Likkutei Sichos Vol. 15 – Bereishis 3
1. It is stated in the Midrash[1]: "When the Holy One, blessed be He, came to create man, He took counsel with the ministering angels, etc. They said to Him, 'This man — what is his nature?' He said to them, 'His wisdom is greater than yours.' He brought the animals before them, etc., and said to them, 'This one — what is its name?' and they did not know. He passed them before Adam and said to him, 'This one — what is its name?' He said, 'This is an ox, this is a donkey,' etc."
Wherein lies the wisdom of calling each animal, etc., by a name? The Shelah[2] explains: the name of a thing alludes to its root. Adam HaRishon grasped the source and root of every created being, and gave each one a name according to its root. This was his wisdom — that (in the Shelah's words) "through knowledge of the lower beings he knew the secret of the supernal chariots" (and as the Maggid elaborates on the subject of the name in Or Torah[3], on the verse[4] "and whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name").
This needs to be understood:
a) Grasping the source and root of every thing does not seem to be a matter of abundance of wisdom. Knowledge of "the secret of the supernal chariots" does not depend on the greatness and abundance of wisdom, but on the refinement of the faculties of comprehension[4*] — the more refined they are and the closer to spirituality, the higher the comprehension reaches.
b) How can it be said that the angels did not know "what is its name, etc."? According to the above explanation, this knowledge depends on knowing "the secret of the supernal chariots" (the source and root of the created beings) — and the supernal chariots are themselves angels. The root and source of the beasts and animals below are angels (which is why the angels "are called … by the name of beasts and animals, etc."[5]). How, then, could they not have known "what is its name, etc."?
It is very forced to say that since they are spiritual and exist in spiritual worlds, they did not know what goes on in this physical world, and therefore did not know how to call the created beings below by their names[6]. For according to this, their not knowing would stem not from any inferiority in their stature ("his wisdom is greater than yours"), but, on the contrary, from the loftiness of their refinement and spirituality.
2. This will be understood by first prefacing:
The calling of names by Adam HaRishon took place before the sin of the Tree of Knowledge, while he was still in Gan Eden and in his perfection. Since his being there ("and He placed him in Gan Eden") was "to work it and to guard it"[7], it is understood that every detail of his deeds at that time, and especially those recounted in the Torah, was part of "to work it and to guard it." Moreover: just as the working and guarding of a garden accomplish something in the garden, so Adam HaRishon's "to work it and to guard it" in Gan Eden brought about an elevation and holiness in Gan Eden (higher than the elevation of Gan Eden in its own right[8]).
Yet seemingly: what "work" is there in calling the created beings by their names? On the contrary: according to the above explanation it would seem that Adam HaRishon did not originate the names of the created beings — for they had already received their vitality (from their root and source) before Adam HaRishon called them by their names; he only made known the correct name of each created being (in accordance with its root).
We must therefore say: a) that comprehending the root and source of the created beings is not yet enough to be able to call them by the fitting names; b) that this could be accomplished only by Adam HaRishon, and precisely because "his wisdom is greater than yours."
3. The explanation of this[9]:
Every created being below has a source and root above, as our Sages say[10], "There is no blade of grass, etc., that does not have a mazal (a heavenly force) above it, etc." — for example, the root of an ox below is from the "face of the ox" in the Divine Chariot. Nevertheless, the created being bears no relation to its root. For through a chain of descent from level to level, however many descents there may be, a physical thing cannot come into being from a spiritual root. As is known[11], the coming into being of the physical from the spiritual is only through the power of the Holy One, blessed be He, who is omnipotent; that is why there can be the "leap" by which physical created beings come into being from a spiritual root above.
Therefore, knowing that the root of the ox is from the face of the ox in the Chariot is not yet enough to be able to call[11*] the ox below by the name "ox," since the created being has no (relation to or) connection with its root[12].
This is what Adam HaRishon accomplished — "and Adam called names"[13]: he "called" and drew down the (name, the) root of the created being, so that it would descend into (and within) the created being that is brought into being from it.
4. This is also the connection between calling names and "He placed him in Gan Eden to work it and to guard it":
From the standpoint of creation itself, even in Gan Eden, which is the choicest part of the world (and especially Gan Eden as it was before the sin), there is no revealed bond between a created being below and its root above. Because of the great holiness in Gan Eden, it indeed cannot tolerate any sin, but this is a light that is only in proportion to this world.
In this lay the distinction of Adam HaRishon: he brought about the bond[14] between created beings below and their root above[15]. More than that, he united them, so that the name of each created being, by which it is called by every person here below (even children and unlearned people), follows the letters of its root above[16].
5. With this we will understand why specifically Adam HaRishon could give the names, and not the angels:
Although the angels too knew that the root of the ox, for example, is from the face of the ox in the Chariot, they are nevertheless unable to bring about the joining of the created being's root with the created being below. This is also understood from the matter[17] of "the Nefilim were on the earth"[18]: when an angel comes down into this world it becomes a "fallen one"; it cannot overcome the self-existence and materiality of the world. For to be in the world and at the same time be bound to G‑dliness, which is higher than the world — an angel does not have that ability.
Only a human being — adam[19], from the expression "I will be likened (adameh) to the Most High"[20] — who resembles, as it were, the Most High, who is not limited, G‑d forbid, and who is composed "of the higher beings and of the lower beings"[21][22], can join "higher" and "lower," so that the "lower," the created being below, becomes united with the "higher," its root above.
This is also why G‑d told the angels "his wisdom is greater than yours": he is "(Who is wise?) One who sees what is born"[23], as the Alter Rebbe[24] interprets it — "who sees how everything is born and comes into being, etc., from the word of G‑d." He sees the birth and coming into being of a thing — how it is born and comes into being from its root and from the word of G‑d. Angels see (by the power of their wisdom) the G‑dly power that is clothed in created beings, but to see[24*] its root above within that which is born is beyond the scope of an angel. Only Adam HaRishon, whose "wisdom is greater than yours," could see in the created being below (how it is united with) its root above.
[This also explains why it was not enough for the angels that G‑d told them "his wisdom is greater than yours," and they had to be shown (they had to see) an actual deed — the calling of names. Since something like the joining of higher and lower (which is found in man) is entirely beyond the scope of an angel's comprehension, as long as they had not been shown how man accomplishes it, they could not accept it.]
6. It has been discussed many times[25] regarding what is stated in the Midrash[26], that before the giving of the Torah there was a decree that "the higher beings shall not descend to the lower" and "the lower shall not ascend to the higher," and at the giving of the Torah the decree was annulled and a joining of higher and lower came about.
From this it is understood that although Adam HaRishon "called" and drew down the root of the created beings below, and joined them in such a way that the name of the created being below matches its root above (and consequently, in a similar way, the created being itself as well), this does not reach the joining of above and below that was brought about by the annulment of the decree at the giving of the Torah.
The explanation: Adam HaRishon brought about the joining of created beings with their root and source[27] — that is, with the level of G‑dliness that already has a connection with the world, and more, with that level as it is already the root of the particular created being: he joined the ox below with the face of the ox in the Chariot.
The giving of the Torah, however, brought about "(I am) Havayah your G‑d": Havayah, which is entirely above the limits of the world ("was, is and will be" as one[28]), became "your G‑d" — the strength and vitality of every Jew[29]. Through this came about the joining of the world with G‑dliness that is higher than (being a root of) the world.
Therefore we find that at the giving of the Torah the angels again could not grasp such a joining of above and below, as the Gemara[29*] relates that they argued: "A hidden treasure, etc. — You seek to give it to flesh and blood! 'What is man that You should remember him, and the son of man that You should be mindful of him?' … 'Place Your glory upon the heavens.'" Since the Torah is the ultimate of spirituality and loftiness, how can it come down and be given to a being of flesh and blood? Only Moshe Rabbeinu could "take" the giving of the Torah — the annulment of the decree between higher and lower beings, until they become one[30].
7. The two kinds of joining of higher and lower mentioned above — (a) the joining of the created being with its root (through the service of Adam HaRishon), and (b) the joining of the created being with G‑dliness that is higher than creation (at the giving of the Torah) — are also found in the personal avodah of a Jew:
It is explained in Chassidus[31] that the blessings of the Shema, which speak of the service of the angels, etc., are the preparation for the service of the Shema. In order that there can be "You shall love the L‑rd your G‑d with all your heart," so that the animal soul too will come to love of G‑d[32], one must first explain to it that in truth it is not opposed to holiness, since its root is from the angels, etc., whose service is "with a great tumult," etc.; and this brings about in the animal soul a bittul (self-nullification) toward holiness.
At first glance this is not understood: how can explaining to the animal soul the greatness of its root help, when in actual fact it has come down below in a form that is opposed to holiness?
The point is, as explained above, that this is by virtue of Adam HaRishon, who brought about the joining of created beings with their root, so that "reminding" the animal soul of its root brings about in it a bittul toward holiness.
8. But this bittul in the animal soul, brought about by "reminding" it of its root as above, is only the bittul of a created being. For its root, too, is only from angels, etc., who, though they are nullified to G‑dliness, are nevertheless created beings[33].
The purpose of the soul's descent below is that there be a union between the G‑dly soul (which is "truly a part of G‑d above"[34]) and the animal soul; and the possibility for this was given at the giving of the Torah[35]. Since the decree[35*] dividing the higher and the lower beings in general was then annulled, as above, there was also annulled the decree between the "higher" and the "lower" in "the small world, which is man"[36], so that there can be a union of the G‑dly soul and the animal soul.
This is like what my revered father-in-law, the Previous Rebbe, writes in a letter[37]: the body's hunger for physical bread comes from the soul's hunger for the G‑dly spark in the food. That is, even physical and natural matters that seemingly relate only to the body (and the animal soul) are bound up with the soul, to the point that the body's natural hunger expresses, inwardly, the hunger of the soul.
9. On the other hand, although the ultimate bittul in the animal soul is brought about through (its union with) the G‑dly soul, as above, this is not the true refinement of the animal soul, since the bittul does not come from the animal soul itself, but from the revelation of the G‑dly soul within it.
The same applies to the world in general. The Supernal intent "to make a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He, in the lower realms" is that the "lower realms" should become a dwelling for Him (not through something that acts on them "from outside," but) by virtue of what they themselves are[38]. It follows that the bittul brought about in the world through the drawing down of G‑dliness by Torah and mitzvos — although it takes place in the "lower realms" themselves (since the decree between higher and lower beings has been annulled) — is a bittul due to the "higher realms," and so it is not yet the dwelling place for Him in the lower realms in its completeness, which means (also) from the standpoint of the lower realms themselves.
The ultimate intent is that both qualities be present: the bittul should be complete, and at the same time it should come from the world itself.
This will be understood in light of the known teaching[39] that the root of the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms is from the World of Tohu, higher than the root of the "speaking" (human) kingdom, which is from the World of Tikkun; and this superiority of their root above is expressed in their existence here below as well. As explained in Chassidus[40], the reason animals have a nature of submission and bittul (which man does not have) — as it is written[41], "and a small child shall lead them" — is that their root is from the World of Tohu, where the bittul is far higher than the bittul of the World of Tikkun; in the language of Chassidus: "abundant lights."
This is the true bittul brought about in the world — from the world itself: through "and the Torah is light" the world is illuminated and the truth is revealed, that the world stands in bittul toward mankind because its root is in complete bittul toward G‑dliness.
10. As was discussed earlier regarding Adam HaRishon's calling of names: (a) although the vitality of each created being is shaped according to its root, nevertheless, for this to be felt in the created being, a special drawing down through the service of Adam HaRishon was necessary; and (b) this was accomplished through Adam HaRishon's calling of names, which revealed how the name and vitality of the created being is bound to its root;
So too (and all the more so) with the bittul found in the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms by virtue of their root in the World of Tohu: (a) a special empowerment (and service) is needed so that it be felt in them that their nature of bittul comes from the bittul of their root toward G‑dliness; (b) the bond between the mineral, vegetable and animal and their root in the World of Tohu is connected with the name, which is the channel that binds them to their root.
It may be said that this is what the Rebbe Maharash elaborates on in the maamarim of a hundred years ago[42], concerning the wondrous bittul found in the World of Tohu. He explains there that even the intensity found there (because of which the shattering of the vessels took place there: "and he reigned" — and through this — "and he died") is not, G‑d forbid, a matter of self-assertion; on the contrary, it stems from the tremendous cleaving "to the Ein Sof, the true Being"[43]. He connects this with the fact that the World of Tohu is called by the name behemah (animal) — an acronym of bah mah, "mah is in it" — while the World of Tikkun is called adam, which only has the numerical value of mah (45). For in the World of Tohu the bittul (mah, "what am I") toward the true Being is revealed (not merely in the manner of "numerical value"[44]): it is bah mah, mah in its very essence.
It may be said that the point is this: no matter departs from its plain meaning, and plainly, behemah is the name of the species of living creatures here below. It follows that bah mah exists not only in the World of Tohu, but also in the animal below (and as mentioned earlier, it is precisely in animals that there is a nature of submission and bittul, by virtue of their root in the World of Tohu).
However, since olam (world) is from the expression he'elem, concealment and hiding[45], the fact that the bittul of animals stems from the bittul of their root in the World of Tohu is also concealed and hidden — to the point that these very creatures, which stem from the World of Tohu, can even display a movement of force and opposition against "man," of whom it is said "you are called adam"[46], "I will be likened to the Most High"[47].
That is why the Rebbe Maharash makes known, in a maamar of Chassidus (the revelation of the inner dimension of the Torah here below), that the tremendous bittul of the World of Tohu is bound up with the name behemah. Through this he draws down and reveals the inner dimension of this name in the animal below: that its nature of bittul is (inwardly) the bittul (of its root) toward the true Being[48] — bah mah.
And since even the intensity of its root stems from its tremendous bittul toward the true Being, it cannot be, G‑d forbid, a true opposition to "man," of whom it is said "you are called adam." On the contrary, the world stands in complete bittul to serve the Jewish people, until it becomes a permanent dwelling place for Him, blessed be He — for His very Being and Essence.
(From a talk of Simchas Torah, 5732)