Recap and opening — so where does the Essence touch?
Welcome to the fourteenth lesson on the maamar Basi LeGani 5711. We stand at the very heart of the maamar.
Recall what we built in the previous lesson. We reached a great foundation: creation — the very coming-into-being of a thing, yesh me-ayin — comes only from the Etzem of the Holy One, not from the revelations. Only the Etzem, whose 'existence is of its own self,' can grant existence into the ayin.
And from this a tension arose. If the power that creates the world is the Etzem itself — the deepest and most sublime power there is — then it follows that the destination, the purpose, should be at the place this power reaches. And where? The natural assumption: surely to the highest world, to Atzilus, the world of revealed G-dliness.
And the Alter Rebbe is about to say exactly the opposite. And not easily — he will give two reasons, and then bring a beautiful proof from the Mitteler Rebbe. Let us begin with the question: why is even Atzilus, the highest of all worlds, not the destination?
Atzilus is a revelation — and the revelation itself is a descent
The Alter Rebbe says: 'for even the world of Atzilus is gilui ha'helem (a revelation of the concealed).' We have already learned the term — 'gilui ha'helem': an uncovering of what was hidden, not a creation of something new. But now he adds a sharp reason: 'for when the lights of Atzilus were in their concealment, they were on a far higher level.'
Let us hear the maamar: 'one cannot say that the purpose of coming-into-being is for the sake of the upper worlds, for even the world of Atzilus is gilui ha'helem, and so this is a descent from the light of His Countenance, for when the lights of Atzilus were in their concealment they were on a far higher level. And further, since these are only revelations, one cannot say that the Etzem is for the sake of revelations — rather the purpose is this lower world.'
Pause on this, for it is a subtle point. We are used to thinking that revelation is good — that to illuminate is better than to be hidden. But in spiritual matters, often the reverse is true. As long as a light is included and hidden within its source — it is in its higher, free, unlimited state. The moment it 'comes out' into revelation, it is already contracted, defined, lower than it was.
Picture a deep idea as it is in a wise man's mind, before he says a word. There it is infinite, flexible, full of possibilities. The moment he formulates it in words — the words reveal it, true, but also contract it; what is said is always less than what was in the mind. The revelation is a descent from the concealment.
So with Atzilus: it is indeed a wondrous divine revelation — but precisely because it is a revelation, it is a descent from what those lights were when included in concealment. Therefore, says the Alter Rebbe, 'this is a descent from the light of His Countenance.' And if Atzilus is a descent — it cannot be the purpose of creation, the peak. But there is another reason here, no less strong.
The second reason — the Essence is not ‘for the sake of’ revelations
The Alter Rebbe adds: 'and further, since these are only revelations, one cannot say that the Etzem is for the sake of revelations.' Here is the second reason, and it is even deeper.
And in the words of the maamar: 'rather the purpose is this lower world. And as the Mitteler Rebbe writes in this parashah (parashas Beshalach) regarding the difference between the upper worlds and this world, that in this world it is sensed that its existence is from its own self.'
Think of the gap. Atzilus, for all its height, is in the end only a 'revelation' — an illumination, a ray, an expansion from the Source. And the power that creates it is the Etzem — the infinite Source itself. And now the simple question: is it conceivable that the Etzem, the infinite, would 'trouble itself' to create an entire world merely to illuminate one more revelation? The revelation is infinitely smaller than the Etzem. One cannot say that the Etzem is 'for the sake of' the revelation.
Picture an artist of world-genius rank, whose whole being is art. He will not set up a vast factory, recruit thousands of workers, and pour in his entire self — merely to paint a single thin line. The line is not 'worth' all that investment. If the genius engages his full depth, clearly the goal is far greater than a line.
So the Etzem, which is the creating power, surely does not act for the sake of the revelations beneath it. And from this the Alter Rebbe concludes: 'rather the purpose is this lower world.' Not the upper worlds, which are only revelation and descent — but specifically this world. And to explain why specifically it, the Alter Rebbe brings a proof from the words of the Mitteler Rebbe.
The Mitteler Rebbe in Parshas Beshalach — this world ‘feels its existence is from its essence’
The maamar continues: 'and as the Mitteler Rebbe writes in this parashah — parashas Beshalach — regarding the difference between the upper worlds and this world.' That is, the Mitteler Rebbe, son of the Alter Rebbe, explains in Biurei HaZohar on parashas Beshalach the fundamental difference between the upper worlds and our world. And what is the difference?
'That in this world it is sensed that its existence is from its own self.' In this world — and only in it — there is a sense, a feeling, that the thing exists of itself, stands on its own. It sounds simple, but this is a deep observation. For in the upper worlds there is no such sense at all.
Think of an angel. An angel, the moment it exists, feels itself nullified to the Holy One — it knows that its whole existence is G-dliness, that it is a 'ray' of light, utterly dependent on its source. It does not think for a moment 'I exist by my own power.' Bittul is its nature. And so all the upper worlds: the higher one rises, the more the feeling is of 'I am nullified, I am from Him.'
But this world? Look at a stone. At a table. At a person in the street. There is no sense of bittul here. The stone simply 'exists,' as if of itself. The physical person lives, mostly, with a distinct feeling that he exists by his own powers, that he is 'master' of his life, with no dependence on a higher source. This is 'it is sensed that its existence is from its own self' — this world feels itself independent.
And now feel how strange this is as a destination. Seemingly this is the worst trait there is! Precisely the feeling of 'I exist of myself' is the greatest concealment of the Holy One, the very opposite of bittul. So how can it be that specifically this place, which feels most independent and most disconnected — is specifically the destination of all creation?
To answer, the Mitteler Rebbe brings a wondrous parable: the difference between 'light' and 'a created thing.' With it we will open the next lesson, and reach the point that overturns the entire picture. Thank you for learning with us — and we will meet in the next lesson.