אגרת הקודש

FOUR. Israel shall be redeemed only through tzedakah, as it is written:1Isaiah 1:27. “Veshaveha—and her repatriates,2See below, note 55. through tzedakah.”3Shabbat 139a; Sanhedrin 98a. It is written:4Psalms 85:14. “Tzedek lefanav yehalech.”5Tzedek (righteousness; here in the sense of charity) shall go before Him. Now, it should really say: yelech.6This would be the proper grammatical form for the conventional translation and sense, rather than the causative “yehalech.” But the idea is according to what is written:7Psalms 27:8. “My heart said for You, ‘Seek panay (My face),’”8I.e., “my heart said in Your (G–d’s) name: ‘Seek My Face’”; see commentaries, ad loc. that is: “Seek the pnimiyut9Inwardness; the innermost point, identical with essence (see below, note 26).—פנים (face) is etymologically related to פנים (interior); cf. Maimonides, Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 1:10. of the heart.” For in the heart 10Brackets appear in the text. [the element of the Divine fire that is in the heart]11V. L.: for in the flame, the element, etc. (reading בלהב instead of בהלב). there are two aspects: the aspect of chitzoniyut,12Outwardness, externality; the antonym of pnimiyut; the degree furthest removed from pnimiyut, the essence. See Addendum, Mystical Concepts in Chassidism, s.v Chitzoniyut. and the aspect of pnimiyut.

The chitzoniyut of the heart is the enthusiasm that flares up on account of the understanding (binah) and the knowledge (daat) of the greatness of the L–rd, the En Sof, blessed is He, by contemplating13V. L.: to cause them to contemplate. on His greatness, and from this contemplation giving birth to a strong love resembling “flashes of fire….”14Par. Song of Songs 8:6; cf. above, Epistle 1, note 29.

The pnimiyut of the heart is the innermost point in the heart and depth of the heart which transcends the aspect of knowledge and contemplation that man can contemplate in his heart on the greatness of the L–rd; and as it is written:15Psalms 130:1. “From the depths I call to You, O L–rd,” i.e., from the depth of the heart.16Zohar II:63b. (17Brackets appear in the text.It is, for example, so with worldly matters: sometimes there is an extremely important matter upon which the whole vitality of man hinges and touches him as far as, and including, the innermost point of the heart, and it causes him to perform acts and say things without any reason whatsoever.18In most texts, the brackets close here. But it would appear quite obviously from the context that the passage to be enclosed by the brackets ends further on. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, notes in H. V. that in the Shklov edition of the Tanya (1814) there do not appear any brackets at all.

And “the one corresponds to the other,”19Ecclesiastes 7:14. See above, Epistle 2, note 16. it is precisely so with the “service of the heart.”20I.e., the worship of G–d, as opposed to the pursuit of worldly matters. This is because the faculty of the innermost point of the heart transcends the faculty of reason (daat)—which extends and vests itself in the attributes born of wisdom, understanding, and knowledge (chabad), as known.21The seven (emotive) attributes chesed, gevurah, tiferet, etc., are the offsprings of the three intellectual faculties of chochmah, binah, and daat (cf. Likkutei Amarim, Part I, ch. 3); daat in particular exerts a determinative influence upon the attributes (cf. below, Epistle 15). See also Likkutei Amarim, Part II, ch. 8. It is,22The faculty of the pnimiyut of the heart. rather, an aspect of the radiation from the supreme chochmah, which transcends binah and daat,23Both of which are rooted in chochmah. and in which there is vested and concealed the actual light of G–d, as it is written:24Proverbs 3:19. “The L–rd with chochmah….”25“The L–rd by chochmah founded the earth,” or “the L–rd in chochmah,” etc. Chochmah, the “hyle” of the creation (cf. Addendum, Mystical Concepts in Chassidism, s.v. Chochmah), “embodies,” as it were, Divinity. Hence the soul contains a spark of Divinity in its faculty of chochmah—which ultimately originates in the Supreme chochmah. See Likkutei Amarim, Part I, ch. 18; cf. Etz Chaim 42:3. And this precisely is the aspect of the spark of Divinity in every soul of Israel.)

The reason that not every person merits this rank [of the service of the heart from the depth of the heart in a state of pnimiyut] is because this aspect is with him in a state of exile and captivity.26Pnimiyut is the innermost point; the essence. (See Addendum, ibid., s.v. Pnimiyut) Intellect and emotion are external to soul; they are its expression and manifestation. Chochmah, a state of nascence rather than an external entity, is as close to essence of soul as is attainable. Its revelation is the expression of the soul’s essence and is naturally uncommon. As the text explains, it is in a “state of exile,” the spark of Divinity within it prevented from manifesting itself, remaining more potential than effective in ordering actual life. And this is actually the state of the exile of the Shechinah, for this precisely is the aspect of the spark of Divinity that is in his divine soul. The cause of the exile is as our Sages, of blessed memory, said:27Megillah 29a. “They were exiled to Babylon, and the Shechinah went with them”; i.e., (man) has vested the aspect of the innermost point of his heart in the corresponding opposite,28I.e., in the corresponding opposite of the love and worship of G–d. namely in the soiled garments of mundane matters and worldly desires, which are referred to as “Babylon,”29Cf. Likkutei Amarim, Part I, ch. 17, with respect to Edom. and is the aspect of the prepuce that covers the covenant and the innermost point of the heart. Of this it was said:30Deuteronomy 10:16. (“Excise” in Hebrew is the same term used for “circumcise.”) “And you shall excise the prepuce of your heart.”

Now, in circumcision there are two grades: milah31Excision. and periah,32Uncovering (as in Numbers 5:18; see Ibn Ezra, ad loc.). which (apply respectively to) the coarse prepuce and the thin membrane. With respect to the prepuce of the heart there are likewise coarse and delicate desires. These require milah and periah, and “having circumcised and not having uncovered is tantamount to not having circumcised,”33Shabbat 137b. because, after all, the innermost point of the heart is still covered in a garment of thin sackcloth: in a state of exile and captivity.34See Pardes Rimonim 23:17, s.v. Periah.

Now, concerning the excision of the prepuce itself it is written: “And you shall excise the prepuce of your heart,” i.e., you, by yourselves. But the removal of the thin membrane is a difficult matter for man, and of this it was said that with the coming of the Messiah “the L–rd, your G–d, will circumcise your heart…to love the L–rd your G–d with all your heart and all your soul, for the sake of your life,”35Deuteronomy 30:6. See the commentary of Nachmanides, ad loc. i.e., because the L–rd alone is literally your whole life.36This unique interpretation may be better understood by quoting a passage from Kuntres Hahitpaalut, by the author’s son, R. Dov Ber of Lubavitch, where this oft-quoted principle is elucidated: “It is written (Deuteronomy 30:20): ‘to love the L–rd your G–d, for He is your life.’ (The verse uses the masculine term for ‘He’—הוא, translit.: Hu.) It is impossible to explain that ‘for Hu is your life’ refers to ‘to love the L–rd’—i.e., that this love is your life. For if so, it would have to say ‘for היא (translit.: He, the feminine gender, since the Hebrew for love—ahavah—is a feminine word)…. Why then does it say ‘for Hu…’? No doubt that the meaning of this passage is intelligible to all, that is, that ‘for Hu is your life’ is a reason given: why should you love (the L–rd)? Because ‘He is your life.’” (Beginning of Kuntres Hahitpaalut; see also Iggeret Hateshuvah, ch. 9.) That is why this love37The love spoken of in the verse quoted, which follows after the Divine excision of the heart’s thin membrane. stems from the depth of the heart, from the truly innermost point, as mentioned above, and transcends the faculty of daat.

Therefore, too, the Messiah will come when generally “unexpected38Hessech Hadaat, lit., removal (or lack) of daat. The interpretation here is that the lack of daat comes through a transcendence of daat rather than the conventional inference of forgetfulness. by Israel,”39Sanhedrin 97a. which is the manifestation of the general innermost point, and the emergence of the general Shechinah from the exile and captivity forever more. Similarly, every individual spark of the Shechinah, inherent in the soul of every one of Israel, emerges for the moment from the exile and captivity during the “momentary life—meaning prayer,”40Prayer is termed “momentary life” because it deals with requests for momentary needs (of the momentary life on earth) in opposition to the study of Torah (eternal life), the benefit of which is not for the moment only but for eternity. (Shabbat 10a, see comment by Rashi and Maharsha, ad loc., though see Kuntres Acharon, Essay 4.) and the service of the heart from the depth of the heart, (i.e.,) from the aspect of the innermost point [which becomes revealed from the prepuce and soars upward to cleave unto Him with a fierce passion, in a mode of “for the sake of your life”].

And this, too, is considered a state of hessech daat41Absentmindedness; see above, note 38. of man. For that rank42The revelation of this innermost spark, the Shechinah residing within man in concealment. transcends the daat of man and his contemplation on the greatness of the L–rd; it is, though, a sort of gift given by the L–rd from Heaven from the radiation of the [aspect of the] Supreme Countenance, as it is written:43Numbers 6:25; see above, note 9. “May the L–rd make His Countenance shine upon you,” and as it is written:44Deuteronomy 30:6. “And the L–rd, your G–d, will circumcise….”

But it is well known that an arousal from above comes only in response to an arousal from below,45“Arousal—(or: stimulation, initiative)—from below” refers to an act undertaken by man, a human effort, while “arousal from above” refers to the Divine efflux, issuing from Above. Generally, to elicit this Heavenly effusion one needs to “arouse” it. This is done by an appropriate, benevolent act on earth. Cf. Zohar I:77b, 86b, 88a; III:110b; et passim. See also below, notes 46 and 47, and below, Epistle 5, notes 83-90 (and the text to which these notes apply). in the mode of an elevation of mayin nukvin,46Feminine waters.—See Zohar I:29b: “The earth is fed from the waters of the heaven, and its waters are poured into it. However, these waters are masculine, and the nether ones are feminine; and the nether ones are fed from the masculine ones. The nether waters call to the upper, like a female that receives the male…,” see there and ibid. 60b. The essentially Lurianic concept of the elevation of the feminine waters (mayin nukvin) is the “arousal from below” (see previous note), which consequently elicits the masculine waters (mayin duchrin)—the “arousal from above,” to issue and effuse netherward, “to feed, and be received by, the category of the feminine.” See Etz Chaim 39:1 ff. and Likkutei Amarim, Part I, end of ch. 10 and end of ch. 53. as our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “No drop (of rain) descends from above….”47“…without two corresponding drops first ascending from below.”—Zohar III:247b; Bereishit Rabbah 13:13. It is, therefore, necessary that man perform first the milah by himself, to remove the prepuce of the heart and the coarse and thin husks which clothe and cover the innermost point of the heart [i.e., the aspect of the love of the L–rd in a mode of “for the sake of your life,” which is in exile among the desires of this world, which are also in a mode of “for the sake of your life” by way of “the one corresponding to the other,”48Ecclesiastes 7:14. See above, Epistle 2, note 16. as mentioned above].

And this is done by the giving of charity to G–d from his money which is his vitality, especially with him whose substance is limited and who is very hard-pressed at the time, for he gives of his very life;49See Likkutei Amarim, Part I, ch. 37. and more specifically, when he earns by the toil of his hands. For it is not possible that one does not work oftentimes in a mode of “the innermost point of the heart,” i.e., from the depth of the heart, as is the way of the world in their occupations with business and the like.

Thus, now, at the time that he disburses the fruits of his toil and gives unto the L–rd with joy and gladness, he, thereby, redeems his soul from the pit.50Par. Job 33:28. That is, (he redeems) the innermost point of his heart which was in a state of exile and captivity within the coarse or thin husk (kelipah), as it is written: “Guard your heart from every mishmar”51Proverbs 4:23.—the meaning of mishmar being a prison.52See Rashi on Genesis 42:17. Thus, now, through this charity, it was redeemed from the chitzonim.53The forces of evil; see above, Epistle 3, note 28. This is also periah, a notion of “removing a debt,”54Cf. Mishnah, Bava Batra 10:7, Shevuot 7:7; Bava Batra 174a; etc. for he had become indebted and subjected to the chitzonim that ruled in him over the innermost point of his heart. And this is the meaning of “and her captives (shaveha),55The word שביה may be traced to the root שוב, to return (thus reading: her repatriates), or to the root שבה to capture (thus reading: her captives). through tzedakah.”

And this is the meaning of Tzedek shall go (yehalech) before Him (lefanav): Lefanav is of the etymon of pnimiyut, and yehalech has a connotation of holacha56The active form of the causative stem of the verb הלך. (leading). For it57Tzedek—righteousness; charity. Psalms 85:14 is now interpreted to read: charity leads the pnimiyut of the heart to G–d. leads the innermost (point) of the heart to G–d, and then “it sets his steps toward the way of G–d,”58Psalms 85:14 (conclusion of “tzedek lefanav yehalech”). as it is written: “And you shall walk in His ways”;59Deuteronomy 28:9. “You shall go after the L–rd your G–d,”60Ibid. 13:5.—with every performance of the commandments, and the study of Torah, which is equivalent to them all.61Peah 1:1. For they all ascend to G–d through the inwardness of the heart with greater uplifting, and exceedingly surpassing, their ascent to G–d through the externality of the heart62Cf. Zohar II:210b. [which is born of contemplation and knowledge alone, without an “illumination of the face”63Heorat Panim, in Hebrew. from above, but in a state of “concealment of the face”64Hester Panim, in Hebrew.]. For the Supernal panim does not radiate downward except through an arousal from below, through the act of charity, which is called “peace.”65Tosefta, Peah, end of ch. 4; Bava Batra 10a. And this is the meaning of what is written: “He has redeemed my soul in peace,”66Psalms 55:19. Or: “through peace.” stating expressly “my soul.”67I.e., the pnimiyut, the innermost point.

This is also the reason why charity is called “peace” (shalom), because according to the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory,65Tosefta, Peah, end of ch. 4; Bava Batra 10a. peace is made between Israel and their Father in Heaven through the redemption of their souls [which are truly a part of G–d] from the hands of the chitzonim. This is especially the case with charity for the Land of Israel, for it is truly the charity of the L–rd,68See below, Epistle 17. as it is written: “The eyes of the L–rd your G–d are constantly upon it”;69Deuteronomy 11:12. “And My eyes and My heart will be there at all times.”70I Kings 9:3.

And it71This charity. has stood by us to redeem the life of our soul from the counsel of those who intend to repel our steps, and it will stand by us forever to establish our soul in the true life of the Fountainhead of life,72Lit., the Life of life; cf. Yoma 71a; Tikkunei Zohar 19 (41b) and 69 (115a); and see below, end of Epistle 22a. to be enlightened with the light of life73Par. Job 33:30; cf. Psalms 56:14. which the L–rd “will make His Countenance shine upon us forever,”74Psalms 67:2; cf. above, end of Epistle 3. amen—may this be (His) will.