010 —ביאור

VeHayah Lachem LeTzitzis, HaLev Ro'eh... Lehavin Inyan HaLev.

It is stated: "The heart understands, the heart hears." And it is brought in the writings of the Arizal that the Yesod of Abba is in the chest. [See also in the discourse "Einei Kol" in the name of the Maggid, the G-dly man, of blessed memory.]

To understand what is meant by Yesod: Any entity that influences and gives life to something below it, only gives life through its lowest level, since it is so much greater than the recipient that the recipient cannot grasp or contain its source. Therefore, it must contract itself and connect to the lower level within itself in order to give life to what is below. This aspect through which it influences is called Yesod Abba within Yesod Ima, and from them come the mochin (intellectual faculties) for Ze'er Anpin.

It appears from what is explained there that they are equal up to the chest, and all the lights gather in the heart, which are four names from the two aforementioned Yesodos, totaling thirty-two. [See the commentary of the Ramaz on Zohar, Parshas Emor 93b.]

To understand this, consider a parable: When an idea emerges suddenly from the mind, while it is still in the mind it is very concealed and not revealed, to the extent that even the person himself does not fully grasp it. Afterwards, when it begins to spread from the mind outward, as soon as it comes to revelation, it becomes inflamed and can have an effect in its revelation. The heart is the existence of the matter, for when something is strongly established in the heart, it will never be moved from there. This is not the case when it is only in the intellect, for it can be moved away immediately, since the heart is still rooted in bodily desires because it is closer to the body. Even if one intellectually understands that he must cleave to G-d with all his soul, and that this is the ultimate purpose, nevertheless, the heart can still draw him after bodily desires, as our Sages said: "The heart desires..."

Therefore, a person must always be diligent to wage the battle of the intellect against the heart, to incline it with all his power of contemplation on the greatness of G-d, until the heart also desires to cleave to Him.

This is the concept of the two levels: tzaddik and chassid. A tzaddik is described as follows: "Who is mighty? He who conquers his inclination"—one must always subdue the heart with his intellect, since the heart is deeply rooted in worldly matters, but the intellect inclines to cleave to G-d. Therefore, one must always wage this battle, and such a person is called a tzaddik.

However, when one accustoms himself so much in contemplation that the matter is also rooted in the heart, and he is automatically nullified completely and will never move from it in any way, this is called a chassid. [So writes R. Chaim Vital in Sha'ar HaKavanos, part 1, section 3. However, in Tanya it is explained that this is called a tzaddik, and the first level is called a beinoni. See there.]

This is what King David said: "Tachlis sin'ah s'neisim..." ("I hate them with a perfect hatred...")—when he saw the enemies of G-d, he became a complete hater of them, even though they had many bodily qualities that would naturally cause one to love them, such as beauty or wisdom, which the body tends to love. Nevertheless, because his love for G-d was so deeply rooted in his heart, he was completely nullified in his emotions before Him, and became a complete hater of them. This is like what is written: "VeLibi Chalal Bekirbi" ("My heart is void within me"). This is because the intellect spreads outward, where it is most concealed, as explained above.

Returning to our topic: Any influence downward is called that aspect of Yesod. Therefore, when we call upon Havayah, blessed be He, we call Him in that aspect, meaning in the word "Baruch," which is Yesod Abba, as is known. That is, in the aspect through which He is connected to us to give us life, in that very aspect we can grasp Him and no more. Since He contracts Himself to that aspect to influence downward, therefore, in that aspect we have a grasp, as it is written: "Kulam BeChochmah Asisa" ("You made them all with wisdom").

Those two Yesodos become the mochin for Ze'er Anpin. Ze'er Anpin means "small face," indicating that the intellect is smaller than what is above, and it is the life-force that spreads to give life to the worlds. [See also the discourses "Basi LeGani" and "Tze'ena U'Re'ena" regarding "S'u Yedeychem Kodesh..."]. Afterwards, when it spreads to the chest, there are many lights there, and from there come the aspects of Rachel and Leah.

Although it appears in the writings of the Arizal that the aspect of Leah draws from above, meaning from Binah and Tevunah, and also the aspect of Rachel draws from there, as it is said: "BeChochmah Yasad Aretz" ("With wisdom He founded the earth"), meaning Rachel, as above—Aba Yasad Brata, for all comes from Chochmah—this is also true. But it seems that the two aspects of Rachel and Leah are called Machshavah (thought) and Dibbur (speech) [as explained in Parshas Shelach on "Tovah HaAretz Me'od Me'od," and in Parshas Vayetzei on "U'LeLavan Shetei Banot," and in Parshas Tazria on "Ka Miflagi BeMetivta DeRakia..." See there], the hidden world and the revealed world. They are called the "back" of the intellect, not the intellect itself, when it comes to the expansion of thought and speech. This is the "back" of the Yesod of Abba and Ima.

To understand what is "hidden" and "revealed": In thought, there are also the same letters as in speech. What one thinks, he can also say, but in thought they are concealed and only he himself knows them, and afterwards, another can understand as well.

Thought and speech come from the middos (emotions), for what one loves, he thinks and speaks about, and the middos are drawn from the contemplation of the intellect. First, an idea arises in the intellect, and then, through contemplation, it spreads to the heart, and from there the middos arise, to desire or not desire the thing, and the heart is the existence of the matter.

Sometimes the intellect dictates to love something, but the nature of the body does not allow it. But when one attaches his intellect so much that the matter is also established in his heart to do it, then he is automatically nullified from all other middos.

Therefore, it is said about Yaakov: "VaYishak Yaakov LeRachel" ("Yaakov kissed Rachel")—it was certainly permitted to him, since he was completely nullified from all bodily desires due to his cleaving to G-d.

Afterwards, when the letters of thought spread to the letters of speech, there is greater revelation. Therefore, since the intellect goes from the mind to the heart, for "Kulam BeChochmah Nafka" ("All emerges from wisdom"), there are in the heart all the aspects, namely: sight [as it is written: "VeLibi Ra'ah Harbeh Chochmah..." ("And my heart saw much wisdom...")], hearing, and understanding.

As it is written in Midrash Rabbah on Koheles, on the verse "Dibarti Ani Im Libi" ("I spoke with my heart"). This means that the heart also has the aspect of Binah, as above, which are the Yesodos that are equal there, through which all the worlds are connected to receive life.

However, a person must always be diligent and wise to conquer his inclination and uproot it from his mind, speech, and action, to cleave to G-d, as explained above.

Summary

This maamar explains the interplay between intellect and emotion, teaching that true Divine service requires not only understanding G-dliness intellectually but internalizing it in the heart. Through persistent contemplation, one can transform the heart’s desires, achieving a deeper connection to G-d.