Recap — and today we close ois alef
Welcome back to the sixth lesson on the maamar Basi LeGani 5711 — and today, with G-d’s help, we conclude ois alef.
Let’s stand for a moment on what we’ve built. Over the last lessons we climbed a whole ladder of “what is Shechina.” We saw three levels: Shechina in malchus of Atzilus — the “speech” of the world of Atzilus; Shechina in the kav — the first ray of the Infinite; and Shechina above the tzimtzum — in the first root of the light. And at each level the same principle: Shechina is in every place according to its matter — the “first revelation” of each floor.
But this whole ladder — all four lessons — was really one great preparation. A preparation for the question with which we opened the entire chapter, and which we have not yet answered: why does the Midrash precisely say not merely “Shechina,” but “ikar Shechina”? What is this small, enormous word — “ikar,” essence? Today we’ll understand it, and with it the whole chapter will close.
The precision — not malchus, not the kav, but the essence
The Rebbe now returns to the words of the Midrash, and writes: “and this is the precise wording, ikar Shechina b’tachtonim haysa.”
And he explains, with exacting precision. The revelation of Shechina that was in the lower realms — it is not the Shechina as it is relative to Atzilus, that is, not malchus. And it is not the Shechina as it is relative to the Infinite Light, that is, not the kav. Rather — and these are the key words of the whole chapter — “the ikar and the innermost of the Shechina was in the lower realms specifically.”
Stop on this a moment, for it is surprising. All the rungs we climbed with effort — malchus, the kav, above the tzimtzum — the Midrash, as it were, says of them: not this, and not this, and not this. “Ikar Shechina” is none of the rungs. It is something deeper still: the “ikar,” the “innermost,” the “essence” of the Shechina.
Picture a person. You can meet him at several “levels”: through the words he says, through the emotions he feels, through the intellect he thinks. All of these are “him” — but none of them is “he himself.” The words change, emotions come and go, even opinions develop over the years — but the “I” itself, the essence, remains. It stands behind all the levels, and is none of them.
And that is exactly “the ikar and innermost of the Shechina”: not malchus, not the kav, not the ladder as a whole — but the essence of the Divine Presence, that which stands behind all the levels. And of this the Midrash says something almost unbelievable: that davka it, the essence and innermost, was in the lower realms — here, below, in this world.
The difficulty — the light diminishes as it descends
But here we must not rush, for precisely now an enormous difficulty arises. Everything we have learned about the worlds says the very opposite.
The Rebbe frames it: “for the light that clothes itself in the worlds comes in order and gradation.” There is, in the worlds, an “order and gradation” — an arranged ladder, rung after rung, from above downward. And the iron rule of that ladder: “above, it shines more revealed, and the more it is drawn and descends, the more the light diminishes.” The further the light descends and unfolds below, the weaker it grows, the more it diminishes. Just like a light receding from its source.
If so, the difficulty is clear and strong: how can one say that the “ikar” of the Shechina — the strongest, most central, most inner thing — was davka below, at the bottom, in the place where the light is weakest? It sounds like the opposite of the entire order!
And perhaps you’ll say: wait, maybe before the sin, when the world was still whole and rectified, there was more light below? The Rebbe anticipates and answers: “and even though before the sin there was light revealed below too, nevertheless even then the revelation of the light was greater above.” Even in the best of times, even before the sin — true, there was light below, but above there was always more. The rule of “more above” is fixed, and does not depend on the sin.
And the Rebbe brings a beautiful hint for this from our Sages: “He extended His right hand and created the heavens; He extended His left and created the earth.” The Almighty created the heavens — the higher — with the “right hand,” the strong and important hand; and the earth — the lower — with the “left hand.” That is, even in creation itself, the higher received the “strong hand,” and the lower the weak. So how, in heaven’s name, can one say the “ikar” was specifically below?
The resolution — the light above the worlds
And the Rebbe’s answer is the central pillar of the whole chapter — the sentence toward which everything was driving. He says: precisely because of all this — “rather, the intent is to the light that is above the worlds, ikar Shechina.”
That is: when the Midrash says “ikar Shechina” was in the lower realms, it is certainly not speaking of the ordinary light of the order of hishtalshelus — that light which always shines more above and less below. For had we been speaking of that light, there truly would be no sense in saying the essence is below.
Rather, the Midrash speaks of an entirely different light. “The light that is above the worlds” — a light that is not part of the ladder, not of the unfolding, not of the order of “more above and less below” at all. An essential light, utterly exalted above any distinction of higher and lower. And that is “ikar Shechina.”
And such a light — precisely because it is above the order and above all measure — can dwell in its fullness specifically below.
Let us illustrate with two parables. The first: a great business owner. He can give his employees a salary — and it flows through an orderly system: the more senior you are, the more you receive. That is “the light of order and gradation,” graded by place. But that same owner can also give something else entirely: his personal attention, his very self, his heart. And that is no longer “more” for the senior and “less” for the junior — genuine attention is not measured by rank.
And the second parable: a king. The gifts the king sends are apportioned by honor — the ministers receive more, the simple folk less. But when the king himself decides to step down from his throne and sit with the simplest person in the kingdom — his own presence is not “graded.” He is not “less of a king” beside the simple man. He comes in his full essence.
“Ikar Shechina” is of the second kind. Not a light measured by higher and lower — but the Essence itself. And notice how beautiful this is: precisely because it is the Essence, and not a light within the order, it has no “more above” and “less below.” And therefore there is no obstacle whatsoever — on the contrary — to its being, in its fullness, specifically below, in the lower realms.
Concluding ois alef — and the bridge to ois beis
And so, after a whole journey of six lessons, ois alef comes to a close.
Let’s hold the whole arc in hand. We opened with a question: what is “Shechina,” and what is the precise wording “ikar Shechina”? We climbed a whole ladder of levels — malchus, the kav, and above the tzimtzum — and understood that “Shechina” is the “first revelation” in every place according to its matter. And finally we reached the “ikar”: not a level, but the essence and innermost of the Divine Presence; a light above all the worlds and above all the order — and it is that which was, and is meant to be, davka in the lower realms.
And here precisely the next great question opens. If that essence was below — what happened to it? Why don’t we see it with our eyes today? Where did it disappear? To here the maamar turns in ois beis: to the “lower realms” themselves — to our physical world — and to what befell the Shechina in the wake of the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, and the chain of falls that followed it.
There, in ois beis, the dramatic story of the concealment and the return will begin — a story we already tasted in the first lesson, and now will learn from within the words themselves. Thank you for learning with us, and blessed is He who helped us complete ois alef in full. We’ll see you in the next lesson.