תשרי ג' — אגרת הקודש פרק יט

The Alter Rebbe now discusses the אותיות הנגלות לנו—the letters that are revealed to us. He explains that there are aspects of the letters of the Torah that are accessible and manifest to us, as opposed to those that remain hidden or beyond our grasp, such as the inner dimension of the Torah's wisdom.

These revealed letters come down to us in three forms: במעשה—action, דבור—speech, and מחשבה—thought. In other words, the Torah is expressed through the physical act of writing, through the spoken word, and through the thoughts we have when we contemplate Torah. Each of these modes represents a different way in which the letters of Torah descend and become accessible in our world.

First, the Alter Rebbe addresses מעשה—action. This refers to the תמונת האותיות—the actual shapes and forms of the letters as they appear in the כתב אשורי—the Assyrian script used in a Sefer Torah. When you look at a Sefer Torah, you see the physical form of each letter: an Aleph looks like an Aleph, a Beis like a Beis, and so on. This is the most tangible, concrete manifestation of the Torah's letters, and it is considered the lowest level of their revelation, as they are dressed up in physical ink and parchment.

Next, the Alter Rebbe discusses the אותיות הדבור—the letters as they exist in speech. When we speak words of Torah, the letters are not written but are instead נחקקות בהבל וקול—engraved in the breath and the voice. This means that as we articulate the words, the letters are formed by the sounds we produce, which are divided into כ"ב חלקים שונים זה מזה בצורתן—22 distinct forms, each corresponding to a different letter.

He explains that the הברת ומבטא הכ"ב אותיות בכל לשון—the pronunciation and expression of the 22 letters—exists in every language. Whether one is speaking in Lashon HaKodesh or in another language, the basic forms of the letters, as expressed in speech, remain the same. The difference lies only in the way the letters are combined and pronounced in each language, but the essential divisions and forms of the letters are universal.

The Alter Rebbe clarifies that אין הפרש בין לה"ק ובין שאר לשונות במהות הברת האותיות—there is no essential difference between the Holy Tongue and other languages in the nature of how the letters are pronounced. The distinction is only בצירופן—in how the letters are combined to form words and meanings.

In other words, the fundamental way in which the 22 letters are expressed through speech is the same in every language. What changes from language to language is the way those letters are joined together to create words and convey meaning, but the core expressions of the letters themselves remain constant.

He then turns to אותיות המחשבה—the letters of thought. These, too, exist in every language. When a person thinks, he thinks using words and letters, and those words and letters are in the language he is accustomed to.

However, regardless of the language, there are always כ"ב לבד—only 22 letters. So, whether in action, speech, or thought, the Torah's letters are always expressed through these 22 forms, and this is true in every language a person uses to think about Torah.

The Alter Rebbe now introduces a deeper point: במחשבה יש בה ג' מיני בחי' אותיות—within thought itself, there are three different types or levels of letters. This means that even within the realm of thought, there is a further subdivision, corresponding to the three general categories of action, speech, and thought, but all within the domain of thought.

This sets the stage for understanding how the process of descent works even within our own minds, as the letters of Torah move from a more abstract to a more concrete form, even before they are spoken or written.

He explains: when a person רואה בס"ת תמונת האותיות—sees the form of the letters in a Sefer Torah, הן מצטיירות במחשבתו—those images are formed in his mind. In other words, when you look at the letters, your mind pictures them and holds their image in thought.

This is called בחינת עשיה שבמחשבה—the aspect of action within thought. Even though you are not physically writing or speaking, your mind is engaged in the "action" of visualizing the letters. This is the most tangible level of thought, where the mind is occupied with the concrete image of the letters as they appear in the Torah scroll.

Similarly, when a person שומע אותיות הדבור—hears the letters as they are spoken, הן נרשמות במחשבתו ומהרהר בהן—they are imprinted in his mind and he contemplates them. In other words, when you listen to someone reading or speaking words of Torah, your mind takes in those words and reflects on them.

This is called בחינת דבור שבמח'—the aspect of speech within thought, or, as the Alter Rebbe adds, בחינת יצירה—the level of formation. Here, the mind is not just visualizing the letters, but is actively processing and contemplating the spoken words, which is a more abstract level than the visualization, but still more concrete than pure thought.

Now, when we speak about the אותיות המחשבה לבדה—the letters of thought alone, בלי הרהור אותיות הדבור—without any contemplation of the letters of speech, this is called מח' שבמחשבה—the thought within thought. This is a distinct level, which the Alter Rebbe identifies as the level of beriyah.

In other words, there are different levels within thought itself. Sometimes, when a person is thinking, he is not thinking about the words he would use to speak, but rather, he is just thinking in pure thought, without any connection to speech. That is the most internal, abstract form of thought, and it is called machshavah sheb'machshavah. This is associated with the world of beriyah, which is a higher spiritual level compared to the levels that are connected to speech or action.

The Alter Rebbe now explains that the אותיות הדבור ממש—the actual letters of speech, the words that a person actually utters—הן מתהוות ומקבלות חיותן מאותיות אלו עצמן שבמח'—they are created and receive their vitality from these very same letters that exist in thought.

This means that when a person speaks, the words and letters he pronounces do not come from nowhere. Rather, they originate from the letters that already exist in his mind, in his thought. The process is that first, the letters are formed in the mind, and from there, they descend and become actual speech. The speech is an expression, a revelation, of what was previously in thought. The source and the life-force of the spoken words is the thought that precedes them.

However, the Alter Rebbe points out an interesting phenomenon: ואף שלפעמים מדבר אדם ומהרהר בדבר אחר—even though sometimes a person can be speaking about one thing, while his mind is thinking about something else entirely.

This is something we all experience. For example, a person might be davening, reciting the words of prayer, but his mind is wandering elsewhere, thinking about business or other matters. The words are coming out, but the thought is not focused on what is being said. The Rebbe brings an example from the Previous Rebbe, who said that sometimes a person can daven an entire davening without thinking about the words at all, simply because he is so used to saying them. Only when he reaches a part that changes daily, like "hayom yom sheini" or "hayom yom shlishi," does he have to stop and think, because it's different each day.

So, it is possible for a person to speak words while his mind is elsewhere, not engaged with the content of what he is saying.

But the Alter Rebbe clarifies: הרי אינו יכול לדבר כ"א אותן דבורים וצירופים שכבר דברם והיו במחשבתו פעמים רבות מאד—a person is only able to speak those words and combinations that he has already spoken, and which have been in his thought many, many times.

In other words, even when a person is speaking without thinking about what he is saying at that moment, he is only able to do so because those words have already been in his mind and on his lips many times before. ונשאר בדיבורים וצירופים אלו הרשימו מהמחשבה שנכנסה בהם פעמים רבות—there remains an impression, a mark, from the thought that has entered into those words many times in the past.

This means that the ability to speak without conscious thought is only possible because the words have been internalized through repeated thought and speech. There is a residue, a "reshimu," left in the speech from the many times the person has thought about and spoken those words. So, even when the mind is not actively engaged, the words are still connected to the thought that preceded them.

The Alter Rebbe explains that this phenomenon—where speech can occur without active thought, relying on the residue of previous thought—is called בחי' אחוריים וחיצוניות נה"י מפרצוף העליון שנכנס בתחתון. This refers to the level of the "back" and the "external" aspects of netzach, hod, yesod (abbreviated as nehi) from the higher "face" or configuration (parzuf ha'elyon), which enters into the lower one.

In other words, the external aspect of the higher level descends and becomes the source of vitality and intellect for the lower level. The "achorayim" (backside, or externality) of the higher spiritual faculties become the "mochin v'chayus"—the intellect and life-force—of the lower level. This is a spiritual process describing how the higher worlds and levels of the soul give life and energy to the lower ones, specifically through their external aspects.

So, in the context of speech and thought, the external aspect of the higher level (thought) becomes the source of energy for the lower level (speech), even when the person is not consciously thinking about what he is saying at that moment.