In the previous chapter, the Rebbe Rashab explained that there are two approaches to division: one that leads to strife and separation and a second that makes possible a comprehensive state of unity.
He develops this concept further in the chapter that follows, introducing the fundamental theme of the maamar: that difference need not lead to division among people and that a community can attain true oneness when each of its members develops his potential and simultaneously recognizes the need to bond with others.
וּבֵאוּר הָעִנְיָן הוּא,
To clarify further the concept of division which brings about unity mentioned in the previous chapter:
דְּהִנֵּה בְּכָל דָּבָר יֵשׁ בּוֹ בְּהֶעְלֵם דָּבָר וְהִפּוּכוֹ,
Concealed within every entity is its antithesis;
גַּם הַכֹּחוֹת הָעַצְמִיִּים,
This is true, even ofthe soul’s essential powers;
In Chassidus, the term atzmi (pl. atzmi’im), translated as “essential,” is often used in a general sense to refer to levels of the soul – or G‑dly light – that are not specific in nature, but rather refer to those powers or light as they are subsumed in their source to the extent that their individual identity is not felt. In the context of this maamar, the term “essential powers” refers to the original potential for the powers of our souls as they exist in a preconscious state. The Rebbe Rashab is emphasizing that the interrelation of the soul’s powers with each other does not apply only on a conscious level, but even as they exist in their very source
יֵשׁ בְּכָל אֶחָד מֵהֶם הַהִתְכַּלְלוּת מֵהַכֹּחַ הַהָפְכִּי.
each of which has its antithesis incorporated within it.
Here, the Rebbe Rashab is speaking about a level on which the powers of the soul — although they are in a preconscious state — have begun to assume an individual identity. Even so, incorporated within each power is its antithesis.
וְהַיְנוּ מִצַּד הָעַצְמוּת
This is so by virtue of the soul’s essence,
שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה גַּם מֵהַכֹּחוֹת עַצְמִיִּים,
which transcends even its essential powers
דִּבְהָעַצְמוּת יֶשְׁנָם כֻּלָּם בִּבְחִינַת הִתְכַּלְלוּת מַמָּשׁ.
and contains all of them in perfect synthesis.
The Rebbe Rashab is referring to a concept explained in detail in other sources of Chassidus:1 The essence of the soul is a simple, singular entity, above all identification with specific powers or qualities. Every person has a fundamental “I” that cannot be quantified or described in any manner or form. It is a spark of G‑dliness and, like G‑d, is unlimited, uncompounded, and undefined. However, as a person functions in his everyday life, he uses various powers, such as intellect and emotion. The relationship between these powers and the essence of the soul requires detailed explanation. On one hand, these powers are very different from the essence of the soul. They have a specific identity and definition, each related to the function it performs. On the other hand, it cannot be said that their source is outside the essence of the soul. Were that to be true, it would be difficult to understand how they became implanted within the soul.
Accordingly,2 Chassidus explains that, within the essence of the soul, there exist all the different potentials and powers that are later revealed. However, they exist as potentials rather than distinct entities. Indeed, the use of the term potential has to be clarified because a potential does in fact exist, though it has not become actual. Chassidus explains this via the analogy of fire within a coal. Although the fire is not evident or visible, it exists as a separate entity distinct from the coal. Thus, the analogy is not an entirely appropriate description of the manner in which our different powers exist in the essence of the soul, for the essence of the soul is, as stated above, utterly simple, uncompounded, and undefined. Were the powers of the soul to exist within its essence as distinct potentials, it would be a compounded entity. However, the fact that later the soul exhibits these powers compels us to say that they exist within its essence in some manner, abstract and rarefied as that level of existence is.
וּכְמוֹ עֶצֶם הַנֶּפֶשׁ שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה גַּם מֵהַכֹּחוֹת עַצְמִיִּים הַכְּלוּלִים בּוֹ,
The essence of the soul transcends even the essential powers contained within it,
הֲרֵי הוּא נוֹשֵׂא בְּעַצְמוֹ כָּל הַכֹּחוֹת,
and yet bears them all. The Rebbe Rashab uses the term “bear” to refer to the manner in which the essence of the soul contains the possibility — yecholes is the term used in Chassidus — for the different powers to later emerge and to exist in the abstract and rarefied manner described above.
דְּשָׁם הֵם בִּבְחִינַת הִתְכַּלְלוּת מַמָּשׁ,
Within the essence of the soul, the powers coalesce in total unity,
שֶׁהֲרֵי אֵין שָׁם כֹּחוֹת פְּרָטִים כְּלָל,
for, on that rung, no separate, particular powers exist,
אַף לֹא כְּמוֹ הַכֹּחוֹת הָעַצְמִיִּים
not even in a state of essential powers, above the possibility for conscious expression.
(שֶׁהֵם בִּלְתִּי מְצִיאוּת נִכֶּרֶת,
(As the powers emerge from the soul’s essence, in their initial, preliminary state of emanation, the soul's powers cannot be said to exist as discernible entities.
וּמִכָּל מָקוֹם הֵם בִּבְחִינַת כֹּחוֹת כוּ',)
Nonetheless, in potentia, they still exist as powers, as indicated by the term essential powers.)
גַּם זֶה אֵינוֹ שַׁיָּךְ לוֹמַר שָׁם,
Even this cannot be said regarding the existence of the powers within the essence of the soul. As mentioned, it is inappropriate to speak of any distinct potential existing within the essence of the soul.
וּמִכָּל מָקוֹם בְּהֶכְרַח לוֹמַר שֶׁהוּא נוֹשֵׂא כָּל הַכֹּחוֹת,
Nevertheless, it is a logical imperative that the essenceincludes the possibility for all the powers within itself,
שֶׁהֲרֵי מִמֶּנּוּ נִמְצָאִים כָּל הַכֹּחוֹת כוּ'.
for all the powers do emanate from it. Thus, if they emanate from the essence of the soul, at the very least, a potential — abstract and rarefied as it may be — for them must exist within the essence.
The Rebbe Rashab is describing — in very concentrated wording — two levels of the soul which Chassidus describes at length in other sources:3 nefesh noseh kochos, “the soul bears its powers,” and kochos haklulim benefesh, “the powers are included in the soul.”
The level described as nefesh noseh kochos relates to the essence of the soul. On this lofty and abstract level, the powers of the soul are totally at one, both with the essence of the soul and with each other. It is not only that since their individual identities are not defined, they are not in conflict with each other. Instead, at this level, they sense — if that term can be used — themselves as expressions of the soul’s essence and not as distinct powers. Therefore, the unity among them is consummate. As such, even when these powers emerge as distinct entities, they contain their antithesis in a concealed state.
At a level below the soul’s essence, its powers begin to emerge as separate entities. At this point, they are far from entering into a person’s consciousness. This level is described as kochos haklulim benefesh. The difference between the first level and the second level is that the first focuses on the soul. Since the soul’s potential is unbounded, it possesses the possibility of expression through different powers. However, the powers themselves do not exist. All that exists is the essence of the soul.
On the second level, the focus is on the powers themselves. True, on this level of existence, they are not distinct entities, but rather included in the soul to the point where their own identity is entirely obscured. However, their independent potential already exists.
Afterwards, as the powers begin to emerge on a conscious level, they are filtered through the medium of intellect. This causes them to be “weakened” and enables them to function in harmony with their antithetical power. These concepts are evident from the explanations that follow:
וְצָרִיךְ לוֹמַר שֶׁהֵם שָׁם בִּבְחִינַת הִתְכַּלְלוּת מַמָּשׁ, שֶׁכֻּלָּם הֵם דָּבָר אֶחָד מַמָּשׁ
This being so, it must be said that on the level described as nefesh noseh kochos, the powers are included in absolute synthesis, in such a way that they are actually as one,
בְּלִי שׁוּם הִתְחַלְּקוּת כְּלָל, אֵיזֶה הִתְחַלְּקוּת שֶׁיִּהְיֶה כוּ'.
with no distinctions at all, transcending any conception of differentiation whatsoever.
(כְּעִנְיַן יָחִיד כוּ',)
(The manner in which the potential for the soul’s powers exist in its essence resembles the concept of yachid.)4
As explained at length in Chassidus,5when we proclaim G‑d’s oneness in the Shema, we describe Him as Havayah echad, “the one G‑d.” Seemingly, it would be more appropriate to describe Him as Havayah yachid, a term which would emphasize His singular oneness for it describes a uniquely sublime level of G‑dliness, a rung above the entire framework of existence. There exist levels of G‑dliness on which He relates to the various spiritual and physical entities brought into being. Havayah yachid refers to Him as He exist alone, before His conception of these entities.
However, in the Shema, the word echad is more appropriate. Echad, one, being a number, implies the existence of other entities — a second, a third, etc. Similarly, the Shema emphasizes G‑d’s oneness with the created beings as they exist within their individual identities. Nevertheless, we are compelled to say that even as G‑d is yachid, singularly one, His Being allows for the potential for all existence, albeit in a uniquely abstract manner.6 In a somewhat similar manner, the essence of the soul includes within it the possibility for the different soul powers that emerge from it.7
וּמִשּׁוּם זֶה,
Therefore, i.e., because they exist in a state of oneness within the soul’s essence and are subsumed within the soul, seeing themselves, as it were, as expressions of it,
גַּם בְּהַכֹּחוֹת כְּמוֹ שֶׁהֵם בִּבְחִינַת פְּרָטִים,
even when the powers descend to the level where they exist as individual entities,
יֵשׁ בְּהֶעְלֵם בְּכָל כֹּחַ מֵהַכֹּחַ הַהָפְכִּי,
each includes its antithesis in a concealed state. Fundamentally, every one of the soul’s powers is not an individual entity, but an expression of the soul. This is also true of the antithetical power; it also is fundamentally an expression of the essence of the soul. Accordingly, every potential has the “space” within it to include a potential that is antithetical to their own being. And since that antithetical potential is also an expression of the essence of the soul, it can exist within the other power.
מִצַּד הַהִתְכַּלְלוּת שֶׁלָּהֶם שֶׁבִּבְחִינַת הָעַצְמוּת כוּ'.
The possibility for this inclusion results from their existence in a state of synthesis in the soul’s essence.
Chassidus8 uses the following example to illustrate the concept of a quality being included in its antithesis: Our Sages9 praise those who experience joy in suffering. Suffering is obviously the opposite of joy. However, when a person appreciates the positive outcome from the suffering he experiences and the lofty Divine source from which it emanates, he can experience joy.10
וּכְמוֹ שֶׁהוּא בְּכֹחוֹת הַנֶּפֶשׁ,
This concept applies not only in regard to the soul’s powers
כְּמוֹ כֵן הוּא בְּכָל דָּבָר,
but to every component of existence.
וּכְמוֹ מַיִם, יֵשׁ בּוֹ בְּהֶעְלֵם גַּם מִיסוֹד הָאֵשׁ,
For example, fire exists hidden within water in an elemental state,11
וְכֵן בְּאֵשׁ יֵשׁ מִיסוֹד הַמַּיִם,
and fire in turn contains water in an elemental state.
אֶלָּא שֶׁהוּא בְּהֶעְלֵם מְאֹד בְּתַכְלִית הַהֶעְלֵם.
However, in each case, the existence of the antithesis is entirely indiscernible; it is utterly concealed.
וּכְמוֹ שֶׁהוּא בְּגִלּוּי
In their revealed states
הֲרֵי יְסוֹד הַמַּיִם הוּא מַיִם לְבָד
the element of water is solely water
וְאִי אֶפְשָׁר לְהִתְחַבֵּר כְּלָל עִם הָאֵשׁ,
and it cannot coalesce with fire at all.
וְכֵן הָאֵשׁ אִי אֶפְשָׁר לְהִתְחַבֵּר עִם הַמַּיִם,
Similarly, fire cannot coalesce with water.
וְהַיְנוּ מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהָאֵשׁ שֶׁבַּמַּיִם הוּא בְּתַכְלִית הַהֶעְלֵם,
The rationale is that the elemental dimension of fire that exists in water is in a state of ultimate hiddenness,
שֶׁאֵינוֹ נִכָּר כְּלָל וּכְלָל גַּם לְעַצְמוֹ כוּ',
to the extent that it is not evident at all, even to itself.
וְלָכֵן אִי אֶפְשָׁר לוֹ מִשּׁוּם זֶה לְהִתְחַבֵּר עִם הָאֵשׁ,
Therefore, for this reason, water cannot join together with fire,
לִהְיוֹת בְּהִתְגַּלּוּתהוּא מַיִם פְּשׁוּטִים כוּ'.
for, in its revealed state, it is simple water.
וּכְמוֹ כֵן הוּא בִּיסוֹד הָאֵשׁ כוּ'.
Similar concepts apply to the element of fire.
אָמְנָם כְּשֶׁמְּחַלְּקִים אֶת הַמַּיִם
However, when water is broken into its fundamental components,
וּמוֹצִיאִים מִמֶּנּוּ אֶת הָאֵשׁ שֶׁבּוֹ בְּגִלּוּי,
the elemental dimension of fire that was within it is extracted and revealed,
וְכֵן בְּהָאֵשׁ מוֹצִיאִים בְּגִלּוּי אֶת הַמַּיִם שֶׁבּוֹ,
Similarly, from fire, when the water contained within it is extracted —
שֶׁזֶּהוּ עִנְיַן מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב בְּסֵפֶר יְצִירָה הוֹצִיא אֵשׁ מִמַּיִם וּמַיִם מֵאֵשׁ,
this is the meaning of the statement in Sefer Yetzirah,12 “He extracted fire from water and water from fire” —
אָז יְכוֹלִים לְהִתְחַבֵּר וּלְהִתְכַּלֵּל יַחַד כוּ',
the two elements can, at this point, coalesce.
כִּי הָאֵשׁ שֶׁבַּמַּיִם עִם הַמַּיִם שֶׁבָּאֵשׁ יְכוֹלִים לְהִתְחַבֵּר,
The “fire” within water and the “water” within fire can coalesce
וְעַל יְדֵי זֶה מִתְחַבְּרִים הַמַּיִם עִם הָאֵשׁ,
and in this way, water can be joined with fire.
כִּי הַמַּיִם עַל יְדֵי שֶׁמְּחַלְּקִים אוֹתוֹ לַחֲלָקִים
This is possible because when water is broken into its fundamental components,
וּמוֹצְאִים בּוֹ הַכֹּחַ הַהָפְכִּי,
and its opposite quality is discovered within,
עַל יְדֵי זֶה נֶחְלָשׁ כֹּחוֹ,
its distinctive power is weakened.
וּכְמוֹ כֵן הָאֵשׁ,
The same is true in the case of fire:
עַל יְדֵי הַהַפְרָדָה וְהַהִתְחַלְּקוּת
Through being separated and broken into its fundamental components,
שֶׁמּוֹצְאִים בּוֹ הַהָפְכִּי
its opposite quality is revealed and
נֶחְלָשׁ גַּם כֵּן,
it — as explained above regarding water — is weakened.
וְאָז יְכוֹלִים לְהִתְחַבֵּר יַחַד כוּ'.
Then, this weakening makes it possible for the two opposing elements to come together.
וְנִמְצָא דְּהַהִתְחַלְּקוּת הַזֹּאת הִיא דַוְקָא סִבַּת הַהִתְכַּלְלוּת כוּ'.
Thus, it is this division that is the cause of their mutual incorporation. With the examples in this chapter, the Rebbe Rashab illustrates the principle he stated in the previous chapter: that when entities are fundamentally one, division will enable a more perfect unity. As the different qualities exist within the essence of the soul (the level of nefesh noseh kochos) described above, they coexisted in a state of oneness; this was possible because their individual natures had yet to be expressed. When they are brought together and synthesized as explained here, they are joined in oneness even as their different and opposite natures have been revealed.
קִצּוּר.
Summary:
בְּכֹחוֹת הָעַצְמִים, בְּאֵשׁ וּמַיִם, וּבְכָל דָּבָר,
Within each of the essential powers, similarly within fire and water, and in every element of existence
יֵשׁ, בְּהֶעְלֵם, גַּם מֵהִפּוּכוֹ.
there exists its antithesis in a concealed state.
עַל יְדֵי הַהִתְחַלְּקוּת וְגִלּוּי הֶעְלֵם זֶה
Through a process of division, this hidden quality can be revealed and
יְכוֹלִים לְהִתְכַּלֵּל.
the two elements may coalesce, achieving a more perfect unity, for their oneness exists even as they have emerged as individual entities.
