Thursday, March 31, 2011

True Love p: 47

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 47 3/31/2011 Thursday 25 AdarBase 5771

Page 47 - a few lines below the middle of the page (line starts: vechai...)

Knowing the metzius/object is from the outside. Knowing the mehus/essence is from the inside.

The tzaddik surely appreciates G-dliness, but rather he is one with Him! He knows the essence since he knows it from G-d's perspective.

Metzius is how something is present in contrast to other things. Mehus is not involved with anything else – 'it is what it is – from an insider's perspective'. There's a big world, how can you be who you are? Ha-arah / reflection is involved with world. But mehus is on the level of essence.

This is the difference between hashpaa of sechel vs that of leida (birth).



Mother and father provide the body of the child and He provides the soul. When the birth is not according to His will He still provides the soul, but unwillingly. In proper relations, the third partner, G-d Himself is invited from the outset. Hence one is aware that G-d is unifying the man and woman to draw down a soul.

Quantitative infinity is made up of units and hence there is an outside. For the real qualitative infinity, one and a million are the same. All the pieces are already there. There is no outside. Nothing can be added there. This is metzius in yoshar – one has an independent G-dly creation.

Angels have their function defined. As great as they are, they are functional. For example Gavriel is gevurah. Hence they can only understand chitzoni. Souls are not functional – it is a mehus – they are essential.

Similarly the root of energy that becomes an angel, is also from ohr ein sof. This is to say that even to appreciate an external superficial value one needs a sense of the truth behind it.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

“Let's get together” p: 47

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 47 3/30/2011 Wednesday 24 AdarBase 5771

Page 47 - at about a third into the page (line starts: ubelimud guf...)

One actually connects to the essence, by doing a mitzvah and learning the statements of halacha (Jewish law). And this connection is not via sechel. mehus/essence is a direct connection to the King – and this is where the command comes from.

From the perspective of the animal soul it is a matter of submission and accepting the yoke. For the G-dly soul this is where she feels at home.

Page 47 from the top.  Ayinbase of the Rebbe Rashab


In contrast to prophesy, here below knowledge is based only on metzius not mehus, since it has to relate to the body. This is like the sunlight illuminating the darkness, by means of the metzius of light, not the essence, since the darkness remains dark.



“No-one can see Me and live”, said Hashem to Moshe Rabbenu, can also be read to say, not even the holy angels cannot see and relate to Him. They are rooted in a union that is external. Something brought the sphirot together. The union is representative of something beyond them, but it is only a ha-araah/reflection. Chochmah has an insight that is pertinent to binah. This is the external element of chochmah. The experience of a sight cannot be translated.

People form groups and circles of friends. This involvement with others is revealing a deeper element. Being involved in a civil environment or learning with a friend have tremendous benefit. But we can see that this is just looking a the functional level. We can see there is a higher element. One sees himself not as an individual, but as one of a community, this is a higher perspective of what he is, but he sees just the external level.

The alte rebbe says, that he learned from his teachers, that if ten jews sit together, even if not learning, but talking idle conversation, an angel would get burned by the holiness/intensity of this gathering. This is the mehus. The inner level of the gathering that we don't perceive.

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

“Trust me, I saw Him” p: 47

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 47 3/29/2011 Tuesday 23 AdarBase 5771

Page 47 - at about the 11th line of the page (line starts: levad...)

Ha-arah is a reflection and a composite. It doesn't have its own presence. Mehus is a true representative of a G-dly reality.

On the human level the sechel creates, the love and fear. There are 2 types/levels. There is one level where one knows the truth, though it is not fully realized. One says, 'I know this is the truth, though I don't fully relate to it'. And so the fear and love that results is on the basis of sechel, not direct relating.

When one fully/directly perceives on the sechel level, then the love and fear are directly inspired and have a 'self-standing' reality. But even this level is also chitzoni/external. The love and fear are based on realizations of 'features' of Hashem. The pnimius is called the 'truth of truth'. It is not experiential.

Grasp of the Essence is by doing mitzvoth and learning the body of halacha. The king is not just a wise man who gives wise directives. You do the will of the King since He is present in the directives. In malchus we get the essence – the King Himself. In doing the mitzvah you get the mehus. You have a direct connect to Him. Doing a mitzvah says, 'there is a King, not there are rules I have to obey'.



What makes doing the right thing real? Not because it is right. Not because the sechel demands it (sechel is just discovery not essence). I do right because the King is there directly.

To act rationally and eat with a spoon rather than to put one's face into the food, may have logical/practical reasons, but why do we adhere to this? Because one has to do the right thing, not due to sechel, but because the human essence demands one act according to sechel.

Who says a human being has to be a human being? What is compellling about 'common sense'. It is based on the fact that the world is a creation. And there is a Creator.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Created as Such p: 47

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 47 3/28/2011 MondayNight 22 AdarBase 5771

Page 47 - at 9th line of the page (line starts: ha-arah levad...)

We have been explaining how all creations are just a reflection of their source and not an essence...

there is no inyan atzmi in the entire creation. Even sechel and hasagah – mindfulness only a reflection. In the sechel that senses G-dliness, there are 2 elements – a logical argument doesn't give us a real sense. To masig/relate to anything it has to be real. So where does it become a reality? In emunah/faith. Sechel is a koach ha nefesh – a soul faculty – a pure faculty in the person, but it is dressed in the body and thus of the neshamah element there remains just what the body can relate to.

Essence is created as such. It came to be 'just the way it is'. It does not develop in stages. That only exists in the G-dly realm.

Why do we busy ourselves with 'essence' so much if it is beyond our grasp? To make us feel bad? A major piece of Tanya –  the Alte Rebbe talks about simcha. One reflects that he is a host to the shchinah. Learning these things of chassidus, opens one's mind to understand that one is a host, and to sense, 'who' one is hosting. This gives life to a person. Our joy is not in terms of how great we become, but our joy of 'how great is the G-d that we are serving'.

We say the word is created from the sphirah of malchus. And it is the lowest of the them – it reveals the least of the King. It speaks the least of His greatness. Just like a king of flesh and blood, the army and commands don't speak of his wisdom. Now if you know his wisdom you may know more. But where do you have Him? In his malchus. Malchus is the presence of the King himself.

In the nation the king is present in every locale. This is malchus. You have very little knowledge, but you have the king himself.

We know that we don't know – we realize the greatness of the King. It is not about us, it is about Him. We have joy and elation – there is reality to our world.

Malchus tells us the least, but gives us the King himself. Malchus is not a statement, it is a presence. We have a world with great reality – starting from a physical level. What does it represent? Why is it real under all circumstances? Because He wants it to be!



Having a hasagah in elokus... what is possible? I have some level direct knowledge. This is in emunah. Emunah is direct knowledge. Steadfast. It cannot be altered. It is an inherent reality. Emunah is on the one hand beyond our understanding. On the other hand it is the point we get from the nefesh – almost like the nefesh itself. It does not translate into the body, since the body goes through process and changes.

Emunah is like a point of reality coming into the body. This point makes elokus/G-dliness real, since it is a piece of neshamah that we experience. There is a spark of G-dliness and on account of this there can be mesirat nefesh – giving over the soul.

Amalek is unforgivable. Why? Amalek 'cooled you off on your path'. The path was after the exodus from Egypt to get the Torah at Sinai. Israel was aflame with soul purpose. Pharoah saw miracles, not G-d.

When Amalek saw the soul flame this is equivalent to seeing G-d's presence. He had the audacity to interfere with this. He went against G-dliness and thus he is identified as the enemy of G-d. The enemy of the Jews is the enemy of G-d.

Israel has a knowledge a of G-d that is more than a reflection, but it cannot be grasped with sechel/mind. Emunah is this G-dly spark, unaffected by the body.

Emunah does not ask the body for permission, or if it understands.


Who Are You? p: 47

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 47 3/28/2011 Monday 22 AdarBase 5771

Page 47 - at the middle of the 4th line of the page (line starts: hasechel...)

We have been explaining how all creations are just a reflection of their source and not an essence...

Sechel is only a ha-arah – a reflection. It relates to a subset of reality.

A table was created during the 6 days of creation. It was made in 'na-aseh adam...' in which man and all articles he uses were made... We cannot identify the essence of the table. Sechel cannot grasp essence, only function.

One's knowledge of G-dliness is called emunah/faith – which is constant and steady, not a functional faculty. However the emunah that we has is only a ha-arah/reflection of what elokus/G-dliness really is. Emunah is still a manifestation.



Essence is on the level of 'no thought can grasp'. To grasp/tofes something is done from the edges, but this is not the issue here. We don't even identify it as a presence. What we do identify is the externality. Mind and grasp can only apply to 'something that so-called, 'exists'' and elokus is something that does not have the limit of existence.

Gemara says, 'one who eats in the market/street resembles a dog' and it can be discussed at length, but the essential point cannot be grasped.

The statement something makes of its presence – that is open to our understanding. The level of mehus or identity unto itself is not open to be understood. It is said, 'Success makes the man', but this is not true. A person has a soul that pushes for certain activity in the world.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Standing and Walking p: 47

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 47 3/27/2011 Sunday 21 AdarBase 5771

Page 47 - at the top of the page (line starts: mehut...)

We are in the middle of explaining how all creations are just a reflection of their source and not an essence...

And when there is a revelation of G-dliness that is about their level they become nullified. This is not like the submission of Isreal to receive, it is complete nullification since they lack the personal resource to receive this new revelation.

Compare this to the Jews – we have transplanted our practices into many different places in the world – the chassidim told the previous Rebbe that America is different and that his projects would not work here – this shows the dramatic difference of the environment. But souls have the capacity to dig in and find a novel resource – we say 'you are not bound by your experience! You can find new resources and new terrain!' And hence the the rebbe was able to reveal this new strength in his people...

The baal tshuvah has a big challenge. Keeping kosher, shabbat and putting on the tephilin is the easy part! To see through a torah perspective is a complete reversal. And rising up to that new view is the challenge.

The angel stands and all is based on his original perspective. We walk and jump. Walking is slow progress and this is where real change occurs.

The suffering of prison is that the self is not engaged. Our exile is like jail. You cannot go back to your own resource of the the koach/faculty hamaskil/of mind.

A person likes things to be clean and in order. He is uncomfortable with dirt. This is a reflection of what a human being is. This discomfort is just a reflection of the real thing. He is being pricked and he reacts. The essential truth behind it is not a re-active truth. It is proactive.

Sechel, though only a reflection is able to be masig/comprehend elokus/G-dliness. It relates to the reflection of elokus/G-dliness.

From the perspective of thought, G-dliness does not exists – it is the 'nothingness' – so what is the 'grasp' that it has - it is a different kind of hasaga/grasp. In the world we understand, by means of beginning middle and end. We see by virtue of contrast. Elokus is different – it is based not on observation, but on emunah/faith.

And faith is not blind – it is the clearest vision. Emunah means steadfast. Without deviation. Possibility of change does not exist. Emunah is the steadfast element in the human being. What in our world is unchanging – nothing! So what is the emunah he has? Where does he get it? It does not come from his experience. The emunah emanates from the soul – the life the soul gives the body is just a reflection, even though it does have an aspect of eternity.

So there is such a truth that is given that is eternal - this is emunah. Emunah is intangible and cannot be pinned down. Hence our consciousness of it is open to doubt. We try to define and grasp it with out hands!!



This is why it is called, 'blind faith', since none can see it's basis and it is intangible. It is the knowledge of the reality of life and redemption that will not be shaken. We know that reality is the real thing.

And here our sechel/mind gets a view of elokus. This is the bitul in sechel – the humility of mind. This 'grasp' of sechel is by bitul/humility. The mind has to leave all metzius/physicallity and relate to the steady truth of ein/nothingness.

The Rambam says the principle of wisdom is that there is a First Being that preceded all, including one's own mind. This elokus element is the real element.

Friday, March 25, 2011

The Source of Things p: 46

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 46 3/25/2011 Friday 19 AdarBase 5771

Page 46 - last 4 lines of the the page (line starts: beTorat bitul...)

creations are a reflection of the source that creates them. They are not even a reflection – rather a 'reflection of the reflection'. All existence in the world, 'exists and dissipates'. Gold is an exception and was made for use in the beis hamikdash / the temple in Jerusalem.

Human beings in terms of their physical life are also 'reflection of a reflection'.



Without sechel, things seem real in the world since they are grasped in a 'metziut yesh' and they sense their existence and they don't sense their vulnerability, 'I am here because I am here' he declares.

The sense the creation has, without sechel, begins with his own yeshus. You can see with your eyes or you can see with you hands. The sight experience of an animal is 'with your hands' – everything is viewed from a perspective of what effect it will have on him. 'I exist' is the first knowledge and all is seen through this lens. But the 'I exist' is false – there is no reality to it – actually, 'I exist because everything else exists'.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Light and Reflection p: 46

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 46 3/24/2011 ThursdayNight 18 AdarBase 5771

Page 46 - last quarter of the the page (line starts: beTorat bitul...)

all creations (but not the souls of Israel) were created by the union of chochmah and the binah. The creation is dependent on the light that creates it. If the light is strengthened the creation is nullified.

Something too is seen in neshamas/souls. Not that they are nullified, but that they are drawn to the light.

This is to say they are representative of the light that gives them support, but not completely free-standing. And the Rambam brings that verse, “there is no truth like His truth” - meaning all that you look at is from a G-dly energy – like the rooster that crows in the morning...

You look at the world an it appears 'so real' – this is due to the G-dly element in it – not due to the world itself. We see a whole vista at a glance – we see the truth of it's presence – that which facilitates its being. This is like seeing a table and the settings – and you grasp it all. The Rambam says, the world is very real to us, and that is because it is representative of the G-dly truth, which is the basis of it.

We see a decanter on the table – and we see that someone put it there. We see the truth of it – the human element, that says, 'it belongs here'. “There is no truth, like His truth”.


The world is undeniable because, in a very deep way we experience the world not just 'being there' but 'being made and presented right now!' This is what makes it so real for us.

It is real to us, yet we can close our eyes, and its not there for us. If we just focus on the physical we can easily deny the world. The moon is important to us – we set up our calender by the moon and make a bracha on the new moon, 'yet when they land on the moon they will be disappointed with what they find there...' This means that if you see it for the purpose for which it was made then it is very important, but if you go just for the physical perspective, then it is just a rock in space...!

Everything in the world, looks like a real thing... It is a composite of many parts and when it is put together it represents something real.



We have talked about how the world changes all the time, but as a whole it represents something true and unchanging. It is rooted in 'igulim' – a level beyond time. The world in essence represents a truth. On the other hand this truth is represented only on a ha-arah/reflection level. The world alludes to the light itself – alludes to the essence.

5 lines from the end of the page: it there would be a revelation of more than the allotted light, the creatures would be nullified. Man is a soul in a body. It receives a reflection of true life, but still needs to eat and sleep etc. If the body received more than that then it would cease to be guf and would lose it's physical requirements. Moshe didn't need to eat.

The righteous go 'from strength to strength' – they rise higher and higher on the basis of their earlier comprehension. They are able to absorb more than there allotted light – this is because their essence is more revealed.

The Rooster Calls p: 46

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 46 3/24/2011 Thursday 18 AdarBase 5771

Page 46 - about a third from the top of the page (line starts: ach...)

Angels have yediah and hasagah, they are full-fledged entities. They are excited by what they realize and sing about it! How does the union of chochmah and binah above create angels – angels with a full experience?! We had been thinking of this of kind of union being external and not able to create a mehus.

The answer is that this creation of angels and that level of creatures, are not davar mamash.

The rooster and all creatures are rooted above.

Everything that occurs here below is really a reflection. The rooster call, when alerted from above. This is a reflection of the angel Gavriel alerting the souls above.

When we follow through on an action that seems rational, it is because it is a reflection of a higher truth, 'this is the way it should be...'

One can have a rebellious youth and there is nothing compelling one to act rationally. It is a higher sense coming from the soul – a reflection – that defines right and wrong and a proper balance.

Car racing is rooted in tzimzum. It is a world of darkness without a spark of light. So too the underworld – it is below the tzimzum. It is based only on the tangible.



If the shoresh should be revealed on the creation, then he will lose his existence all together. The rooster will still crow, but it will no longer be a rooster experience. It would just be the higher experience. This is like hashem showing his 'small finger' and the contentious angels were nullified. This is contrast to Israel that can say, 'zeh keili ve-anvey-hu – this is my G-d and I will praise him!' - they could see G-d, their source, and yet still be themselves and praise Him.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Encompassing Light p: 46

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 46 3/23/2011 Wednesday 17 AdarBase Purim 5771

Page 46 - 5 lines from the top of the page (line starts: venivro-im...)

Yesterday we identified the level of light called ha-arah/reflection.

A main, subtle point in this area, there seems to be an implication that creation is just from the transfer of chochmah, but there has to be a union. It needs to be understood that the whole idea of flow from one level to another is representative of an element that is superior to both of them. This is what called the makif. It is this superior light that is revealed by the union.

Chochmah and binah are so different. The light that encompasses both of them facilitates their union.

The rav's/teacher's sense of the universality is the makif that enables him to give part of the truth to the student.

A child is loved in part because one has a sense of eternity. This gives a sense of scale beyond one's on existence – it goes across time and space. This is what his chochmah recognizes. In terms of marriage this is the chupah that encompasses the whole world and this is what facilitates the zivug/union.



Now inside the text: at the end of the 5th line on page 46. Angels have yediah and hasagah, they are full-fledged entities. They are excited by what they realize and sing about it! How does the union of chochmah and binah above create angels – angels with a full experience?! We had been thinking of this of kind of union being external and not able to create a mehus.

The answer is that this creation of angels and that level of creatures, are not davar mamash.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Levels of Light p: 46


AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 46 3/22/2011 Tuesday 16 AdarBase 5771

Page 46 - 2 line from the top of the page (line starts: chulu...)

Ohr is representative of an etzem/essence.

An essence is not a composite.

Essence means that it is what it is 'through and through'.

An etzem by definition has ohr. Why? If something is not a composite, it means that it is representative of a fundamental reality/truth. A table has a function. It is finite. For it to exist it needs to be made up of components and materials. Essence doesn't have components and thus represents an absolute reality – thus it has the element that it's truth is not just true unto itself, but universally – this it it's ohr.

The union of chochmah and binah is external. The result is only an ha-araa. Sechel represents an insight of the teach. Sechel is the means of representing this truth.

The teacher presents his sechel, based on the universal truth based behind the sechel. This means the hashpaa of sechel is real. There is ohr/light, not just information. What kind of light? Only a ha-araa. It illuminates even the student who cannot access the source of the sechel.



“Generations come and go and the earth stands forever” – a verse in koheles. A subway car can handle all the people, but one after the other, not all at once. This is logical, but it points to a deeper truth. There is infinity in the world. And the world can handle everyone so long they give space for each other.


Monday, March 21, 2011

Constant Union p: 45 - 6


AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 45 3/21/2011 Monday 15 AdarBase Purim 5771

Page 45-6 – 4 lines from the end of page 45 (line starts: shezehu...)



chochmah and binah have a constant union and this is like the joining of ein/nothing and yesh/something. This is the source of the worlds coming into existence.



Sunday, March 20, 2011

Choose Life p: 45

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 45 3/20/2011 Sunday 14 AdarBase Purim 5771

Page 45 – lower third of the page – 5 lines from the end of the page (line starts: al yeday... at the word “hinei”)

Chochmah and binah is the unity of ein/nothing and yesh/something. This is the creation of the worlds.

Yesh/something has to be rooted in ein/nothing. These things are elusive in our world if something is created it means it is not a fundamental existence. It was brought into existence and it can cease to exist. Its presence is dependent. The real presence of the creation is based on its connection to the ein/nothing.

The ratzon is the human sense of value. This gives things a reality. Even though the hand is used to place the object it is the wish/ratzon that motivates the movement...

we see the scene at a glance – we see the whole thing. What is it that we see? The ratzon – as if everything came into existence by my wish! This is an element of ein. This is ein in the human context – this is life itself.

This is something that originates from life itself.

Binah does not understand chochmah. It is illuminated by it, but cannot experience it.

We try to understand. You see a panorama. You look at it for a long time. But though you may remember it you just have the experience when you experience it. It has to do with ratzon. You don't decide what there is to see. If you see what you want to see, then that's not sight, that's looking with your hands.

We discussed before, darkness and light. In the dark by touch you can feel the whole setup of a room. But compare that to light and seeing the room. Touching an object and knowing that its there means that you knock against it – you identify an object by a negative process. All of science and philosophy is based on this – there is a contstant conflict between all objects and processes – humans grew by fighting the elements. This is living in the dark. You know of things only by negative effect.

Knowing something in the light is due to a positive experience. It is an infinite reality – it comes from ein. You see what it stands for. You see what it's message is.

Ratzon is the real life. I want to live because I want to live, not because I don't want to die.



Chochmah relates to this light. Chochmah has bitul it realates to reality itself and not from fear. If binah is fed by chochmah then it has this settled light way. This is what Tanya brings – 'there is nothing in holiness except what derives from chochmah'.

Chosing to live like a human being is based on the recognition of something beyond oneself. The world has light and reality. A beast doesn't see this. The first step is to live by choice. Live like a human being.

Friday, March 18, 2011

The Experience of Life p: 45


Cape Town, Cape Point, South Africa
AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 45 3/18/2011 Friday 12 AdarBase 5771

Page 45 – lower third of the page – about 10 lines from the end of the page (line starts: ahroch...)

Ocean waves are intriguing – if you reflect on the mechanics of the wave, you lose the beauty. It is a physical phenomenon, but He wants us to notice both, the spiritual and the tangible elements.

The one who say, 'I choose the king' – is saying 'I'm going for the source and purpose of reality'. This is chochmah/wisdom. From this devolves binah/understanding, with its formatted and practical/tangible output.

Understanding and comprehension are in the realm of existence of things. Once something becomes a presence in your mind, then it doesn't just exist while you are looking at it – it has become a reality in your mind.

Chochmah and binah are constant companions for the purpose of the sustained existence of the world. They have a constant union.

From their union, which is the joining of nothing and something, comes into existence all the creatures.

For us to do any physical act, we need physical strength/control. But then there is a factor that is completely obscured – this is the life force. Without this force, all the muscle in the world, won't do anything. It is the union of chochmah and binah that keeps binah alive.

yesh/something comes from ein/nothing. The source of all is Elokus, which is ein in the most absolute sense. Without this spark of G-dliness there is nothing.

The continual rejuvenation of the world is due to the ongoing unity of ein and yesh. If one tries to make a 'something' out of the chochmah/nothingness then you lose everything. It is like trying to catch the moon in a barrel of water. You can witness, you cannot analyze.



“I created the whole world, but My glory I will not give to another”, says Hashem. You cannot recognize Elokus without recognizing Him. You cannot incorporate Elokus as a part of the worldly presence.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Surface and Beyond p: 45

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 45 3/17/2011 ThursdayNight 11 AdarBase 5771

Page 45 – lower third of the page (line starts: ein le maaluso...)

Ein means essentially 'nothing'. This 'nothing' can be seen in one of 2 ways – either insignificant or as undefinable.

A surface is only a reflection of real space. But the surface is supported by a real background or base. So too in chochmah – it is an observation, so seemingly only 2 dimensional, but then it looks further and gets the depth – the truth of the matter. This truth cannot be transmitted to binah, but binah can sense that chochmah has this truth element.

Chochmah is the intermediary between infinity and world. What is the link between bitul/humility and wisdom?

The medrash says, that this is compared to a king that entered a country and all recognized him. The people look and see how they can relate to the king and his entourage. Each asks how do I achieve my ends...? The farmer looks for the minister of agriculture etc... Then came one wise man who said, 'I take the king, the king is my choice, I relate to the king only!' The king is the real thing and in his wisdom the wise man realizes the metzius is insignificant and he wants the real thing. A country without a king is a country without a head.

The wise man cannot understand the king, but he knows that all else is insignificant.

2D space is a reflection of 3D space. Without 3D space you couldn't have 2D space.

Haskalah is sechel and it is our way of understanding a topic. In that defining there is a point – a central theme/unity. Even though it is a haskalah the point is still not graspable since it is part of a deeper reality. What is the point of a haskalah. This is an insight/realization that comes as a point. It is understanding at a level where it did not yet become a real entity. This point emanates from the essence but is not yet graspable.



It is thus called a spark, a lighting bolt that cannot be grasped.

Both elements of chochmah are true - its somethingness and its nothingness!

You can sense something that is not a metziut/something and yet you can sense it – this is preceived only in wisdom. You can only find it if you ask, 'what is the truth?' It cannot be forced on you and it cannot be shown to you. This wisdom is completely dependent on you ratzon/will.

This is the wise man saying, 'I choose the king!' Beyond what was said before the ministers are seen, 'out and about'. The king is totally obscure. He is present on every street corner of his country and yet he is obscure/secluded. Who can recognize his presence? The wise man. He sees the truth behind everything, but it is not a metziut.


Deeper Than That! p: 45


AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 45 3/17/2011 Thursday 11 AdarBase 5771

Page 45 – middle of the page (line starts: makor le-olamot...)

In the world you see things in stages, but in chochmah you first see the source and then you see it's function. This is chochmah. This is atzilus. You have ohr ein sof – but concealed. We see the panorama at a glance – we attend first to the reality and then later the details.

When you enter a room and you see all the details, the first glance gives you the purpose, “Oh, look at this bright wedding hall...” This is like His purpose preceding the creation/formation of the world.

The chochmah of atzilus is called ein/nothing.

Ha-arah has been discussed before. Light/ohr and ha-arah/reflection are both emanations from the essence/etzem. Ohr is the level of representing the full true element of light. Same has been said of the neshamah – it is life itself, not that which makes the experience of life – this is light.

Then there is Ha-arah – this is not the essence of light, but rather the functional effect of light. This ha-arah relative to the essence is really ein/nothing – it is just a reflection of it.

Recently we have been using the mashal/metaphor of 'space'. We see a panorama – we see what space provides, but the reality of space is deeper than that! Objects do not occupy space at it's essential level, only at the functional level.

When we see the huge expanse at a glance, we are seeing the essential element of space, not the function. And that we can see in an instant – it is an essential reality.

This is the meaning of 'past, present and future; like one'. All of time in an instant. You are seeing how the function is provided for not on the functional level but on the essential level. You have the ein/nothing and the yesh/something.



The ein/nothing cannot be seen, but we see there is a nothing there that substantiates everything.

We say sight and chochmah is phenomenal – we see the G-dly presence, the reality behind the world. We say, “the eye sees and the heart desires” - without sight the world is not real.

Atzilus is a memutsah – it has both – the ein/nothing representing G-dliness and the ein/nothing representing functionality and the 10 sphirot.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

All at a glance p: 45


AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 45 3/16/2011 Wednesday 10 AdarBase 5771

Page 45 – closer to middle of the page (line starts: haolamot...)

The meaning of world and the source of world was discussed yesterday. World means essentially ohrot/lights in keilim/vessels. This is like light can be seen only when it hits an object, that serves as a vessel and this gives it a presence we can perceive. At this level it is not essential. Tzimzum is what downloads essence and makes it perceptible to us.

Above atzilus all is as yet in the aspect of total concealment. And atzilus represents the revelation of the ohr ein sof so that it will be the source for the lower worlds.

Look at it this way: chochmah is like sight. Hearing is a sequential experience. Sight is 'all at a glance'. The 'glance' is a paradoxical experience – it is a single point, yet at the same time it can include a whole vista with varied objects/textures... How to reconcile this? The glance contains 2 levels. One is the level of the instantaneous (the sighting of that which contains all the details – the reality itself). This is like, “all these objects here on the table, are present due to the fact of our coming together to learn”. When we see the panorama we don't see the objects, we see the 'reality of the world'.



This is the special feature of chochmah/sight. While it sees from the fundamental/nekudah perspective, contained therein are all the details. How can space be in one point?! This is because it is one reality. All is resting on the earth that is 'hanging in mid-space'. Sight and chochmah see things from a reality perspective.

Atzilus is the epitome of this chochmah. It has bitul. It is not interested in itself, but in the reality behind it. It unites all of space into one point. Thus you have space and point.

This reality refers to the ein sof, but it is still hidden there.

The reason we experience a panorama is due to the shades and colors. If you were in mid-space you also have an expanse, yet each position there is the same as every other – so it doesn't really exist in space/time. This is like atzilus above chochmah.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Source and Destination p: 45

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 45 3/15/2011 Tuesday 9 AdarBase 5771

Page 45 – about a third from top of the page (line starts: haolamot...) at the end of the line.

The kav/line is later drawn from the nekudah/point. The nekudah is found in the reshima/trace discussed yesterday. Everything in the world has a process – beginning, middle and end. In Ohr Ein Sof there is no process – in every point there is everything.
This is like the fact that in every human cell, is contained the DNA for the entire body. Worldliness is process, but there is infinity in the world.

The point that was left behind after the tzimzum became the source for the worlds. This is like the letter yud in Hashem's name.

Being a source to the world (makor le-olamot): ohr has a self-contained reality, but ha-arah/reflection has the effect of the light, but lacks a self-contained reality. Light is not seen unless it strikes an object. But the sun itself is a bright orb that can easily be seen. This is to say that the light is noted only when it has a function and hits an object.

A car and a human can both move. But the movement of the car only exists when it actually moves – it has only the functionality of movement, but not the essence. The human being, even when not moving is an entity of movement. Similarly the sunlight that comes to us is only the functional level of light – this is the definition of world. This is ohr be keili – a light in a vessel – without essence. World – olamot is not a real presence – it is the effect of a presence.



So thus to make worlds you cannot bring an essence. Like the essence of the neshamah/soul cannot be placed in the body cos then it would be life itself, not a living body.

Atzilus is the point that remains after the tzimzum and that permits it to be the source to the worlds. This is a point of chochmah - this is like sight – a glance that contains the whole view.


Monday, March 14, 2011

Essential Participation p: 45


AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 45 3/14/2011 Monday 8 AdarBase 5771

Page 45 – at the 6th line from top of the page.

We live in an upside down world. Physicality seems to be the most real. The truth is that the spiritual/purpose is the most real. It was made this way so that eventually truth can be seen to be coming from the world itself.

All that is done in the world has a trickle/imprint of the original ratzon/will that drives it and gives it reality. The will to live is not a reaction to a threat. It is a self-contained real spirit that wants to express itself. It is the initiator of everything. It cannot be identified. It is in a hidden state. A state of helem. This is like a name – it relates to the essence of a person, yet it is that which identifies a person as part of the big world. It is so significant to the person that it can revive him from a faint. This is because deep in his soul being part of the world and being made by Him is the most significant and all his activities are rooted in this ratzon.

Helem means not that something is lacking, but that they are in an essential state. In this world it may seem that someone does an activity due to a secondary reason, but in the ratzon the participation is essential.



The Baal Shem Tov says a Jew may land up on a desert island due to a whole chain of secondary reasons, but the truth is that there was Devine intent that he land up there to purify that place.

You not a 'stranger in a strange land', your nefesh recognizes a significance in your activities. The real sechel is that, 'I want to understand'. The background to the understanding is the ratzon. If you are sure the needle is in the hay-stack then it is possible to find it. The ratzon is what tells you its there.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

The Recognized Source p: 45

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 45 3/13/2011 Sunday 7 AdarBase 5771

Page 45 – at the 6th line from top of the page.

The principle of writing is not the paper nor pencil, but the message. The external element is that it can be written on paper.

When the writing is erased, the entire message is contained in the remaining trace. All you have is that something was here. This is the external element of the light. Hishtalshalus/downloads is only possible with this external element of light.

The trace contains a point that incorporates the whole element of light. On the one hand it is a trace and a point, but in an essential way is contained light that cannot relate to world, but it is completely concealed. The trace is reminiscent of the message/writing that had been there.

When the Rebbe Rashab was passing, he was only 60 and it happened suddenly, his bed was brought down to the study hall and he said, “i am going to heaven, and the writings i'm leaving to you” - he's saying, 'I'm going above, but I'm staying here with you since I am in the writings.' The trace shows that there was spillage not of ink, but of a soul here.

In our mashal/metaphor the writing is erased, because it was too much – too powerful – too revealing.

Behelem/hidden means, not that you can't see it, but that it is an allusion to it.

P 45 ayinbase - Rebbe Rashab (right click to enlarge)


The Baal Shem Tov says that this world is literally infinite – we will never get to the bottom of the secrets and resources that He implanted in the earth. Not so long ago there was a suggestion to close the US patent office! People felt that everything had already been invented! Now we see new developments/inventions every 5 minutes!



The G-dly element in the world is not contained in the world – it is the truth of the wold. Elokus is behelem. It is hidden and sustains the world from a higher perspective. From a truth perspective there is contained in the reshima/trace the origin of the world.

Science speaks on a relative level, Torah on an absolute level. Torah doesn't speak in a worldly context.

In general to define what is contained in this trace: the entire aspect of the ohr that will ultimately be revealed in worlds.

The tzimzum is a reduction to a point, but like the treasure house that is opened, and all who come to the window receive, there is a Giver and a recipient. If the walls of the treasure house were removed there would be no Giver and receiver. We would be like fish in the sea.



The sense of well being in getting your paycheck is that 'there is more where this came from' – you are part of a going concern – this may be a tiny trickle, but it is the real thing. There is a real resource behind tzimzum. This is a sense of reality. This is an ohr not a metziut. If one becomes aware of the world only, without the ohr, then there is the element of, 'they die from lack of chochmah...'

The serpent was cursed. First you will move on your belly – he had legs (he was the highest of all animals) that were removed. And secondly you will eat dust.

So from a practical perspective where is the curse? He's on his belly – he can't fall! And secondly he has an abundance of food. He's crawling on his food/dust. But that's the curese. He has everything within a worldly context. He has severed his relationship to his Creator. He is the most vicious of all the creatures. He doesn't need a reason to bite. He is venomous. Why is he so angry?! Because he has everything, but his abundance lacks infinity – it is not real to him. It lacks the truth.

Like getting something for free, there is a sense of it came from nowhere. This is what the serpent lacks. For the human everything comes from 'Nowhere'.



Friday, March 11, 2011

A Completely Different Level p: 44-5


AyinBase with R' Paltiel p:44-5 3/11/2011 Friday 5 AdarBase 5771

Page 44 – at the 2nd line from end of the second paragraph.

The hashpaa from the teacher is only the chitzoni/external element of the ha-arah.

The student is not capable of accepting more than this.

In everything there is the fact and then there is the substance, that gives it reality – gives it a strong foundation, not just an external structure. All must have a foundation – nothing stands on it's own. For the student the foundation is 'that he received it from the mashpia'. He may understand it and it may make sense to him, but that doesn't constitute a basis. After he absorbs it, he finds a personal basis. So at first he won't have the pnimius/internal element/foundation of it.

The tzimzum means that the inner/pnimius of the ohr/light becomes concealed. The inner element is not it's function or effect – it is the truth element of that entity. To make 'worlds' that are in a different category, that has it's own parameters and is disassociated from anything above it, He used the process of tzimzum.

Tzimzum means the inner aspect is contained in an external reflection. For the mashpia the chitzonius/external element doesn't even exists. He sees it as it relates to it's source. Therefore when there is a tzimzum the entire principle is retracted – pnimius and chitzonius. Ultimately the effect is that the pnimius remains concealed and the chitzonius is recreated on a completely different level.



This allows for the student to receive a new perception piece-meal. Without the tzimzum you wouldn't have the ability to build and receive it step by step.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

A Discreet Relationship p: 44


AyinBase with R' Paltiel p:44 3/10/2011 ThursdayNight 4 AdarBase 5771

Page 44 – at the 6th line from end of the second paragraph.

He could have made the whole world without a system. He made the world in a systemic way – this gives the creation full depth.

World and Ohr Ein Sof are categorically different. The body receives from the soul the experience of life, not the essence of life. Thus of the soul, a subset of it, a reflection of it is dressed in the body. The life of the soul/neshamah is not life in contrast to lifelessness! The experience of life is by means of this contrast. If the essence of life was revealed then the body would no longer be a body.

The soul has such a discreet relationship to the body that one can be completely oblivious to it.



Our real job is to reveal that the form/tzurah is the real thing. 'To give priority to form over matter'.

That's why torah and mitzvot are such a challenge and hardwork, since they relate to the spirituality/G-dliness over the physical.

In the sun there is a level of light that if for illumination. Then there is another level – yes, it illumnates, but it has a source, ohr by definition has a source, you cannot capture a piece of light, so from the inner perspective it is not unto itself or for the illumination of the world, it is butul/null to the sun itself. It is there not because the world needs light, but because the sun exists!



The inner level of light has no connection to the world. It is all about the illumator.

At 3rd line from the end of the page: it is known that in every case of mashpia/teacher and mekabel/student, that, that which is give from the one to the other is only a ha-arah chitzoni that can be given over. This is because the essential element of the light cannot be received. Something that lacks an element and then has something novel presented to it, must be addressed from within his context.



There is an old song, a villager when to the big town and heard about the king and princes, and he says, “please, tell me, how does a king eat potatoes...” - he relates to kingship from his perspective of having to worry about getting his next potato!



The teacher has to present to the student so that he can grasp it in his state of being in the dark...

Clear Recognition p: 44

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p:44 3/10/2011 Thursday 4 AdarBase 5771

Page 44 – at the 7th line of the second paragraph.

Chochmah is of the element of nothingness.

The existence of worlds is only from a reflection of the Ein Sof.

What is meant by 'worlds'? A world is a presence that is not a total presence in-and-of-itself. It consists of many elements, that together they may a whole. Ohr ein sof cannot even relate to this type of presence. Infinity is a self contained reality – it is not made up of pieces.

How does one bridge the gap between infinity and worlds? The answer is the element of chochmah. It relates to infinity and allows for worldly representations.

P44 AyinBase, Rebbe Rashab, 2nd paragraph (right click to enlarge)


Chochmah has both elements. The way we understood this is by looking at the sense of sight. On the one hand it is a clear recognition of the subject. Unlike hearing sight operates in an instant. It is not time dependent. It is not cumulative. It is a recognition of the truth itself. Nevertheless there is an element of transition – a subject object gap. You can close your eyes – you can observe the object and not observe it. Ohr ein sof on the other hand cannot not be seen!

Sight gives a person a sense of the reality of the world, to the extent that he cannot divorce himself from it. His thinking process, incorporates the world. A person is responsible for what happens in the world.



This (faculty of sight) is like the Ein HaEloki that is in chochmah. Including the limit of not observing. Chochmah has the sense that it is a recognition – that you have come to recognize something – this is relating to world.

Space provides and is the basis for everything. Space doesn't call for 'development'. It doesn't ask, 'what's next?' chochmah is more like open land – it's unlimited, but it is meant for something. Ohr Ein sof is like the open space it doesn't ask, 'what's next?'

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Nothingness cannot be captured p: 44

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p:44 3/9/2011 Wednesday 3 AdarBase 5771

Page 44 – at the 6th line of the second paragraph.

The rebbe says that chochmah itself is also part of that realm called ayin/ein/nothingness. “Chochmah is the first point of the G-dly ein that can relate to worlds and becomes the source for wordls.”

the point is that elokus is the single point and the single basis for any existence. There is no compare between elokus and world. Elokus is ein and world is yesh. Everything in the world has definition, that distinguishes it and gives it presence.

Space becomes part of an area that can then be developed into a neighborhood. The space is unchanged. Space is ein and cannot be captured in yesh. Ein cannot, not be. It is the absolute basis that provides for existence. The G-dly truth cannot be translated in yesh. This is like open space, which provides for the earth, surfaces and homes, but it itself is above being captured.



Thus we say the chochma is also ein. For anything to exist it has to have an element of ein eloki in some form to give it existence. Ein of chochmah is also ein, but at a different level.

The whole world is just a reflection of the real thing. The essence of Ohr Ein Sof (Baruch Hu) is totally not in the category of even being a source for worlds. And it is not possible that from it would be sourced worlds (even though ultimately the worlds do come from etzem!)



Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Origin Unknown p: 44


AyinBase with R' Paltiel p:44 3/8/2011 Tuesday 2 AdarBase 5771

Page 44 – at the top of the second paragraph.

We are looking at hashpaa gashmi and ruchni (spiritual and physical influence/mentorship).

When we have an insight of chochmah, we do not know it's origin.



There was a period of philosophy called sophists, who needed a structure and verbal articulation for something to be real. They were satisfied with, 'sound bites'. But that's not sechel.

Chochmah comes from ayin/nothing. A physical metaphor for chochmah is sight. You see objects without coming into contact with them. You don't touch the object, but your experience is the most true. This is the 'nothing' element. There is nothing more true than ayin. It is a self-contained, unchallengeable truth. The axiom in mathematics is based on intelligence, and not on proof.

Ayin needs no substantiation and there are no questions against it.

Imagination is a flash based on yeshus. Ayin/chochmah is a flash based on bitul.

Chochmah is the first spark of the G-dly nothingness that is the source of the world.

It is important to understand, that we live in a physical world and the first experience is physicality and any form is seen as secondary to the primary physical presence. The wood is basic and the table is secondary. We come and say the opposite is true – 'the wood is null-and-void, the real thing that was created during the 6 days of creation was the table, wood was just the material that was used for this purpose'.

Give a dollar to a poor man – we call this chesed/tzeddakah. The same movement can also take from him. The reality of the hand is directed by something intangible – the chesed, which cannot be seen.

Chochmah is also ayin/nothing. But it is nothing in a form that can provide for something..

Monday, March 7, 2011

The way it is p: 44

AyinBase with R' Paltiel p:44 3/7/2011 Monday 1 AdarBase 5771

Page 44 – at the top.

The basis of sechel is to know that there is a First Being that brings all into being. You acknowledge the source. Sechel represents the reality, but only a ha-araa. A reflection of that which is built upon the principle of there being a First Creator.

From ha-araa cannot be created a new entity. There is a limit to its effect. Since it is ruchni/spiritual it is chitzoni/external.

Hashpaa gufni is what results in a new creation. Thus a real stand-alone entity is created. A new full-fledged entity, that itself becomes a source.

Angels originate from spiritual unions. In their creation the essence of the originators is not brought forth, only the externality.

p44 AyinBase, Rebbe Rashab, from the top


Hashpaa, means and intentional mentorship/influence. There is an intended transfer from the one to the other. This is to exclude an automatic effect. If one overhears another learning aloud, it is not hashpaa. The effect, even if the material is clear, will not compare to the quality of the same material when intended for him.



It is commonly argued that 'it makes sense, but does that mean that it is true?!' This is a way to knock out a sechel and ask for 'empirical proof'. They will say the truth is only that which is empirically proven – and the physical world becomes all they can relate to.

The ha-araa is the sense that 'yes, this is universal'. But that all will acknowledge it as the truth. But the way it exists by the mashpia, his knowledge is not dependent on the ability to convince others or to convince them. This is the pnimi/interior of the matter. It is more real than the physical. This element he doesn't give over in hashpaa. You should understand on the sechel level.