Now, these emotive attributes—those involved in imparting enlightenment, and the like—are the external aspects of the soul.
וְהִנֵּה, מִדּוֹת אֵלּוּ הֵן בְּחִינוֹת חִיצוֹנִיּוֹת שֶׁבַּנֶּפֶשׁ,
Within them are vested the inner attributes, which bring about the external attributes involved in the actual imparting of knowledge,
וּבְתוֹכָן מְלוּבָּשׁוֹת מִדּוֹת פְּנִימִיּוֹת,
i.e., the faculties of love and awe, and so on.
שֶׁהֵן בְּחִינוֹת אַהֲבָה וְיִרְאָה כוּ'.
This may be compared to the case of a father who bestows enlightenment upon his son because of his love for him,
דְּהַיְינוּ, עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, בָּאָב הַמַּשְׁפִּיעַ לִבְנוֹ מֵחֲמַת אַהֲבָתוֹ,
and withholds his influence because of his dread and fear lest [his son] come to some downfall, heaven forfend.
וּמוֹנֵעַ הַשְׁפָּעָתוֹ מִפַּחְדּוֹ וְיִרְאָתוֹ, שֶׁלֹּא יָבֹא לִידֵי מִכְשׁוֹל, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם.
The father’s fear and dread are thus the internal aspect of his gevurah, the attribute that completely or partially withholds the flow of instruction.
The remaining emotive attributes are all offshoots of love and fear (as explained in Part I, ch. 3, above), and accordingly, they too possess internal and external aspects.
Having dealt with the middot, the seven emotive attributes of the soul, the Alter Rebbe now proceeds to discuss the intellective attributes which give birth to them.
The source and root of these internal and external emotive attributes,
וּמְקוֹר וְשֹׁרֶשׁ מִדּוֹת אֵלּוּ, הַפְּנִימִיּוֹת וְהַחִיצוֹנִיּוֹת,
is the ChaBaD—an acronym for the intellectual faculties of chochmah, binah, and daat—of one’s soul,
הוּא מֵחָכְמָה־בִּינָה־דַּעַת שֶׁבְּנַפְשׁוֹ,
for a person’s emotive traits are in proportion to his intellect.
כִּי לְפִי שֵׂכֶל הָאָדָם – כָּךְ הֵן מִדּוֹתָיו,
This is empirically evident; with a child, for example, whose ChaBaD are in a state of pettiness, all his emotive traits, too, relate to insignificant things, and as he matures in age and understanding, his emotive traits correspondingly aspire to worthier goals.
כַּנִּרְאֶה בְּחוּשׁ, שֶׁהַקָּטָן, שֶׁהַחָכְמָה־בִּינָה־דַּעַת שֶׁלּוֹ הֵן בִּבְחִינַת קַטְנוּת – כָּךְ כָּל מִדּוֹתָיו הֵן בִּדְבָרִים קְטַנֵּי הָעֵרֶךְ.
With adults, too, the emotive traits develop in proportion to the intellect, for “According to his intelligence is a man praised.”48
וְגַם בִּגְדוֹלִים "לְפִי שִׂכְלוֹ יְהוּלַּל אִישׁ",
Since the term “man” (איש) is an appelative for the emotive traits (cf. the verse, “As is a man, so is his gevurah”49), the previously quoted verse is teaching us that a person’s emotive traits are praiseworthy in proportion to the stature of his ChaBaD.
For the extent of his love and kindness corresponds to the extent of his wisdom,
כִּי לְפִי רוֹב חָכְמָתוֹ – כָּךְ הוּא רוֹב אַהֲבָתוֹ וְחַסְדּוֹ.
and all his other internal and external traits likewise have their source in his ChaBaD.
וְכֵן שְׁאָר כָּל מִדּוֹתָיו פְּנִימִיּוֹת וְחִיצוֹנִיּוֹת, מְקוֹרָן הוּא מֵחָכְמָה־בִּינָה־דַּעַת שֶׁבּוֹ.
Most important to the development of the spiritual emotions is one’s daat, which derives from one’s chochmah and binah.
וְהָעִיקָּר – הוּא הַדַּעַת שֶׁבּוֹ, הַנִּמְשָׁךְ מִבְּחִינַת הַחָכְמָה וּבִינָה שֶׁבּוֹ,
A thinker first grasps the essence of a concept through the seminal flash of illumination afforded by his faculty of chochmah; he next understands it fully by means of the analysis and amplification which are the function of his faculty of binah; ultimately, he must immerse himself in concentration on the concept, binding and unifying himself with it to the point that—beyond mere intellective comprehension—he also senses and experiences it with his faculty of daat.
It is this faculty that is critical to the development of his middot, such as the spiritual emotions of love and awe of G-d, for daat provides them with their substance and vitality, as explained in Part I, ch. 3.
This is readily observable, for the differences between the emotive traits of various people corresponds to the differences in their respective degrees of daat.
כַּנִּרְאֶה בְּחוּשׁ, כִּי לְפִי שִׁינּוּי דֵּעוֹת בְּנֵי אָדָם זֶה מִזֶּה כָּךְ הוּא שִׁינּוּי מִדּוֹתֵיהֶם.
The internal aspect of the attribute involved is love, and its external aspect is kindness.