Now, all this—the abovementioned effect of the emotive traits upon the resultant teaching or influence—is only by way of allegory and does not provide a completely true picture of the sefirot as they exist within man’s soul,
וְהִנֵּה, כָּל זֶה הוּא רַק עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל לְבַד,
for all this applies to the rational soul, which is the lower one in man, and derives from kelipat nogah.
כִּי כָּל זֶה הוּא בַּנֶּפֶשׁ הַשִּׂכְלִית הַתַּחְתּוֹנָה שֶׁבָּאָדָם, הַבָּאָה מִקְּלִיפַּת נוֹגַהּ.
But in true fact, with regard to [the sefirot in] the higher, Divine soul, which is a “part of G-d above,”50
אַךְ בֶּאֱמֶת לַאֲמִיתּוֹ, בַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָעֶלְיוֹנָה הָאֱלֹהִית, שֶׁהִיא "חֵלֶק אֱלוֹהַּ מִמַּעַל",
all the internal and external attributes are [directed] to G-d alone: the Divine soul is concerned with spiritual things alone so that both its (internal) love and (external) chesed are concentrated purely on G-dliness.
כָּל הַמִּדּוֹת, פְּנִימִיּוֹת וְחִיצוֹנִיּוֹת, הֵן לַה' לְבַדּוֹ.
For because of one’s love of G-d and because of one’s great desire to cleave unto Him,
כִּי מֵחֲמַת אַהֲבַת ה' וּמֵרוֹב חֶפְצוֹ לְדָבְקָה בוֹ,
he desires with all his being [to practice] chesed in order to cleave to His attributes.
הוּא חָפֵץ חֶסֶד כְּדֵי לִידָּבֵק בְּמִדּוֹתָיו,
This accords with the teaching of our Sages, of blessed memory, on the verse, “And to cleave unto Him”51: “Cleave unto His attributes.”52
כְּמַאֲמַר רַבּוֹתֵינוּ־זִכְרוֹנָם־לִבְרָכָה עַל פָּסוּק "וּלְדָבְקָה בוֹ": "הִדָּבֵק בְּמִדּוֹתָיו".
Just as G-d is compassionate, so should mortal man be compassionate; just as G-d has an innate desire to practice kindness, so should a person’s inner desire to practice kindness be motivated by a desire to cleave to G-d.
As to the attribute of chesed, then, both its internal aspect (love) and its external aspect (kindness) are directed purely to G-dly things.
It is likewise with the attribute of gevurah, whose internal aspect is fear; it, too, is experienced only for G-dly causes:
וְכֵן בְּמִדַּת הַגְּבוּרָה –
for example, to punish and chastise the wicked with the punishments of the Torah,
לְהִפָּרַע מִן הָרְשָׁעִים וּלְעָנְשָׁם בְּעוֹנְשֵׁי הַתּוֹרָה,
and also to prevail over one’s [evil] inclination and to sanctify himself in that which is permitted to him,53
וְכֵן, לְהִתְגַּבֵּר עַל יִצְרוֹ וּלְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת עַצְמוֹ בַּמּוּתָּר לוֹ,
and to put up a fence and a hedge around the Torah,54
וְלַעֲשׂוֹת גָּדֵר וּסְיָיג לַתּוֹרָה,
because of the dread and fear of G-d, lest he might come to sin, heaven forfend.
מִפְּנֵי פַּחַד ה' וְיִרְאָתוֹ, פֶּן יָבֹא לִידֵי חֵטְא חַס וְשָׁלוֹם.
In order to ensure that he will not come to sin, a person may thus choose to sanctify himself and refrain from “one hundred portals of the permissible so as not to transgress in one portal of the prohibited.”55
To summarize the above conclusions regarding the first two of the seven middot, or spiritual emotions: Not only is a man’s attribute of chesed directed to G-dly matters, but so, too, is his attribute of gevurah—both in its internal aspect, viz., the fear of G-d, and in its external manifestations in his rigorous observance of the Torah and its mitzvot.
Likewise, by exercising the attribute of tiferet (lit., “beauty”), [a man seeks] to glorify G-d and His Torah in all ways possible, such as by possessing a beautiful sefer Torah, beautiful tefillin, and the like,
וְכֵן לְפָאֵר אֶת ה' וְתוֹרָתוֹ בְּכָל מִינֵי פְּאֵר,
and to cleave to His praises [by praising G-d] with all the faculties of his soul:
וּלְדָבְקָה בִּשְׁבָחָיו בְּכָל בְּחִינוֹת נַפְשׁוֹ,
that is, by intellectual and thoughtful meditation on the greatness of G-d, which blossoms into the singing of His praises,
דְּהַיְינוּ בְּהִתְבּוֹנְנוּת שִׂכְלוֹ וּמַחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ,
and likewise, when he speaks, his praises are not empty words but grow out of his preparatory meditation.
גַּם בְּדִיבּוּרוֹ.
“[Praising G-d] with all the faculties of his soul” thus means that the worshipper utilizes his intellect and emotions as well as all three “garments” of his soul (i.e., the soul’s media of self-expression), viz., thought, speech, and action (for speech constitutes mini-action56). Alternatively, “[praising G-d] with all the faculties of his soul” may mean: all those aspects of the soul that relate to praise, i.e., intellect, thought, and speech.
Likewise, by exercising the attribute of netzach, [a man seeks] to prevail triumphantly against anything that would restrain [him] from the service of G-d and from cleaving unto Him,
וְכֵן לַעֲמוֹד בְּנִצָּחוֹן נֶגֶד כָּל מוֹנֵעַ מֵעֲבוֹדַת ה' וּמִלְּדָבְקָה בוֹ,
and against anything that would restrain [the state of revelation in which]57 the entire earth is filled with the glory of G-d,
וְנֶגֶד כָּל מוֹנֵעַ מִלִּהְיוֹת כְּבוֹד ה' מָלֵא אֶת כָּל הָאָרֶץ,
like the wars for G-d fought by King David, peace to him, which derived from his attribute of netzach.
כְּמִלְחֲמוֹת ה' אֲשֶׁר נִלְחַם דָּוִד הַמֶּלֶךְ עָלָיו־הַשָּׁלוֹם.
Likewise, by exercising the attribute of hod,58 which implies self-abnegation, and acknowledging the transcendence of that which defies his mortal understanding, [a man seeks] to prostrate himself and to [self-effacingly] praise G-d,
וְכֵן לְהִשְׁתַּחֲווֹת וּלְהוֹדוֹת לַה',
Who animates and creates everything and before Whom everything is essentially nonexistent and esteemed as truly nothing and null.
אֲשֶׁר מְחַיֶּה וּמְהַוֶּה אֶת הַכֹּל, וְהַכֹּל בָּטֵל בִּמְצִיאוּת אֶצְלוֹ, וְכוּלָּא קַמֵּיהּ כְּלָא חֲשִׁיב, וּכְאַיִן וָאֶפֶס מַמָּשׁ.
Though we cannot apprehend just how everything is truly as null before Him,
וְאַף שֶׁאֵין אָנוּ מַשִּׂיגִים אֵיךְ הוּא הַכֹּל אֶפֶס מַמָּשׁ קַמֵּיהּ,
nevertheless, we acknowledge and genuinely concede that in absolute truth, such is the case.
אַף־עַל־פִּי־כֵן, מוֹדִים אֲנַחְנוּ בְּהוֹדָאָה אֲמִיתִּית שֶׁכֵּן הוּא בֶּאֱמֶת לַאֲמִיתּוֹ.
From the very depths of his soul, the Jew acknowledges that G-d’s “supernal daat” and knowledge that everything is essentially nonexistent before Him is true and that the mortal understanding of our “inferior daat”—that creation does indeed exist, except that it is nullified to Him—results from the limited compass of our earthbound perspective.59 This acknowledgment results from the self-abnegation expressed by the attribute of hod.
This [attribute] also includes the expression of gratitude60 to G-d for all the favors that He has bestowed upon us,
וּבִכְלָל זֶה גַּם כֵּן, לְהוֹדוֹת לַה' עַל כָּל הַטּוֹבוֹת אֲשֶׁר גְּמָלָנוּ,
so that [we] should not be ungrateful, G-d forbid.
וְלֹא לִהְיוֹת כְּפוּי טוֹבָה חַס וְשָׁלוֹם.
This [attribute of hod] also includes the offering of thanks to G-d for all His praiseworthy [deeds], and His attributes and His workings in the emanation and creation of the upper and lower worlds,
וּבִכְלָל זֶה, לְהוֹדוֹת עַל כָּל שְׁבָחָיו וּמִדּוֹתָיו וּפְעוּלּוֹתָיו בַּאֲצִילוּת וּבְרִיאַת עֶלְיוֹנִים וְתַחְתּוֹנִים,
for they are praiseworthy to no end,61
שֶׁהֵם מְשׁוּבָּחִים עַד אֵין תַּכְלִית [נוסח אחר: חֵקֶר],
and are becoming and befitting Him, blessed and exalted be He.
וְנָאִים וּרְאוּיִם אֵלָיו יִתְבָּרֵךְ וְיִתְעַלֶּה,
The term [hod is here to be understood] as in the phrase hod vehadar (“majesty and splendor”62).
וְהוּא מִלְּשׁוֹן "הוֹד וְהָדָר".
And likewise [engaged in one’s Divine service is] the attribute of [yesod (lit., “foundation”), as in the phrase], “The tzaddik is the foundation of the world,”63
וְכֵן בְּמִדַּת "צַדִּיק יְסוֹד עוֹלָם",
In the above analogy, it was by means of the attribute of yesod that the father communicated with his son and disciple through bonds of desire and pleasure. So, too, in the realm of Divine service, the attribute of yesod involves cleaving to G-d with intense desire and pleasure,
so that one’s soul is bound up with G-d, the Fountainhead of Life,
לִהְיוֹת נַפְשׁוֹ קְשׁוּרָה בַּה' חַיֵּי הַחַיִּים,
cleaving to Him with an attachment and a desire, out of a wondrous love and delight, all of which are expressions of the attribute of yesod.
וּלְדָבְקָה בוֹ בִּדְבִיקָה וַחֲשִׁיקָה, בְּחֵשֶׁק וְתַעֲנוּג נִפְלָא.
And as for the [Divine soul’s] attribute of malchut, [the worshipper seeks thereby] to accept upon himself the yoke of G-d’s sovereignty and of His service,
וּבְמִדַּת מַלְכוּת, לְקַבֵּל עָלָיו עוֹל מַלְכוּתוֹ וַעֲבוֹדָתוֹ
like the service of any servant to his master, i.e., out of awe and fear.
כַּעֲבוֹדַת כָּל עֶבֶד לַאֲדוֹנוֹ בְּאֵימָה וּבְיִרְאָה.
This “lower soul” naturally inclines to “lower” (i.e., corporeal) matters so that even its intellect goes only as far as understanding the composition, and so on, of mundane things. For although the kelipah, which is the source of this soul, is kelipat nogah, a kelipah whose darkness is relieved by a ray of good, nevertheless, it is wholly bound up with mundanity.