Mitzvas Tzitzis (Part 2)

This is the meaning of the expression Gan Eden (“the Garden of Eden”).

As our Sages say (Berachos 34b): “Is the garden synonymous with Eden? It is written (Bereishis 2:10): ‘A river flows out of Eden to irrigate the garden,’ ”indicating that Eden is one entity and the garden another.

The garden refers to the revelation of G‑dliness through comprehension.

What does one – i.e., a soul as it exists in Gan Eden –comprehend? The attribute of Chochmah that is called Eden,

because of the pleasure that shines forth and is enclothed within it, for the term eden is also identified with pleasure.

To cite a parallel that reflects the interrelation of Chochmah and pleasure on the earthly plane:

When a person conceives of a new concept, he brims over with pleasure.

By contrast, the World to Come, which refers to the Resurrection of the Dead,

is the reward for the observance of mitzvos.

This reward involves the revelation of the source of pleasure.

For the mitzvos are His will,

and in them is enclothed the essence of pleasure that transcends the radiance of pleasure manifest in the wisdom of the Torah.

This is reflected in the statement made with regard to mitzvos (Rashi, Zevachim 46b, s.v. hanachas): “I derive satisfaction from the fact that I spoke and My will was carried out.”

Since the will for the mitzvos and the pleasure invested in it is truly sublime,

it can descend and enclothe itself in lower levels

to the extent that the body will derive pleasure from it.

The pleasure in Gan Eden, on the other hand, is not that sublime in nature.

Hence, it cannot lower itself to be revealed on such a low level.

Instead, it is revealed only to souls as they exist without bodies.

The motivation for this descent comes about because: “The beginning is invested in the end,”1i.e., the power of the highest levels is manifest in the lowest levels.

To use the wording of the kabbalists: this is the concept of the ray of Kesser whose light extends beyond the level of Chochmah, i.e., descending to lower levels.

In another source, this is explained with an analogy: that the warmth of the sun reaches the third level of the atmosphere – which is closer to the earth –

to a far greater degree than the middle level which is above it.

See the elaboration in that source.

Having made these three prefaces,

before clarifying to you the concept of tzitzis,

I will mention the explanation of one concept in the Torah that can be elucidated clearly on the basis of the prefaces mentioned above:3

i.e., the significance of the name Yisrael (ישראל, Israel) by which we the Jewish people are called.

The Zohar4rearranges the letters of that name to form the wordsלי ראש, “a head for Me,”

i.e., G‑d considers the Jewish people as His head.

On the surface, this is an astonishing statement.

To explain: The head contains the skull and the brain lodged within it

and the skull covers the brain.

In a spiritual sense, the analogue is the Sublime Will which covers the inner, hidden rationale within the will.

For it is the will alone that is revealed,

as our Sages state (Menachos 29b): “Be silent. This is what arose in My will.”

That inner, hidden dimension of the intellectual attributes is conveyed through the hairs that grow from the brain and emerge through the skull,

for the hairs are hollow and within them is a small amount of nurture from the brain.

In the analogue, i.e., in the downward flow of spiritual energy, this refers to a highly concentrated emanation from the wisdom and hidden rationale that is drawn down through the revelation of the will

so that a minute dimension of the positive quality of the hidden rationale can be comprehended.

This hidden rationale refers to the source of the revelations of Gan Eden,

where the souls derive pleasure from the radiance of the Divine presence and the comprehension of the rationales for the mitzvos that are understood to a certain degree,

through the medium of the hairs, which serve as channels of Divine energy, as explained above.

Nevertheless, in contrast to the satisfaction derived in Gan Eden, which is only a ray,

Through the observance of mitzvos, by contrast, the Jews draw down the revelation of the hidden rationale and the Sublime Will itself,

in which shines the essence of the simple pleasure

which at present can be revealed only in an encompassing manner.

Therefore the Jewish people are called “a head for Me,”

for they draw down the revelation of the Sublime Head, Skull, and Brain.

This is the mystic intent of our Sages’ statement (Berachos 3a): “When the Jewish people say: Amen, yehei shmei rabba mevarech..., the Holy One, blessed be He, nods His head....”

“Nodding His head” alludes to drawing down influence.

This influence, however, is still hidden.

It is only in the Ultimate Future, at the time of the Resurrection of the Dead, may this take place speedily in our days, that this influence will be revealed.

On this basis, we can understand the concept of a tallis and tzitzis.

The tallis is “the garment spread out by the King.”5

By wrapping ourselves in it, we allude to the revelation of this encompassing light through the performance of mitzvos.

The tzitzis are like the hairs or the strands in the above analogy, as is intimated in the verse (Yechezkel 8:3): “And he took me by the hairs (tzitzis) of my head.”

They allude to the breakthrough of a ray from Chochmah and the hidden rationale of the mitzvos

so that this emanation can be drawn down through contractions and thus be comprehended in the worlds of Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah.

Therefore tzitzis are equivalent to all the mitzvos.

For they contain both dimensions: the Torah and the mitzvos,

i.e., G‑d’s will as expressed in the mitzvos

and the rationale for them (the Torah),

which are embodied in the tallis and the tzitzis respectively, as mentioned above.

To explain the concept in a more precise manner:

In the writings of the AriZal, it is stated that the tallis is the encompassing light for Z’eir Anpin

and the tzitzis are the hairs that break through from the intellectual qualities of Abba and Imma of Z’eir Anpin.

The concept that the tallis represents the encompassing light for Z’eir Anpin can be explained as follows:

For Z’eir Anpin represents G‑d’s emotive qualities which shine forth and thus provide life-energy for the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah.

This is alluded to by the verse (Shmos 31:17): “In six days G‑d created heaven and earth.”

The six days, which represent the six Middos of Z’eir Anpin, are the medium with which G‑d made heaven and earth.

For example, on the first day, the Attribute of Kindness shines and grants life to the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah

and encompasses them as explained above in the elucidation of the concept of sovev.

This encompassing light comes from the inward light (or pnimi) of the higher level, which becomes the encompassing light (or makkif) of the lower level.

This light has already undergone contractions and serves as an inward light for the higher level.

Nevertheless, its character is that of an encompassing light.

For the source for all the encompassing lights is the same.

They stem from the great sphere – the true level of sovev – that precedes the kav and the chut.

This ultimate light shines within all the expressions of encompassing light,

even those which spread out spherically from the kav.

To explain: the concept that the tzitzis represent the hairs that break through from the intellectual qualities of Abba and Imma of Z’eir Anpin that shine light to Nukva:

This concept can be understood through the resolution of a question concerning the writings of the AriZal.

In many places in Etz Chayim it is explained that the intellectual qualities of Nukva, i.e., Malchus.

are drawn down from the Sefiros of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod of Z’eir Anpin,

while here, it is stated that the intellectual aspects of Nukva are drawn down through hairs from the intellectual aspects i.e., Abba and Imma of Z’eir Anpin, seemingly, bypassing the lower Sefiros of Z’eir Anpin.

It is, however, explained in another source (see the Aggadic passage beginning:6 “Rabbi Banaah was marking burial caves...”)

that the fundamental concept of transmitting influence through hairs involves the transmission of influence via a great leap, a radical transition, from one entity to another entity that is not at all of the same type as the first.

Accordingly, it is only possible for the lower entity to receive influence through hairs.

This reflects how the influence has undergone severe contractions

and this contracted ray has been enclothed in a coarse and thick garment

– as one might describe an actual hair when compared to the nurture from the excess intellectual influence in its hollow –

in order that it will be able to be accepted by a recipient who is on a lower level.

The transition from Z’eir Anpin to Nukva, by contrast, is relatively close.

Hence, without a radical change, Nukva can receive influence from “the body” of Z’eir Anpin,

that is, from the Sefiros of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod within Z’eir Anpin.

These Sefiros reflect the fundamental being of Z’eir Anpin, like the life-energy of the soul within the limbs.

It is, however, a radical change for the intellectual qualities of Abba and Imma to shine in Nukva, even when they have been enclothed in the intellectual qualities of Z’eir Anpin.

It is therefore impossible for Nukva to receive this influence except through “hairs.”

To explain: Malchus (Nukva) represents “the word of G‑d” and “the spirit of His mouth”

that grants life-energy to the created beings, bringing them into being from nothingness.

The intellectual qualities of Nukva that are drawn down from the Sefiros of Netzach, Hod, and Yesod of Z’eir Anpin can be compared to the quality of Chochmah within the power of speech,

i.e., the understanding of how and what to communicate.

What is drawn down from the intellectual qualities of Abba and Imma to Nukva, by contrast, represents a higher level, the thirty-two paths of wisdom in the Torah.

For the Chochmah of the Torah is much more elevated

than the Chochmah within speech.

The Chochmah of the Torah, by contrast, represents Sublime wisdom, and its source is the Chochmah within Adam Kadmon.

Therefore the Torah is referred to as “the analogy of the Ancient One.”7

As explained above with regard to the concept of 50,000 Jubilee cycles, there are many successive ascents in the comprehension of the Ein Sof.

The highest level that can be called the source for all these ascents, however, reaches only to the level of Chochmah within Adam Kadmon,

for it is the first expression of influence from the chut extending from the great sphere, the sphere of Divine light that precedes the tzimtzum that became hidden through the tzimtzum.

For as is well known, the Ein Sof, which is sovev, becomes enclothed in the framework of existence brought into being by the light which is memale only through the medium of Chochmah.

As explained above, even the ultimate of all these ascents will not reach the essential level of sovev in Ein Sof.

Nevertheless, within the Chochmah of Adam Kadmon

– which represents the beginning of the extension of the light which is memale from the level of sovev –

there is somewhat of a revelation and enclothing of the ray of the Ein Sof which is sovev kol almin,

i.e., transcendent, above all the worlds.

Thus when G‑d descended on Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments were uttered in this world,

there was a revelation of the light which is sovev that is manifest within the inner dimensions of Adam Kadmon,

through G‑d’s first commandment (Shmos 20:2): “I am G‑d your L‑rd.”

There will not be a comparable revelation in all the 50,000 Jubilee cycles.

This revelation is drawn down through Chochmah of Atzilus, and from that level, through Malchus, “the word of G‑d.”

For this reason, i.e., because the influence is being conveyed from a very high level to a very low one, it is only possible to draw down this influence through the medium of hairs.

All of this is alluded to by the passage describing the mitzvah of tzitzis, which includes all of the mitzvos.

On this basis, it is possible to understand the implications of the techeiles and the white strands of the tzitzis.

The white strands reflect influence drawn down through the medium of hairs from a very elevated and lofty source, the level of the Sublime wisdom

whose source is drawn down from the Chochmah that transcends Atzilus.

Concerning this level, it is said (Daniel 7:9): “The hair of His head was like pure wool,” which refers to qualities of unlimited and transcendent simple mercy.

These qualities are not aroused as a result of or chozeir

from the refinement of the sparks of G‑dliness embedded in Creation and originating in His name Ban.

Instead, the excess influence extends outward from the abundant strength of the light of the powers of chassadim (kindness).

Similarly, with regard to tzitzis, it was explained above

that the white strands receive that hue because of the light of the attributes of kindness

which are revealed from the chest of Z’eir Anpin, which is their source, as is well known.

The threads dyed techeiles, by contrast, represent the powers of gevuros (might).

For as is well known, a fire is a composite of two flames, a white flame and a blue flame.

The white flame reflects the essential color of fire.

The blue flame, by contrast, is located next to the wick.

In this instance, the color of the fire is changed because of the inclusion of another entity, the wick, within it.

Similarly, in the analogue, i.e., the bittul of the created beings to G‑d, there are two levels:

a) the essence of the bittul of G‑d’s name Mah, which reflects how “there is nothing else aside from Him.”9

This is manifest in Atzilus, “the world of oneness,” where “He is one with His keilim.” This corresponds to the white flame.

b) the bittul expressed in the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah which feel themselves as separate entities.

Their bittul is thus bittul hayesh.

This corresponds to the blue flame. The achievement of such bittul is the mystic secret of techeiles. The techeiles alludes to such a process of bittul.

On this basis, we can understand the Spies’ description of Eretz Yisrael (Bamidbar 13:32)10 as “a land that consumes its inhabitants.”

Eretz Yisrael refers to Malchus, the source of the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah.

In it, the created beings become consumed and lose their identities.

In truth, however, “the Spies were liars” (Sotah 35a).

For this bittul is the true life-energy of the created beings

and does not represent the nullification of their existence, Heaven forbid,

as the Zohar comments12 on the verse (Devarim 4:4): “And you who cling to G‑d your L‑rd are all alive today.”

And it is written (Mishlei 10:27): “The fear of G‑d will increase one’s days.”

Similarly, the Maggid of Mezritch explains13 that the angels live longer than the souls enclothed in bodies

because the angels manifest a greater measure of fear.

Thus, in truth, their bittul maintains their existence.

Nevertheless, it is also true that the name techeiles was given because the techeiles “consumes and destroys” all of those who rebel and transgress against G‑d,

as it is written (Bamidbar 10:35): “Arise, G‑d, and Your enemies will be dispersed; Your foes will flee before You.”

For the techeiles refers to the revelation of G‑dliness through the quality of Gevurah that is characterized by contractions (tzimtzumim).

This is the mystic secret of techeiles which is drawn down from the Attribute of Gevurah of Abba,

for it is identified with the qualities of might and contraction which spread the illumination of G‑d’s light even to a separate entity.

This relates to the mystic secret implied by our Sages’ statement (Menachos 43b): “Techeiles resembles the sea and the sea resembles the sky.”

These all refer to the encompassing light, i.e., the magnificence of the Attribute of Malchus.

Through the Divine service described above, “the land is very, very good”15 for those who accept the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven through the Attribute of Awe (Yirah).

Requiring explanation is also the connection of the above to the explanation of the verses of the Torah: “And you shall see it, and remember…”

and also the repetition of the phrase: “I am G‑d,”16

and our Sages’ statement that a garment that is made entirely of techeiles requires tzitzis.17