Recap — to the summit of the ladder
Welcome back to the fifth lesson on the maamar Basi LeGani 5711. We are about to finish climbing the ladder of “what is Shechina,” still in ois alef.
Let’s recall where we are. We’ve built two rungs so far. Below — malchus of Atzilus, the “speech” of the world of Atzilus. And above it — the kav, the first ray of the Infinite, drawn into the space after the tzimtzum. And at each rung we saw the same principle: Shechina is in every place according to its matter — at each floor, the Shechina is the “first revelation,” the side that turns and descends downward.
Today we ascend to the summit — to the highest level one can possibly speak about: Shechina as it is above even the tzimtzum. This the Rashab explains for us, the fifth in the dynasty.
And the wonder is immense: even there, at a height than which there is none higher, even before there was any tzimtzum at all — there is already “Shechina.” Let’s understand how, step by step.
The light before the tzimtzum — and three levels
Let us return for a moment to the picture from the lesson on the kav. We spoke of the “tzimtzum” — the great concealment that cleared room for worlds — and after it, the kav drawn inward. But today we stop even before the tzimtzum, and ask: what was there, in the infinite light, as it was before any concealment?
And about this light — “the light before the tzimtzum” — the Rashab says something remarkably precise: one can discern in it three levels. Let us get to know them slowly.
The first level: “the essence of the light” — etzem ha’or. This is the light as it is in its own essence, sealed and contained within itself — before it “does” anything, before it shines outward. Like a fire that has not yet sent out any flame: the fire itself, alone.
The second level: “the spreading of the light” — hispashtus ha’or. Here the light already begins, as it were, to “move” — to shine, to spread, to step out of its own containment. Not yet to worlds, for there are as yet no worlds at all — but already there is here a movement of revelation, of illumination.
And now the fine point: within this “spreading of the light” itself, the Rashab says, two further levels are hidden. And here one truly must slow down and listen, for here lies the heart of the whole explanation.
The two inclinations — “to itself,” and “related to the worlds”
The two levels within the spreading of the light differ in one thing: in direction. Both are the light “as it is to itself” — that is, the light still shines for itself alone, there is as yet no world outside. And yet there is a fine difference of inclination between them.
The first level: “the revelation of the light as it is to itself” — light that shines for itself, with no connection, no turning toward anything else. An immense, free, boundless light, entirely “within itself.” This, says the Rashab, is the “source” of what will later be called “ohr ha’sovev” — the encompassing light.
The second level: “the revelation of the light to itself, but related to the worlds” — the same light, still “to itself,” still long before there are worlds, but already with a fine inclination, a “relatedness” toward the worlds-to-come; a light built such that, in time, it could enter and fill them. This is the “source” of what will be called “ohr ha’memale” — the filling light.
A parable will sharpen the difference. Picture a great sage, sunk in his thoughts, alone in a room. Sometimes his mind soars to abstract heights — immense ideas, with no intention of explaining them to anyone. Pure thought, entirely “to himself.” And sometimes, even while he is still only thinking to himself, his thought already takes a shape that could be taught — already arranged, built so as to be transmitted, someday, to a student.
Both thoughts are still “within him,” inside his head, before he has uttered a single word. The only difference is the direction: one faces toward itself, the other already inclines toward the other. The first is the source of the “encompassing”; the second is the source of the “filling.”
“Filling” and “encompassing” — and which is “Shechina”
So that it settles well, let us now explain the two kinds of light themselves — “memale” and “sovev” — for they are a great foundation in all of Chassidus, and we’ll meet them again and again.
“Ohr ha’memale” — from the word “to fill.” This is the light that enters within each world and each creature and gives it life from within, each according to its measure. The classic example: the soul within the body. The soul gives sight to the eye, hearing to the ear, strength to the hand — to each limb exactly what it can receive. That is “filling”: a measured light, grasped and settled within the vessel.
“Ohr ha’sovev” — from the word “around,” encompassing. This is a light too great to enter “inside” and be grasped within a vessel. It “encompasses” everything equally. And note — it does not mean the light is at some distance, physically around; it means it is too sublime for the world to contain within. Back to the soul: besides the measured powers it gives each limb separately, there is in it the very will to live — a general vitality enveloping the whole body as one, not “in the eye” or “in the hand” separately, but in all equally. That is the “encompassing.”
Or in the teacher parable: the arranged lesson the teacher puts into the student’s head, measure by measure — that is “filling.” But the teacher’s love for the student, and the breadth of his genius, which are far greater than the student can absorb — these “encompass” him, present around him, yet do not enter within. That is “sovev.”
And now the chiddush of the Rashab: it is specifically the second level — the “source of the filling light,” the side that inclines toward the worlds — that is called “Shechina.”
And why specifically it? The same answer that has accompanied us all along the ladder. “Shechina” is always the side that faces downward, the part destined to come and dwell. Here too, at the inconceivable height before the tzimtzum, the side that is already “related to the worlds” — whose whole inclination is to enter and to fill — is the “Shechina” of that level. Exactly like the kav, exactly like malchus: the “first revelation” according to the matter of that place.
Even before the tzimtzum — and the first tzimtzum is a “siluk”
And now the Rebbe adds a remark that is almost impossible to grasp — and that must be unpacked slowly. In the words of the maamar: “and even though it is before the tzimtzum, and it cannot be a source for worlds.”
What does this mean? This light — the source of the filling, before the tzimtzum — is still so high and infinite that, in practice, it cannot yet serve as an actual source for worlds. True, it already has a “relatedness” to them, an inclination toward them — but it is too far to truly give birth to them. The gap is still infinite.
“Which is why the tzimtzum was needed” — for precisely this reason, at the next stage, a tzimtzum had to occur. And not just any tzimtzum. The Rebbe is precise with a word: “and the first tzimtzum, which is specifically of the nature of siluk” — a removal. The first tzimtzum is not a gradual “dimming” of the light — it is a “siluk,” a withdrawal, a total removal of the light from the “place.”
Let us illustrate. Picture a brilliant professor who must teach an infant. He cannot simply “dim” his wisdom a little — the gap between his genius and the infant is infinite. What must he do? Set all his wisdom completely aside, withdraw from it for a moment, and begin from one tiny point the infant can receive. That total “setting-aside” is the “siluk.” So too the first tzimtzum: in order for limited worlds to arise, the infinite light first had to be entirely “removed,” and only afterward was a thin, measured line drawn inward.
And nevertheless — and here is the bottom line — “it is still called Shechina.” Even before the tzimtzum, even before this light can in practice be a source for any world, it is already called “Shechina.” Why? For the sake of its destiny, as always. Remember the seed that is called a “tree,” and the arrow named for its target before it has flown? The very same idea, now at its highest peak: even before everything, the side aimed downward already bears the name “Shechina.”
Summary — the whole ladder, and a teaser to ikar Shechina
So what did we see today?
We ascended to the summit of the ladder: Shechina as it is above the tzimtzum, in the explanation of the Rashab. We learned that the light before the tzimtzum is built of three levels — the essence of the light, the spreading of the light, and within the spreading two inclinations: one “to itself” (the source of the encompassing), and one “related to the worlds” (the source of the filling). And we saw that specifically the source of the filling, the side facing downward, is called “Shechina” — even before there are any worlds at all to fill, and even before the tzimtzum, which is a “siluk.”
And now, at last, we hold the whole ladder in hand. Count three levels of “Shechina” with me: in malchus of Atzilus; in the kav; and above the tzimtzum. And in all of them the same single role — the “first revelation” according to the matter of each place.
And with this whole ladder in hand, in the next lesson we’ll return to the sentence we set out from — “ikar Shechina b’tachtonim haysa” — and finally understand its full precision: what is that “ikar,” that essence of the Shechina, and why davka it, of all the levels, was below. There we’ll close ois alef.
Thank you for learning with us. We’ll see you in the next lesson.