Translation:Likutei Moharan/24

by Nachman of Breslov

They asked him, “Emtzeuta D’alma Heikha (Where is the center of the universe)?” He pointed up with his finger and said to them, “Here!” “Who says so?” they said to him. “Bring a measuring rope and measure it,” he answered. (Bekhorot 8b)

[Light of the Infinite One]

Know! there is a light higher than nefesh, ruach and neshamah. This is the Light of the Infinite One.

And though the intellect cannot grasp [the Light of the Infinite One], the racing of the mind nevertheless pursues it. And by virtue of this racing, the intellect is able to grasp it in an aspect of “reaching and not reaching.” For the truth is that it is not possible to grasp it, because [this Light is on a level] above nefesh, ruach and neshamah.

[Joy]

And know! It is impossible to even grasp [the Light] in the aspect of reaching and not reaching except by performing the mitzvot with joy. This is because through the joy of the mitzvah, holiness is perfected. It elevates the vitality and the holiness that are in the evil forces, similar to the eleven spices of the incense.

For the evil forces are an aspect of excess, and they correspond to sorrow, as in (Proverbs 14:23), “In all sorrow there is excess.” They are also harsh judgments, corresponding to (Genesis 6:6), “He felt sorrow in His heart….” And the essence of joy is in the heart, as is written (Psalms 4:8), “You have put joy in my heart.”

Now, the exile of the Divine Presence—which corresponds to the heart, the joy of Israel—is primarily when sorrow, the evil forces, overcome her. This is as in, “He felt sorrow in His heart.” Thus it is written that when the Jewish people will go out of exile (Isaiah 55:12): “For you will go out with joy.”

And because of this—that through the incense, the vitality of the evil forces are extracted—it is written of them (Proverbs 27:9), “Incense gladdens the heart.” Thus when a person performs a mitzvah with joy, he then elevates the Divine Presence—which is the mitzvah, the joy of the heart—from among the evil forces.

This is the concept of Malkhut of the World of Action ascending from the evil forces.

[Service of God]

When a person performs some mitzvah, there is power in that mitzvah to go and arouse all the worlds to the service of God. This is as in (Exodus 10:9), “With our children and elders we will go… with our sheep and cattle we will go.” This is the concept of Malkhut enclothing Netzach, Hod, Yesod —the ambulatory organs.

This corresponds to (Psalms 37:31), “The Torah of his God is in his heart; his steps will not falter”—for it goes to arouse. And this is the aspect of (ibid. 68:25), “… the going of my God, my King, in holiness.” When Malkhut is elevated into holiness, it enclothes “the going of my God”— Netzach, Hod, Yesod —so as to go and arouse all things to the service of God.

[Rock of Israel]

Now through this arousal, i.e., through the going, blessing is drawn to all the worlds. This is the concept of Netzach, Hod, Yesod enclothing Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet —the hands, from which all blessings come.

This corresponds to (Genesis 30:30), “God blessed you at my feet.” From this we see that the feet ascend to the aspect of hands, as in (Judges 4:24), “The hand of the children of Israel went and prevailed.”

And the essence of blessings is from the hands, as in (Leviticus 9:22), “Aharon raised up his hands to the people and blessed them.” And it is written (Genesis 49:24), “This was from the hands of Yaakov’s Champion, from there the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.”

[Intellect]

And the main blessing which flows from the hands is intellect. When it [the blessing] descends, it is concretized for each person according to his will, as is written (Psalms 145:16), “Open Your hand and satisfy the will of every living thing.”

Therefore, one who is spiritually sensitive should direct his will so that he draws the blessing of SeKheL (intellect). This is as in (Genesis 48:14), “He SiKeL (crossed) his hands.” This also corresponds to (Exodus 15:17), “A sanctuary, God, may Your hands establish.”

This is the concept of Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet enclothing Chokhmah, Binah, Daat.

[Man of Faith]

It is also necessary to draw faith into the blessing of intellect. For one should not rely solely upon the intellect, as is known.

This corresponds to (Proverbs 28:20), “A man of faith, abundant in blessing”; and to (Exodus 17:12), “His hands were faith”; and to (1 Samuel 24:21), “The malkhut (kingdom) of Israel will be established in your hand”—in other words, one should draw faith into the blessing of the hands.

And this is the meaning of (1 Samuel 2:35), “I will build him a faithful house.” And this is (Psalms 89:6), “… your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.” Holy corresponds to mentalities.

This is the concept of Chokhmah, Binah, Daat of the World of Action being made from the Malkhut of the World of Formation.

[Blessings]

Now from the innerness of the blessings, which is the refined aspect of the blessings, the controls of the intellect are blessed. [These controls] correspond to Keter, as in (Genesis 26:3), “And ehyeh (I will be) with you, and I will bless you.” KeTeR is synonymous with waiting, as in (Job 36:2), “KaTaR (Wait) for me a while.” For when we ask a person something of intellect, he says, “Wait till I compose myself.” And there, as well, EMuNah (faith) is needed; corresponding to “a wondrous ŒMaN (tradesman).”

This is the concept of Keter of the World of Action being made from the innerness of Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, and from the innerness of Malkhut of the World of Formation. This is how the worlds ascend higher, until the World of Nearness, higher and higher.

And this is the meaning of (Ezekiel 3:12), “Blessed is the glory of God from His place.” “Blessed” corresponds to the hands; “the glory of God” is synonymous with faith; “from His place” is the concept of Keter.

[Nine Chambers]

When a person creates and properly rectifies the controls/ Keter, and the mentalities race to grasp the Light of the Infinite One but the Keter restrains the intellect in order to compose it—then, as a result of the racing and restraining, the mentalities strike the controls, creating chambers for the Light of the Infinite One. Nevertheless, [these chambers] are neither known nor make themselves known.

As is brought in the Zohar, the Portion of Noach (I, 65a): “And from inside this curtain, through the chasing of the [upper] thought that reaches and does not reach”—the curtain being the controls/ Keter, which is spread out between the creation and the Creator—“Nine Chambers are created. They are neither [from the level of] lights nor spirits nor upper souls. There is no one who can comprehend them… they do not make themselves attainable or known.”

And know! this is the culmination of knowledge. For the culmination of all knowledge [of God] is when one realizes that one knows nothing.

This is the meaning of (Isaiah 58:11), “He will satiate your soul with splendors.” For these lights are the Splendors, they are higher than the sefirot. Fortunate is he who is worthy of having his mind race to grasp these insights—even though it is not within the power of the intellect to attain them, for “they do not make themselves attainable or known.”

As for these Nine Chambers, they are created as a result of the collision that occurs when the mentalities collide with the Keter while racing. The mentalities are three, and each one is comprised of three because they become encompassed [in each other] while racing. And three times three equals nine. This is the Nine Chambers.

[Reaching and Not Reaching]

{This subject is very deep indeed, who can fathom it? As is clear to the wise, and as the Rebbe Nachman himself hinted to me about the great depths of this awesome mystery, which reaches high above… and as is clear from this lesson to those who study it. There is thus a need to clarify the matter somewhat. As follows:

The Keter is what controls the mentalities; it is the power which the human intellect has to compose and organize the mind and the seat of knowledge so that it does not hazard to cross over the boundary. This power is the aspect of Keter, as explained. It is like a partition which separates between the mentalities and the Light of the Infinite One. For this power, which is the controls, restrains the mentalities at the time of their running and racing so that they do not hazard ascending to God, higher than their partition. This is because the mentalities race in order to grasp the Light of the Infinite One, and this power of the intellect—the controls/ Keter —stands in their way like a partition and restrains them from racing, as above.

And by virtue of the racing and restraining—i.e., the racing of the mentalities in order to grasp the Light of the Infinite One, and the power of restraint, the power of the controls/ Keter —because of these two concepts the mentalities collide with and strike the partition, the controls, and through this chambers are created for the Light of the Infinite One. In other words, the aspect of vessels and chambers are created in the spiritual realm through which to grasp the Light of the Infinite One, blessed is He, in the aspect of reaching and not reaching. For were there no restraining factor whatsoever, were there no one to hold the mentalities back from racing and running, the mentalities would become totally nullified. The person would be voided in Supreme Reality. This is because the Light of the Infinite One is impossible to grasp. But, by virtue of the two aspects, the racing and the restraining, the concept of partitions and chambers are created. Through them one grasps the Light of the Infinite One, [but] only in the aspect of reaching and not reaching.

The explanation of “reaching and not reaching” is known to the initiated: it is attaining and not attaining. One races and strives to grasp, and nevertheless does not attain and grasp. This comes about as a result of the racing and restraining, as explained. And though these chambers are created, they are nevertheless “neither known nor make themselves known. There is no one who can comprehend them… they do not make themselves attainable or known,” as above. For it is impossible to picture the insights of these chambers in the intellect, as they are higher than nefesh, ruach and neshamah —higher than all the Intellects—because they are higher than the sefirot, as explained above in the Rebbe’s own language.

Study [the lesson] well and understand, for I have added nothing at all. My words are all encompassed in his. I have only reviewed and explained the teachings a bit because of their great and infinite depth.

And this is why specifically nine chambers are created. The mentalities are three, but because they race and strike the restraining factor they become encompassed in one another, so that each one is [then] made up of three; and three times three is nine. This is the concept of the Nine Chambers mentioned earlier.

Fortunate is he who is worthy of going and ascending the path of holiness spoken of in this teaching, until he merits these insights.}

[Center of the Universe]

This is the meaning of what the Wise Men of Athens asked:

“Where is the center of the universe?” He pointed up with his finger and said, “Here!” “Who says so?” they said to him. “Bring a measuring rope and measure it,” he answered them.

They asked him: “How is it possible to grasp the Light of the Infinite One?”—for He is the center of the universe, from whom everything draws vitality and bounty.

He pointed up with his finger — This is the concept of blessings, corresponding to, “Aharon raised up his hands and blessed them,” as explained. In other words, through the blessings, the mentalities collide with the Keter and chambers are created.

Who says so? they said to him — Who is it that enters the Chambers of Exchanges, the domain of the evil forces, to elevate the holiness from there—the concept of the incense—and so that through its elevation, the blessings are elevated?

This is the meaning of, “mi yeiMaR (who says so).” Linguistically this resembles teMuRah (exchange), as in (Leviticus 27:33), “if haMeR y’MiRenu (he exchanges it)…” And he answered them:

Bring a measuring rope and measure it — In other words, the primary elevation of holiness is through joy. And in the Future, when the Jewish people will go out of the exile with joy, as in, “For you will go out with joy”—then the evil forces will be totally destroyed.

This is the meaning of “bring a measuring rope.” That is, through you and against your will, the evil forces will be eliminated. For you yourselves [the gentiles] will bring the House of Israel from the exile. They [the House of Israel] are called a “measuring rope,” namely, “the rope of His inheritance” (Deuteronomy 32:9). As it is written (Isaiah 66:20), “And they will bring [all] your brethren”—the House of Israel.

With his hands, each and every gentile will bring the House of Israel from exile, by virtue of the abundant joy that will exist at that time. As is written (Psalms 126:2,3), “Then they will declare among the nations, ‘God has done greatly with these’… we were joyous.”

And through the joy, the evil forces will be eliminated, corresponding to (2 Samuel 8:2), “And they measured them with a rope, making them lie down on the ground.” This is the meaning of, “measure it”: namely, the measuring to destroy them.