as the “eyes of the congregation”28Numbers 15:24; Shir Hashirim Rabbah I, 15:2. See also Leviticus 4:13, Horiyot 5a, and Zohar III:20a. Cf. also Sifrei, Deuteronomy 41 and Taanit 24a.], and “the atmosphere of the Land of Israel makes wise.”29Bava Batra 158b; see Zohar III:245b.—I.e., it radiates chochmah, emanating to it from the “Eyes” of G–d.

Now, this radiation and efflux, though it is continuous, nevertheless, it is not on one plane and level only since the beginning of the world. For every year there is a new, supernal light, because the light that was generated and shone on this Rosh Hashanah withdraws to its source on the eve of the following Rosh Hashanah. And this is the meaning of the Scripture “From the beginning of the year to the end of the year” only.

And that is why מרשית (from the beginning) is written without an alef, alluding to the withdrawal of the light30Signified by the alef (cf. Zohar II:54a; 123a). [which withdraws on the night of Rosh Hashanah] until after the order of the blowing of the shofar31By which the alef, the new sublime light, is elicited; see Siddur Im Dach, Shaar Hateki’ot, p. 244b ff.—when a new, more sublime light descends, so sublime a light as has never shone yet since the beginning of the world. And it vests itself and conceals itself in the eretz hachayim of above and of below in order to animate all the worlds for the duration of that year.32From the eretz hachayim the light effuses to all the other worlds. On the terrestrial plane it effuses from the eretz hachayim (the Holy Land) to all the other countries (see Sifrei, Deuteronomy 40, and Nachmanides on Deuteronomy 11:22; cf. Taanit 10a, and see also Zohar I:255b; II:22b and 152b; III:209a-b; Zohar Chadash 87d. See also Shaarei Orah (Gikatilla), ch. 5).

However, its manifestation—from this concealment—depends on the action of those below, and on their merit and penitence during the Ten Days of Penitence, and suffice this for the initiated.