**SEVENTEEN.**¹ (Kehot, 2012), pp. 374-375, for the opening paragraph of this section. It is known that an arousal from below, when man arouses in his heart the trait of kindness and compassion for all those in need of compassion, this elicits an arousal from above, i.e., an arousal of great compassion upon him from the source of compassion,² to effuse to him the “Fruits in this world, while the principal remains for the World to Come.”³ 1:1.

footnotes: ¹ See see Igrot Kodesh Admur Hazaken ² See above, Epistle 4, note 44. ³ The principal and the fruits of the good deeds.—Mishnah, Peah

This means: “the fruits” refers to the effluence effusing from the Source of compassion and Fountainhead of life,⁴ 71a; Tikkunei Zohar 19 (41b); ibid., 69 (115a); and see below, end of Epistle 22a). blessed is He. It issues netherward, in the mode of the evolution of the worlds from above downward…, until it vests itself in this world in children, life, and sustenance….⁵

footnotes: ⁴ Lit., The Life of life (cf. Yoma ⁵ See above, Epistle 11, note 5.

The “principal” is, as it is written: “Mitzvatecha (Your commandment) is very wide.”⁶ Now it should say mitzvotecha—in plural form!⁷, ad loc. (⁸The phraseology of “is wide” is also not comprehensible.)

footnotes: ⁶ Psalms 119:96. ⁷ Cf. Rashi ⁸ Brackets appear in the text.

However, the express form of mitzvatecha refers to the precept of charity, which is truly the mitzvah of the L–rd, which the Holy One, blessed is He, Himself, in all His majesty, performs at all times by animating the worlds, and will do so in the future with exceeding uplifting and force.⁹ And thus it is written:¹⁰ “And they shall observe the way of the L–rd, to do tzedakah….”¹¹ III:113b. Metaphorically speaking, like a road on which one goes from one city to another,¹² is called the “way of the L–rd” because it is like a roadway that enables man to travel from one place to another. so, too, charity is a capacity for a manifestation and radiation of the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, which encompasses all worlds,¹³, or or makif; see above, Epistle 3, note 12. so that in the future, at the Resurrection of the Dead, it will radiate, and become manifest, even to this world, through the arousal from below as an expression of charity and gratuitous kindness, [with an uplifting and force infinitely exceeding the state of manifestation of the radiation in the upper and lower Gardens of Eden]. For in the future all the souls of the tzaddikim, and of the Tannaim and the prophets that are now in the Higher Garden of Eden, at the peak of levels, will become vested in their bodies, and they will arise at the time of the resurrection to derive pleasure from the splendor of the Shechinah.

footnotes: ⁹ Par. Genesis 49:3. ¹⁰ Genesis 18:19. ¹¹ See Zohar ¹² Tzedakah ¹³ The or sovev

That is, the manifestation and the radiation as it is in the Garden of Eden is of the level of memalei kol almin.¹⁴); see above, Epistle 3, note 12. This is a level of the evolution from one rung to another by means of immense contractions,¹⁵, is an immensely screened derivative of the or makif, the radiation of the Divine transcendence. As the worlds develop from higher to lower, the or pnimi is contracted ever more. and as the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory: “The World to Come was created by the yud”¹⁶ 29b.—See above, Epistle 5.—the sphere of the supreme chochmah,¹⁷, by its very form as a simple point, indicates the immense contraction of the Divine light contained in it. The or pnimi thus is related to the sefirah of chochmah (cf. above, Epistle 3, note 12). referred to as the upper Eden,¹⁸ and evolving and vesting itself in all the worlds, as it is written: “You have made them all with chochmah…”¹⁹ and “chochmah animates….”²⁰, s.v. Chochmah (cf. above, beg. of Epistle 5; Epistle 11, note 10; Epistle 14, note 14). In the Garden of Eden (the sphere of chochmah) is in a state of manifest apprehension to each according to his measure.²¹ I:129b; ibid., 135b (Midrash Hane’elam). For as known, the delight of the souls in the Garden of Eden derives from the apprehension of the secrets of the Torah with which one busied oneself in this world with the revealed (parts of Torah) [as mentioned in the sacred Zohar, section Shelach,²² III:169b; cf. ibid., 159b ff. and in the Gemara²³ 86a. with reference to the occurrence with Rabbah bar Nachmeni].

footnotes: ¹⁴ Permeating all worlds (thus the or pnimi ¹⁵ This radiation of the Divine immence, the or pnimi ¹⁶ Menachot ¹⁷ Above, Epistle 5, note 16.—The yud ¹⁸ Ibid., note 17. ¹⁹ Psalms 104:24. ²⁰ Ecclesiastes 7:12.—See Addendum, Mystical Concepts in Chassidism ²¹ See Zohar ²² See Zohar ²³ See Bava Metzia

The manifestation of the radiation at the time of the resurrection, however, will be from the level of sovev kol almin,²⁴; see above, Epistle 3, note 12. which is not in a state of contraction (tzimtzum), measure, and limit, but without limit and end [as the concept of sovev kol almin has been explained in Likkutei Amarim, ch. 48, not to be in its literal sense—like a circle, Heaven forfend, but only that it is not in a state of investment…, note there carefully].

footnotes: ²⁴ “Encompassing all worlds,” thus the or makif

And this is the meaning of what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “And their crowns on their heads, and they take delight….”²⁵ 17a; Maimonides, Hilchot Teshuvah 5:2. Cf. Tikkunei Zohar 36 (78a). A crown (atarah) is something that encompasses and encircles and is called keter²⁶ 70 (135a) on the subtle distinction between keter and atarah. [an idiom of koteret²⁷ 23:2 and cf. Pardes Rimonim 23:11, s.v. Keter. Cf. below, Epistle 29 (note 34, ad loc.).]. It is the aspect of the intermediary which joins the radiation of the Emanator, the En Sof, blessed is He, to the emanated,²⁸ 42:1; cf. Pardes Rimonim 3:1 ff.—See Addendum, ibid., s.v. Keter. and in the future it will radiate and become revealed in this world²⁹ thus is related to the sefirah of keter, transcending chochmah and its apprehension in Eden (cf. above, Epistle 3, note 12). to all the righteous who will rise with the resurrection (³⁰ “And Your people, they are all righteous…”³¹).

footnotes: ²⁵ Berachot ²⁶ Crown; garland. Cf. Tikkunei Zohar ²⁷ Capitol.—See Etz Chaim ²⁸ See Etz Chaim ²⁹ The or makif ³⁰ Brackets appear in the text. ³¹ Isaiah 60:21.

And this is the meaning of what our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “In the future the righteous will be addressed as holy.”³² 75b. Holy is a rank of being separated;³³ it is not subject to apprehension and knowledge, because it transcends the rank of the wisdom and knowledge which there is in the Garden of Eden.³⁴, holy, thus refers to keter, the sefirah which is separate and distinct from the sefirot transcending them all. (See Addendum, ibid.) Chochmah, in itself also distinct and inapprehensible (ibid.), is also referred to as “holy” (see above, Epistle 10, note 41). In that context keter is then called kodesh hakedoshim, the “holy of holies,” i.e., the essential, absolute holiness. See Zohar II:121a. Thus Scripture states: “Chochmah shall be found from ayin”³⁵—i.e., (from) the rank of the supreme keter³⁶ II:42b; 121a; III:290a; and note following. which, in the sacred Zohar,³⁷ III:end of 256b; cf. also references cited above, note 36, and above, Epistle 11, note 11. is called ayin;³⁸ its effluence and radiation are in a state of manifestation only when [after the resurrection] the soul is vested in a pure and clear body. For “Their beginning is wedged—expressly—in their end,”³⁹ 1:7. and “The result of the act is first in thought…,”⁴⁰. as known.

footnotes: ³² Bava Batra ³³ See above, Epistle 7, note 7. ³⁴ Kadosh ³⁵ Job 28:12. ³⁶ See Zohar ³⁷ Zohar ³⁸ Naught; cf. above, Epistle 13, note 40. ³⁹ Sefer Yetzirah ⁴⁰ Liturgy, Hymn of Lecha Dodi

But it is impossible to reach this level until one has been first in the Garden of Eden, to apprehend the aspect of the supreme chochmah⁴¹ according to his measure, and “the dew of Torah revives him”⁴², Introduction 12a; ibid., 19 (38b) (see Ketuvot 111b; cf. Shabbat 88b; Chagigah 12b; et passim).—“And when you will awaken⁴³ it⁴⁴ (cf. Avot 4:13, and below, Epistle 29). will speak for you…,”⁴⁵ I:185a; and Nitzutzei Orot, ad loc. Set also Zohar I:175b; and cf. Avot 6:9; Sotah 21a; Tikkunei Zohar 31 (75b-76a). and suffice it for the initiated.

footnotes: ⁴¹ In the text appears here (in brackets): etc. A parenthesis suggests instead: each one. ⁴² Tikkunei Zohar ⁴³ At the Resurrection of the Dead. ⁴⁴ The Torah, which is called keter ⁴⁵ Proverbs 6:22. Enabling man to reach a level he could not attain previously; Zohar

And this is the meaning of “mitzvatecha is very wide,” i.e., the precept of charity, which is a vessel and a very wide area in which the radiation from the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, is invested (⁴⁶and as it is written: His garment is tzedakah⁴⁷ Atah Hu Elokenu (Machzor, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur).) which in the future will radiate without limit and end, because of the gratuitous kindness in the arousal from below, called “the way of the L–rd.” And that is the meaning of the phraseology “very (wide),” because it is without limit and end.⁴⁸ on Psalms 119:96; Eruvin 21a and Rashi, ad loc.

footnotes: ⁴⁶ Brackets appear in the text. ⁴⁷ Piyut ⁴⁸ See Targum

But “To every tichlah I have seen an end”:⁴⁹ tichlah is an idiom of kalot hanefesh, the yearning of the soul in the Garden of Eden, for there it is in a mode of end, limit, and contraction, as mentioned above. And (the reason it says) “to every tichlah” is because there are numerous levels and rungs of Gan Eden, one higher than the other, to the topmost of levels,⁵⁰, Bereishit 18a. as mentioned in Likkutei Hashass by the Arizal,⁵¹ in explanation of the saying of our Sages, of blessed memory: “Scholars (of Torah) have no rest…,”⁵² 64a. because they rise constantly—from level to level—in the apprehension of the Torah, which had no end…, until after the resurrection, when they will have rest….

footnotes: ⁴⁹ Beginning of the verse (Psalms 119:96). ⁵⁰ See Zohar Chadash ⁵¹ See above, Epistle 5, note 103. ⁵² Berachot