## Tzava'at HaRivash Chapter 129

###### Tzava'at HaRivash 129:1
[Tzava'at HaRivash 129:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Tzava%27at%20HaRivash/r/129:1)

**להבין מהו קטנות ומהו גדלות**. ד"מ כשאדם יושב ללמוד תורה שלא בהכנה הוא בקטנות שאין שכלו שלם. אבל כשהוא לומד בהכנה ובהתלהבות. אז הוא במדריגת גדלות שמקושר במדריגות עליונות. וכן בתפלה ובכל מצוה שעושה האדם יש קטנות וגדלות:

**The Way of The Baal Shem Tov. Adapted into English by Rabbi Amiram Markel and Yehudah Shimon Markel, 2020:**
To gain a little understanding of the difference between diminished intellectual awareness of *HaShem* (*Katnut*) and expansive intellectual awareness of *HaShem* (*Gadlut*), we may compare it to the following: When a person sits to study the Torah of *HaShem* without understanding, he is then in a state of diminished intellect (*Katnut*), for his intellect is imperfect and incomplete. In contrast, when he studies with understanding and with passion, he then is on a level of expanded intellect (*Gadlut*), for he is bonded to the Supernal levels. The same is true of prayer, and the same applies to the fulfillment of all the *mitzvot*; they can be done in a state of diminished intellectual awareness of *HaShem* (*Katnut*) or a state of expansive intellectual awareness of *HaShem* (*Gadlut*).