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Igeret Hateshuva
Chapter 8וְהִנֵּה אַחֲרֵי הַעֲמָקַת הַדַּעַת בְּכָל הַנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל
After deeply concentrating on all that was stated above, A flash of inspiration is not enough to create lasting change. Intense concentration, as opposed to cursory thought, is imperative to deeply impact one's soul. Even if a person feels initial shock at his failings, it does not last long enough to make a significant impression on him. To allow the shock to have any meaningful influence that will lead to real change, one must focus his mind to closely examine it.
יוּכַל לְבַקֵּשׁ בֶּאֱמֶת מֵעוּמְקָא דְּלִבָּא ״כְּרוֹב רַחֲמֶיךָ מְחֵה פְשָׁעָי״ וגו׳ (תהלים נא, ג).
one is able to truly implore, from the depths of his heart, "In the greatness of Your mercy, blot out my transgressions... " (Ps. 51:3). During the process of repentance, a person turns to God to beseech Him for help and compassion. The efficacy of this prayer depends on its authenticity. God does not just want lip service. It takes a prayer that emerges from the depths of the heart to reach the core of the supernal "heart" above, the source of compassion and forgiveness.
כִּי אֲזַי תִּקָּבַע בְּלִבּוֹ בֶּאֱמֶת גּוֹדֶל הָרַחֲמָנוּת עַל בְּחִינַת אֱלֹקוּת שֶׁבְּנַפְשׁוֹ וְשֶׁלְּמַעְלָה כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל.
For by then his heart will truly be impressed with immense pity for the divine element within his soul and for the Divine Presence above, as stated above (chap. 7). For the prayer to be answered, it must reach the highest of heights, and therefore it must emerge from the deepest depths of the petitioner's soul. Supernal compassion lies at the root of existence, in the realm of Keter, which represents the divine will. Therefore, the supplication must flow forth from the root of one's soul, which lies in the depth of one's heart. The damage of sin reaches just as deep, to the root of the soul, to the essence of the Divine. Awareness and anguish over this can connect the two ends, the lowest and highest possible realms, repentance from below and forgiveness from above.
וּבָזֶה יְעוֹרֵר רַחֲמִים הָעֶלְיוֹנִים מִי״ג מִדּוֹת הָרַחֲמִים,
Through this, he will arouse supernal compassion from the thirteen divine attributes of mercy, There is an attribute of compassion that is woven into the framework of the universe, of the soul and of human society. The soul and the world at large cannot live without this compassion, just as it cannot survive without the attributes of Ḥesed and Gevura.
הַנִּמְשָׁכוֹת מֵרָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן בָּרוּךְ הוּא הַנִּרְמָז בְּקוֹצוֹ שֶׁל יוֹ״ד שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה מַעְלָה מִבְּחִינַת הַהַשְׁפָּעָה הַנִּשְׁפַּעַת מֵאוֹתִיּוֹת שֵׁם הֲוָיָ״ה.
which are drawn from the blessed supernal will that is alluded to by the tip of the yod of the divine name, which transcends the sustenance that flows from the four letters of the name of Havaya . The thirteen divine attributes of mercy are drawn down from the supernal will, which is signified by the sefira of Keter, which precedes the ten sefirot. If the ten sefirot, from Ḥokhma through Malkhut, are encompassed by the letters of the name of Havaya, Ḥokhma by the yod and so on, then Keter is the crown that lies above the sefira of Ḥokhma; it is the supernal will that is embodied by the tip of the yod. The thirteen divine attributes of mercy channel the supernal will into the worlds, not through the normal progression, through the sefirot of Ḥokhma, Bina, and so on, the pathway embodied by the four letters of the name of Havaya (constriction, expansion, channeling down, and expansion), but rather directly into the worlds as they are. It is an influx that bypasses all the ordinary channels and writes the world anew, as it were. This is the power of repentance and forgiveness. When a person requests of God, "In the greatness of Your mercy, blot out my transgressions," he is essentially asking Him to act against the laws of nature. The absolution of sin can come only from a realm that is not subject to regular principles. Within the system, every action that man does becomes fixed as an eternal fact, as established reality. To nullify a past action, to erase a slice of the reality of the universe, one must exit the entire system; one must request an intervention that comes from a level beyond reality. This is the dimension of the thirteen divine attributes of mercy. The principles that govern the system are like the rules of a game. A person who makes a wrong move cannot just say, "I'm sorry! Let's rewind!" He simply lost the game. But just as there lies an external framework beyond every game that makes canceling the game and starting again possible, so too lying beyond our world is a supersystem that manifests itself in the thirteen divine attributes of mercy, through which the laws and governing principles of the world can be canceled. In light of this, we can turn to God expectantly and ask, "In the greatness of Your mercy, blot out my transgressions."
וְלָכֵן הַי״ג מִדּוֹת הָרַחֲמִים מְנַקִּים כָּל הַפְּגָמִים, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״נוֹשֵׂא עָוֹן וָפָשַׁע וְנַקֵּה״ (במדבר יד, יח).
For this reason, the thirteen divine attributes of mercy cleanse all the blemishes, as it is written at the conclusion of the Torah's enumeration of the thirteen attributes, "Bearing iniquity and transgression and sin; and He will cleanse" (Num. 14:18). These thirteen divine attributes not only preclude punishment by granting absolution. They also repair the actual damage. This transcendent effluence washes and fills in all the flaws and cracks and adjusts all the distortions in the channels of inflow that the sinner managed to damage while stuck in his ignobility, facilitating the ultimate perfection of the self.
וְשׁוּב אֵין יְנִיקָה לְהַחִיצוֹנִים וְהַסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא מֵהַשְׁפָּעַת הֵ״א תַּתָּאָה כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל
When the supernal compassion is awakened, there is no longer any nurturing of the external impure forces and the sitra aḥara from the sustenance that flows from the final heh , as stated above (chap. 6). The final heh of the name of Havaya corresponds to Malkhut and the Divine Presence, the source of sustenance that enlivens the lower world. Due to sin, the final heh separates from the name of Havaya, as it were, so that the sustenance of the name of Havaya, the influx of the divine vitality into the worlds, reaches not only the side of holiness but also the other side, the sitra aḥara. It is like a gift that has been hijacked from reaching its intended destination, like a crack in a pipe that allows water into places that it should not flow. When the pipe is cleaned and the breakage sealed, the leakage of vitality ceases. These divine attributes of compassion cleanse the world that was of every ramification of sin and, in so doing, create a new one. They release the chains that bind the Divine Presence to the realms of the sitra aḥara and the forces of impurity, where it was taken due to sin. They are like "a wind that passes and clears them,"
(וּבָזֶה תָּשׁוּב הֵ״א תַּתָּאָה לִמְקוֹמָהּ לְהִתְיַיחֵד בְּיה״ו וְדַי לַמֵּבִין).
(With this, the final heh is restored to its place, reunited with the first three letters of the divine name – yod-heh-vav ; this is sufficient elaboration for one who understands esoteric wisdom.) When the Divine Presence ceases to be affected by the realms of the sitra aḥara, it is restored to its original place in the name of Havaya, reunited with the first three letters of the name. This description offers a glimpse into what occurs in the broader scope of the supernal realms, when there is a renewed revelation of the supernal divine will, the primordial source of creation that transcends the worlds, into the realms of the lower worlds.
וְכֵן מַמָּשׁ לְמַטָּה בַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹקִית שֶׁבָּאָדָם שׁוּב אֵין עֲוֹנוֹתֵיכֶם מַבְדִּילִים,
It is exactly so below in the divine soul of the person who repents: Your iniquities no longer separate between you and your God, On an individual level as well, when a person regrets his past transgressions and asks for supernal compassion upon his lost soul, then his life and feelings are restored to their initial degree of connection with the source of life in the side of holiness.
וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב ״וְנַקֵּה״ (שמות לד, ז), מְנַקֶּה הוּא לַשָּׁבִים לִרְחוֹץ וּלְנַקּוֹת נַפְשָׁם מִלְּבוּשִׁים הַצּוֹאִים הֵם הַחִיצוֹנִים וְסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא,
as it is written at the conclusion of the verse's enumeration of the attributes, "And He will cleanse" (Ex. 34:7), about which the Rabbis expound, "He cleanses those who repent" (Yoma 86a), washing and cleaning their souls from the filthy garments, which are the external forces of impurity and the sitra aḥara , The garments of the soul are its thoughts, speech, and actions in this world.
כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּגְּמָרָא (סוטה ג, ב) מְלַפַּפְתּוֹ וכו׳.
as the Talmud states, "Anyone who commits one transgression in this world, it shrouds him and goes before him to the Day of Judgment" (Sota 3b). Once a person sins, he cannot just continue on with his life as if nothing happened. The problem with sin is that it does not just affect one's past. It accompanies him where he goes, inextricably intertwined with his being. The sin sticks to a person's personality, to his spiritual self, for his entire life in this world and even afterward in the World to Come. It does not simply leave him after he committed the deed. It runs after him and sticks to him because the person who sinned is the parent of that evil, and it is nourished and continues to exist because of him. A person may be praying the afternoon prayers, and he finds he cannot concentrate. What is holding him back? His sin. He cannot leave the sin behind where it was done because it shrouds him. It does not cease to pollute his thoughts and emotions, to leech from him the life force that gives vitality to his existence. One sin leads to another, just as one contagion leads to another. A person is drawn into a dizzying, increasingly intensifying cycle. The more vulnerable he becomes, the more he is attacked by damaging forces. The puzzle is, how does one break this cycle? How does he escape the laws of cause and effect? This is the great wonder of repentance and the miracle of forgiveness. Until this point, the author of the Tanya discussed the first stage of repentance, the lower level of repentance, restoring the final letter heh to the name of Havaya. At this stage, the penitent renews the connection of his soul with its source. From this idea, the chapter moves on to discuss the second stage of repentance: higher-level repentance.
וּמֵאַחַר שֶׁרוּחַ עָבְרָה וַתְּטַהֲרֵם,
Once the cleansing wind has passed and purified them, Like a wind that clears the sky by chasing away the clouds that hide the light of the sun, lower-level repentance – the broken heart and supplication for compassion – removes the sins that block the light of God.
אֲזַי תּוּכַל נַפְשָׁם לָשׁוּב עַד הֲוָיָ״ה בָּרוּךְ הוּא מַמָּשׁ וְלַעֲלוֹת מַעְלָה מַעְלָה לִמְקוֹרָהּ וּלְדָבְקָה בּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ בְּיִחוּד נִפְלָא. כְּמוֹ שֶׁהָיְתָה מְיוּחֶדֶת בּוֹ יִתְבָּרַךְ בְּתַכְלִית הַיִּחוּד בְּטֶרֶם שֶׁנְּפָחָהּ בְּרוּחַ פִּיו יִתְבָּרַךְ לֵירֵד לְמַטָּה וּלְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּגוּף הָאָדָם (וּכְמוֹ עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל בָּאָדָם הַנּוֹפֵחַ בְּרוּחַ פִּיו, בְּטֶרֶם שֶׁיּוֹצֵא הָרוּחַ מִפִּיו הוּא מְיוּחָד בְּנַפְשׁוֹ).
then their souls are able to return literally to Havaya , to God, blessed be He, and ascend on high to their source and cling to Him in wondrous union, in the same manner that they were united with Him, may He be blessed, in the ultimate union before each soul was blown so it may descend below and become enclothed in the human body. with His breath (This is analogous to a person who blows air from his mouth: Before the breath is emitted from his mouth, it is an inseparable part of him.) In the morning blessings, we recite, "The soul that You gave to me is pure." When in its source, before it is imbued in man, the soul is pure and radiates with the divine light that shines through it. But once the soul descends into the body to engage in worldly matters, its illumination is severely occluded. If a person sins and adds additional layers of concealment, he soils the soul until it can no longer shine as it did. Repentance allows a person to release his soul from the constraints of its filthy garments and bind the final heh of his soul anew to its supernal sources. This is the lower level of repentance, the repentance that restores a person and his world to the situation it was in before the sin. Now the author of the Tanya teaches that the higher level of repentance can propel the penitent to a level that is even higher than he was on before he sinned. It elevates him not only to a loftier station within the world, but to a place far above the world, to a place where he may cleave to God at the root of his soul. The soul returns to its position in the divine essence before God blew the soul into man. The blowing comes from a place even higher than divine speech and thought, higher than the reality of letters, from a place of wondrous unity with the Divine itself, as explained in chapter 4. This is the power of the higher level of repentance.
וְזוֹ הִיא תְּשׁוּבָה שְׁלֵימָה.
This constitutes complete repentance. This higher degree of cleaving is repentance at its most perfect level. This is not the kind of repentance that the Shulḥan Arukh prescribes to reinstate a ritual slaughterer who did not slaughter according to the halakha. Nor does it refer to the repentance a person does to rectify a particular sin, what he must do to reestablish his former spiritual level. It is repentance in its most ideal form: the restoration of the essence of the soul to the unity it enjoyed in its divine source before it came into existence.
וְהִנֵּה בְּחִינַת יִחוּד זֶה וּתְשׁוּבָה זוֹ הִיא בְּחִינַת תְּשׁוּבָה עִילָּאָה שֶׁלְּאַחַר תְּשׁוּבָה תַּתָּאָה,
This unification and this repentance comprise the higher level of repentance, which follows the lower level of repentance, The lower level of repentance entails the restoration of the final heh to its place in the name of Havaya. That is, when a person sins, his divine soul detaches from God, as it were, from its life source and instead receives its vitality from another source, from the sanctums of the sitra aḥara. The first step a person must take is to sever his connection with the other side and restore his bond to the side of holiness, as before his sin. This is the lower level of repentance. Afterward, he can embark on the second stage of repentance, the higher level of repentance, wherein he ascends above and beyond his former spiritual level before his sin, to the unity that he enjoyed even before he was an independent being, when he was seamlessly one with the Divine.
וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזּוֹהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בְּרָעֲיָא מְהֵימְנָא פָּרָשַׁת נָשֹׂא (ח״ג קכג, א) דִּתְשׁוּבָה עִילָּאָה הִיא ״דְּיִתְעַסֵּק בְּאוֹרַיְיתָא בִּדְחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ דְּקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא וכו׳,
as the holy Zohar states in Raya Meheimna , Parashat Naso (3:123a), that the higher level of repentance consists of "studying Torah with fear and love of the Holy One, blessed be He... Higher repentance is achieved after a person has rectified his sin and returned the final heh of the name of Havaya, synonymous with the Divine Presence, to its place in the name. It does not deal with sin, rectification, or one's life at all, but rather with the ascension of the person's soul to unify with the Divine itself and cleave to it. Practically speaking, this means studying Torah, not just in an intellectual way, but with the feeling of devotion inspired by a renewed sense of fear and love.
דְּאִיהוּ בֶּן י״ה בִּינָה״ וכו׳
so that he becomes a ben yod-heh , a "child" of the yod and heh, of the sefira of Bina .... " The Zohar goes on to say that when a person achieves this supernal unification, engaging in the study of Torah with fear and love of God, he becomes a child of the letters yod and heh. Yod and heh, the first letters of the name of Havaya, represent the sefirot of Ḥokhma and Bina respectively. The child of yod and heh, then, refers to the progeny of Ḥokhma and Bina, which are the six emotive attributes, whose core are the emotions of love and fear (corresponding to the sefirot of Ḥesed and Gevura, which are the axes of the six sefirot ). Love and fear are born, so to speak, of Ḥokhma and Bina. In the name of Havaya, these emotions correspond to the letter vav. When one engages in the study of Torah with love and fear, it is as if he inscribes the name of Havaya into his own being, in his heart and mind. He becomes unified with the name of God in absolute oneness, mind with mind, love with love, fear with fear. The connection of Bina to the first heh of the name of Havaya dictates that the higher level of repentance entails the elevation of the first heh in order to unify with that which precedes it, with the letter yod. While the lower level of repentance addresses one's personal relationship with God, higher repentance brings the penitent to relate to his self within God.
(וּמַעֲלַת בַּעֲלֵי תְּשׁוּבָה עַל צַדִּיקִים גְּמוּרִים בָּזֶה הִיא כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזּוֹהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ פָּרָשַׁת חַיֵּי שָׂרָה [קכט, ב], ״דְּאִינּוּן מַשְּׁכֵי עֲלַיְיהוּ בִּרְעוּתָא דְּלִבָּא יַתִּיר וּבְחֵילָא סַגִּי לְאִתְקְרָבָא לְמַלְכָּא״ וכו).
(The superiority of penitents with regard to this over the perfectly righteous, who never sinned, is, as the holy Zohar states in Parashat Ḥayyei Sara [1:129b], "for they draw themselves with greater desire of the heart and with great force to approach the King.... ") The difference between a tzaddik and a penitent, and, in a certain sense, between a soul that never fell and a soul that returned, does not lie in their objective. No doubt they both yearn for the same thing. But the penitent desires it with a greater thirst and drive, which flows from the thirst and feeling of distance that the penitent feels. The perfect tzaddik, who never strayed far, lacks the same depth of yearning.