Concealed powers

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/31/10 Monday 18 Sivan 5770

Page 30. Around the lower third of the page. Line starts, “madrega she-be-biyah...”

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Ohr ein sof is dressed in atzilus and the tynug is drawn down into the lower worlds. An essential reality, an essential truth comes down to the world and if not for this, these lower worlds would just be a facade of an existence.

The 10 sphirot are the revealed source for the lower worlds – the 10 are the ohr ein sof coming into revelation. gilui/revelation is the bringing out of the content.

A person can have a fleeting thought, and then if he wants to express it, it takes, comparatively, a long time. There are two aspects – the thought itself and the content. Only that which is expressible can come into revelation.

The soul has hidden powers/faculties. When a person speaks he uses his revealed faculty of speech. Prior to speaking, he is not saying anything. Speech seems to be created when he meets another person and he needs to say something. From his own internal perspective, if it is just due to the encounter with another, then he's just being forced into a state that is not intrinsic. But speech is not created at this stage of the encounter. Internally, before any encounter a person can relate to others. Speech reveals an inherent truth.

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... וחיי עולם

The eye does not grasp what it sees

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/30/10 Sunday 17 Sivan 5770

Page 30. Around the lower third of the page. Line starts, “bechochmah...”

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This ohr ein sof that cannot be contained in a vessel can be contained in chochmah. And this is internalized in the chochmah. Binah seems to be the real keili, not chochmah. Hislabshut be pnimiut, means internalized, but chochmah is bitul, thus a non entity and doesn't grasp anything. The eye is the best illustration of chochmah. The eye does not grasp what it sees – it sees where it is.

So it is not grasped like it is in binah. Binah translates the sechel to its own terms. But sechel holds ohr ein sof as it is – it comes to life just like the ohr ein sof itself. The chochmah does not become an etzem, but it is a receptacle for ohrot atzmi-im. Ohr ein sof and oneg here are the same thing. It becomes alive, has to do with oneg, which is in every koach. Oneg is reprentative of etzem. Just like etzem is a true presence, oneg also has this quality. Chochmah is a keili for oneg. This oneg is disseminated downwards to all the kochot.

All chayut comes from the nefesh, but it first enters the chochmah and from there it is disseminated to the rest of the person.

Chochmah relates not to its experience, but to the object of its perception – this is its bitul.

Malchus is an illustration of revelation. All the activity in the kingdom relates back to the king. Chochmah, since it is in gilui has an element of malchus. Chochmah has the ohr ein sof and all the details are contained in it. If etzem cannot come down into the pratim, how is chochmah able to do it? Due to malchus.

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Atzilus is a world, but not in the full sense, just like chochmah is not a choach in the full sense of the world.



R' Groner on the occasion of the anniversary of his mother's passing...

... וחיי עולם

Pleasure of the soul

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/28/10 Friday 15 Sivan 5770

Page 30. Just below middle of the page. Line starts, “atsmi-im...”

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Chochmah brings the oneg hanefesh into the kochot and relates back the koach to the nefesh. It is an intermediary. The special ability it has to do this is that it is a vessel for giluim atsmi-im of the nefesh. This is a gilui that does not stand for the nefesh, is says, “this is what nefesh is” and chochmah is a keili for this.

Chochmah is like sight – it perceives the object as it is.

How does chochmah relate to ohr ein sof? It sets itself aside and “sees what there is to see”.

Chochmah lives with, and is fully affected by the ohr ein sof – it doesn't just see from a distance. This is like sight giving us a sense of being part of the world. In this way ohr ein sof gets the parameters of the world. For “world” one can ask “where does it come from”, but for ohr ein sof you cannot ask this. The question doesn't apply. Chochmah transmits to the world this level of reality.



... וחיי עולם

Light that knows no darkness

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/27/10 ThursdayNight 14 Sivan 5770

Page 30. Below a third from the top. Line starts, “bechol hamadrechot...”

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The tynug/pleasure is the G-dliness that is in every level. It is the primary truth of it. This oneg element in every level has commonality with that of every other level. The level is different, the pleasure of the head is different to that of the foot. The higher the activity, the more refined the oneg that gives it chayut/life. Nevertheless, there is a central element that is common to all.

There is pleasure in fulfilling the capability of every limb. The hand has certain abilities and there is oneg in using it. The point is that the oneg is of a superior quality to the koach. Oneg does not need justification. The oneg in everything is the G-dly presence in everything. The world view that the universe evolved is devoid of oneg. It is denuded of primary reality. The principle is that all is based on the survival instinct. Oneg is higher than the koach itself.

The tynug is first drawn down into a general level, before coming down into the specific level. In order to relate to the specifics you need to first have a general sense of the field. Olam of atzilus and kesser are completely different to the level above them. Chochmah has both these elements – it is gilui and helem (concealed) – it sees the matter that is concealed, as it is. Once this oneg is defined, then it can be disseminated at many different levels, but first comes the level of recognition of revelation.

Oneg always has to have a connection to its source through chochmah. This cognizance maintains the continuity. This enable it to to retain this quality. To have pleasure from a small thing there has to be a recognition that it is connected above – it relate to the infinite on a finite level.

Torah is from chochmah of atzilus – it relates to our world, but is not from this world. In this regard it is an intermediary, bringing G-dliness into our world.

This chochmah is a keili for gilui atzmi-im.

Gilui atzmi-im are revelations in their raw state – revelations that have not been prepared for presentation.

Chochmah is capable of recognition that there is such a thing as light that knows no darkness.

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... וחיי עולם

An element of infinity in every stage

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/26/10 Wednesday 13 Sivan 5770

Page 30. About a third from the top. Line starts, “u-bechinat ha tynug...”.

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Atzilus has an element of being similar to creation – there had been a movement to create atzilut – it cam from a pristine state to the level of presence. Not a primary being, but a created being.

From the pleasure that is in atzilus comes forth all the pleasure of the lower worlds. Tynug/pleasure denotes an essential presence. All that exists has a certain element of truth or oneg. The first state of tynug as it is in the hamshacha, is in atzilus. This is where the etzem is most fully identified. In every koach is an oneg and this is always connected to the nefesh, so too over here, all the tynug in the worlds is drawn from the pleasure in atzilus.

The table is on the floor – which is on the beams – which are on the foundations – which is on the earth, and the earth is hanging in space depending on nothing – the world is held in place by infinity. The solidity of the world is given to us to walk upon by The Infinity. This infinity is found in every stage. So too the tynug found in every stage. The concept of tynug / pleasure is that it is a reality in itself – you don't see the end of it. Every moment of life is an infinity. This is a G-dly spark that is present in everything. Those who rely on worldly things – wealth, power, etc – are in a constant state of trepidation. Oneg is true of itself and not dependent on quantity.

The serpent is venomous and angry, 'tho it has its food before it, aplenty, because it has been severed from a G-dly perception.

Chochmah has the ability to transmit the pleasure downward to the lower kochot. It has the ability to be a perfect channel. This chochmah in atzilus is the Torah of atzilus, and through it flows this element of tynug/pleasure.

“Torah” is from the word “ho-rah-ah” - pathway or guide. Usually when you think of this you assume it is to guide us in our proper way. We live in a physical world and you may think the torah is the guide to tell us right from wrong. While this is true and essential, it puts torah in a relative context, without pleasure / tynug. But the truth is that when the torah rules, even on what seems to be a majority vote, it actually refers back to the makor klali – the source. Really torah is a guide to show what are the pathways that allow G-dliness to enter the world. It identifies the channels and shows that elokus is present everywhere and what we do is to allow elokus to affect this or that element.

This torah of atzilus is the real intermediary between elokus and world.

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... וחיי עולם

Sight and life

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/26/10 Wednesday 13 Sivan 5770

Page 30. About a third from the top. Line starts, “she-nishaveh be-biyah”.

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The hot-water thermos was discussed, as a way to get a sense of how things become creations, distinct from their creator.

The whole world is a metaphor for a higher world. atzilus/chochmah are the intermediary level. Binah is already able to stand on its own – it has a logical structure, chochmah only exists for the person who has the “vision”.

Someone who is blind is patur from all the mitzvahs since the world is not real to him. This is a level of reality that cannot be separated from the actual presence.

Although atzilus is in a different category from biya it is still an intermediary between the ohr ein sof and the creation.

Atzilus is the revelation of ohr ein sof. This gives it a presence. This is a transformation. When hidden it is not defined, but when revealed it has 10 sphirot. This is why atzilus is the source for existence. There is a movement there and an identification of what is becoming into revelation. As this progresses things develop the ability to “stand alone” - this is existence.

This first move is the biggest – the coming into atzilus/chochmah. This is like sight – seeing the essence of the thing, yet it is not real exactly like the way the thing is real unto itself. Bear in mind that sight is not on the same level as living.

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... וחיי עולם

Becoming distinct

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/25/10 Tuesday 12 Sivan 5770

Page 30. About a third from the top.

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Just like this world is rooted in gan eden, ultimately everything is rooted in atzilus. Atzilus serves as an intermediary between the Creator and the creation.

Atzilus has an element that is similar to the Creator and the creation. Everything has to come from ohr ein sof hama-atzil, but it has to be by an intermediary. Atzilus is the intermediary. How does it do it? How does it relate to creation? Atzilus is some place in the middle between ohr ein sof and creation. Atzilus is the revelation of that which is concealed within the ohr ein sof.

How is this revelation of what was concealed, different from being a creation? It comes out from being completely representative of the source and not being a separate metzius, to being its own entity.



... וחיי עולם

Between purity and presentation

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/24/10 Monday 11 Sivan 5770

Page 30. Beginning of the 6th line.

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We looked at the two ways tynug is distributed. Within the structure and between structures. Within a human for example, all his tynug flows through his chochmah. It is realized differently in the foot and the head, but the head can relate to the foot.

Between systems it is different. From the garden of eden to this world is a gap. This means the pleasure of this world is the refuse of the world of gan eden.

The root of each garden and of all pleasure is from the world of atzilus. The 4 categories of inanimate through “speakers” exist also in this world.

Atzilus serves at the intermediary between the ohr ein sof hama-atzil and the creation. One can have a concept of a table, but to build it, the concept is not sufficient. He has to decide the shape and materials – these are “add-ons” to the concept, yet you cannot create an absolute table. There is not such thing as a pure table. The shapes and materials are what allow the table to exist on the worldly level. This is creation. Everything about it is for the purpose of making it be. The Creatore – Ma-atzil, doesn't have any of these “add-ons” - it doesn't have the problem of “presentation” - it exists due to the truth itself. Chochmah/atzilus is this intermediary between purity and presentation.

Atzilus is a good representation of that which is above it. This is the first step towards creation.

Sechel can see the thing in its pure state – and it doesn't even know what it is looking at.

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... וחיי עולם

Levels of pleasure

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/23/10 Sunday 10 Sivan 5770

Page 29. Second to last line from the bottom of the page.

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We have described the principle of tynug. It spreads into everything. In every power of the human being it is connected to the essential tynug of the nefesh. Even the inanimate object has a element of oneg.

At any level, as far as things extend, there is an element of oneg. There is a reality, not just a functionality aspect – this is the oneg. Oneg is representative of the etzem. It is the gilui of the oneg. Just like the essence is completely self-sufficient and a real presence, oneg is representative of that.

From the refuse of the pleasure of the garden of eden is created the lower worlds. All pleasures of man – physical or spiritual/intellectual, this is “physical” (devoid of oneg) relative to the lowest level that is in gan eden.

Real existence is not merely that it exists, but the life that is in it. This comes to expression through the oneg. Something that just exists, is without substance. Chayut is that it exists at an essential level. This is an inyan eloki, that something can be present, but hidden. He makes all yesh mi ein, and the elokus is hidden throughout. Elokus is not dependent on presence in order to exist.

Oneg of sechel is the highest form of oneg that exists in our world. Middot consist of personal experiences, but sechel has to do with a recognition of the truth. But this highest human level is nothing when compared to the lowest level in gan eden.

Why doesn't it register in the gan eden? What is lacking? Yes, there is oneg that is disseminated to every part of the human being, but all are connected to the nefesh. So yes, there is oneg in eating, but it must be connected to the purpose of the nefesh, if not, it becomes disconnected and looses life. Where is the cognizance of the purpose? At the top – in the intellect, not in the foot or the stomach. The recognition is in the intellect, that the oneg comes from the nefesh.

This is so in the human structure and also in structures beyond that. Oneg must always be connected to the source.

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... וחיי עולם

The spirituality of shopping

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/21/10 Friday 8 Sivan 5770

Page 29. Nine lines from the bottom of the page. At the line starting “kenaal”. Click on the herring (in tool bar on the right) to see text.

Just as we saw before in a human being that there is in all of his powers the dissemination of tynug in each, and that this connects the individual kochot back to the nefesh, so too there is an element of tynug in every level of creation, and this is what sustains them and gives them “life”.

What kind of life is there in inanimate objects? The principle of life is that it has to do with an essential reality. It is not just circumstantial. The inanimate object is silent and doesn't announce itself – something that has nothing to say is not domem, it just has nothing to say.

Each thing, gold, silver and stones have their particular message. It is not just material. It has a message. It gives this message in a domem fashion – it gives this message with its entire being. There is a true element, a chayut in an inanimate thing. They represent different spiritual elements. The infinity of G-dliness is shown by the variety found in materiality.

There are different levels of tynug. The difference is based on the level of essential life that is in each thing. The nefesh is inherently alive, but the body is alive since the nefesh is enclothed in it.

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... וחיי עולם

Leaves, snowflakes and pet rocks

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/18/10 Tuesday 5 Sivan 5770

Page 29. Lower quarter of the page. At the line starting “oneg eloki behakochot pratim”. Click on the herring (in tool bar on the right) to see text.

Chochmah is a vessel for the koach of pleasure that is in the nefesh.

Chochmah brings the oneg/nefesh quality into all the kochot. Oneg represents the profound quality of nefesh itself.

Tynug is a koach – essence stays within itself. Tynug is a koach that has an essential reality and chochmah is a vessel for it.

All different creatures and down to the lowest level of the physical elements are in essence representative of some kind of a G-dly presence.

In other words, gold for instance, created underground, a metal of great value/quality, one may say is the result of certain circumstances. The result of a process. But we are saying that the very possibility of all the variety in the world, each with its quality and nature, is a certain representation of G-dliness – there is a certain reality to each entity. This is the oneg that is dressed in, and represented by each entity. No two snow flakes are alike, says the gemara, and it points to His greatness.



... וחיי עולם

An inexplicable pleasure

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/14/10 Monday 4 Sivan 5770

Page 29. Lower third of the page. At the line starting “beoneg haeloki she bedibur”. Click on the herring (in tool bar on the right) to see text.

Chochmah is a vessel for the koach of pleasure that is in the nefesh.

Chochmah brings the oneg/nefesh quality into all the kochot. Oneg represents the profound quality of nefesh itself.

In the world, all is a composite. Everything is put together from parts. Functionally it exists, but not as an essence. The essence of a thing, like a table exists in the human soul. All actual existence is composed of precarious composites, but on the other hand there has to be an essence. This essence is the koach ha=Eloki that created the world. What gives the table the sense of reality? The human being - is the nefesh that is dressed into his body. This reality is real in and of itself – in the body it takes 613 elements to clothe it. A composite will decompose, but an essence is eternal.

This essence that is dressed in the limbs of the body is called oneg. Why oneg? Anything that affects something beyond itself has to express itself in someway. This way it can be felt by something beyond itself. The essence of the nefesh, it does not express to the guf. So we have a koach that is representative of the nefesh – this is the oneg, which brings the guf to life and gives it a sense of an essential presence. It is a koach, but has an essential status. Normally a koach doesn't have this quality – it has a function. Oneg is not function dependent.

Oneg is an experience of nefesh.

When a king of Israel passes away all his objects that he used, get burned – their presence represented the king. The oneg has extended from the nefesh of the king , into his body and into these objects. There is continuity between kings of Israel, but they cannot overlap.

The oneg of avodah/service: In avoodah, essentially we have specific actions – specific actions, making up specific mitzvoth. You do it since it is a command. This is the body of the mitzvah.

But the experience of it is not just the action of wrapping. There is the perception in the sechel of “what I am doing” and this perception of the sechel is contained in an even higher perception of connecting to an overall truth.

You can see yourself and Him as two separate entities, and then there's no oneg, just fear of punishment – just the oneg of self preservation. The essence of the mitzvah is interrelationship – I'm a real participant in what is going on – a participant in the world. The oneg is, “I am a participant in His will – this is our reality in the world.”

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... וחיי עולם

I am huge, I am Your servant.

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/16/10 Sunday 3 Sivan 5770

Page 29. in the middle of the page. At the line starting “tynug gadol ve niflah”. Click on the herring (in tool bar on the right) to see text.

The mind's eye of the heart – what is it? 

A pleasure – “great and wondrous”! Chochmah and emunah are an inyan of bitul – there is no personal experience. You are observing something exquisite, but without personal experience. With sechel you make progress and then later step back and see how sechel reaches its goals – the pleasure is in the activity. The mind's eye that is in the heart is different. The heart sees it and experiences it. It has pleasure in the thing itself. This is a superior element of the heart. Sechel takes it through bitul and the heart through yeshut. Oneg is all positive and the heart relates to this. The heart is a yesh that can relates to the truth – it is a yeshut that follows bitul. It is a yeshus of elokus.

David the King says, “I walk with full expression, I am not humbled by anyone, 'cos I'm Your servant.” David the King was the only one who was allowed to sit in the Temple. This is a yesh that connects to the G-dly yesh.

Emunah is an element of awareness, but the heart is the experience of the G-dly presence in the person.

We always explain that kedusha is given “face to face”. There is the direct connection. The important element is not what is transmitted, but the connection. After that if a gift was given and the relationship was established. The relationship is ongoing. The giver wants the recipient to experience the gift – the real connection happens later when he actually uses the gift. You receive the gift with bitul and then when you go back to the yesh of being yourself, and now using the gift, this is when it is really experienced.

Just like the nefesh has pleasure from sight and all the kochot, so too the G-dly soul can focus on specific “kochot” - like the mind's eye gazing at the king.

Similarly in the hearing of the G-dly soul – like the singing with a sweet voice, when he reflect and experiences the greatness and wonder of Hashem.

Hassidus is big on being misbonen on gedulat Havayah, but what is it? What's the point? Gedulat Hashem? What big mountains he made? This is shocking. We are human beings and have human experiences, but we ignore it. We get into logic and descend to nothingness. What is the difference between the world you see and what the cat sees? Right away we say, hey two different worlds – I see, beauty and reality and things beyond human contemplation – this is what the human intellect can see but we are oblivious to it - “this is child's play” we say, being so preoccupied with his needs.

So when one is meditating on the gedulat/greatness of Havayah, that makes real human life possible, then he actually comes in proximity with real life. This is like shmiyah – hearing. It brings out a song that expresses that experience. Same is true of the sense of smell... Moshiach smells purity and impurity.

In all of these the G-dly soul has pleasure. World is always vulnerable/precarious. Elokus is a primary truth – the reality itself. So oneg in the worldly level is, “I'm confident that this is going to work.” Oneg on the G-dly level is completely outside this realm. It is the oneg of the reality of elokus itself. Not an oneg that is based on the absence of negativity. The nefesh elokis sees only the positive in the activities of sight, hearing and dibur. Same thing in ahavah and yirah.

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... וחיי עולם

The seeing heart

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/14/10 Friday 1 Sivan 5770

Page 29. in the middle of the page. At the line starting “breiyat eyin”. Click on the herring (in tool bar on the right) to see text.

Sight provides a level beyond knowledged of the presence of the article. Beyond a conviction without doubt. With sight you are looking at the mehus hadavar, not the metziut.

Similarly in the nefesh ha-elokis, the gazing is knowing the King from above, as an insider. Knowing can be, “what does it mean to me?” and then there is a level, of “forget about me, what am I seeing?”

It is like viewing the sweetness of Hashem, or going up to the temple to see.

This gazing at Him creates a “great, wondrous pleasure in the mind's eye that is in the heart (eyin hasechel deblieba)”. Sechel knows the thing, but lacks personal affinity. Emunah is the fundamental element of sechel. Emunah is “i know that there is a truth, from the soul – meaning, we see a physical world that lacks truth, and is cause and effect based, but we, due to our neshamahs, know there is an element of truth. The difference between the created world and the big bang is this element of truth. Without this element of truth you are dragged into the horror story of a world without purpose.”

This emunah is the basis of sechel. This truth is in the sechel and in the heart. Mind is very perceptive, but despite the fact that it is based in a personal recognition of truth, it is something I am convinced of. In the heart on the other hand, it is “what proof? The proof is 'I'm here!'” There is no because, it is the actual experience itself.

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... וחיי עולם

The G-dly mind's eye

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/13/10 ThurdayNight 29 Iyar 5770

Page 29. in the middle of the page. At the line starting “hakochot”.

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By the tynug the nefesh is a participant in all that occurs in the lower kochot. In every lower koach there is oneg.

Do we understand that there is oneg in each koach?

Do we understand that this oneg is part of the nefesh?

And that this oneg is brought there through the chochmah, which defiines it as it refers to every koach?

… and this oneg is the totally independent, essential truth. Oneg testifies to the existence of the nefesh. We have an essence and are not just reactive.

When we take a step, there is nothing pushing us – we use an essential koach. We have a reason to take a step, but the reason is not what enables us to take the step. The oneg, the nefesh carries the foot, not the reason for the move.

Just as we understand how this is in the natural nefesh, so too is it in the G-dly nefesh.

The G-dly mind's eye admires the King. To gaze at the glory of the King.

Sechel in our experience has the element of discovery. Things are learned – there is a novelty. Without the sechel we would not know – the sechel reveals things to us. This is how it is in our natural soul.

The G-dly soul is in another realm. It does not have this element of darkness. The nefesh ha Eloki is never lacking anything – there's no discovery. So what is the G-dly mind's eye? What is its function? What is seeing if you know it already and there is no concealment? It is the special element that exists in seeing. It get's into the essence of the King, just like for us, seeing is different from knowing something is there. But for the G-dly soul it is admiring the King – He's right there in front of your. It is not a matter of discovering. You cannot admire what you are still discovering.

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... וחיי עולם

An experience that does not require an explanation

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/13/10 Thursday 29 Iyar 5770

Page 29. in the middle of the page. At the line starting “hakochot”. Click on the herring (in tool bar on the right) to see text. 

We explained the principle of saying that chochmah is a memutzah between the nefesh and the kochot.

The nefesh here is represented here by oneg. This oneg is dressed in the chochmah and there all the various aspect that can emanate from this oneg are identified and can be disseminated throughout all the activities and kochot of the person.

Oneg: the nefesh is not a composite. It is a self-fulfilling entity. It has an element of elokus in it. On a gilui level, something of this level is called oneg – an experience that does not require an explanation. It says life is essentially real and life is good – it has no explanation and enables all the derivative “pleasures”, such as eating, learning etc. Oneg we see as self sustaining, without cause. Oneg is only a koach atzmi, and the nefesh itself does not consists of oneg.

Oneg is of the ohrot atzmi'im of the nefesh. In the physical world there is no etzem – everything is a composite. How can you capture the idea of etzem on a gilui level – by oneg. Oneg remains, always attached to the nefesh. Chochmah is a koach. Even though chochmah is higher than sechel, you can derive from it binah which can be transferred to the outside – seemingly independent. Chochmah always depends on the “view“of the nefesh, like sight depends on things being “in the line of sight.” Nevertheless chochmah is a koach. And oneg is a koach atzmi. Chochmah is able to receive an ohr/koach atzmi.

Sight (chochmah) is a constant activity, but life (oneg) is ongoing without interruption.

Oneg cannot exist without the etzem. Even though, through chochmah, oneg becomes mugbal it is still not disassociated from its source.

We have in the natural soul – the soul that lets us know and experience the world we also have the “mind's eye”. This means there is a process of sechel to get to know something. After the work one can say, “it's clear to me, like I see it with my eyes.” This is a sight that is a confirmation - “I was in the dark, now I see”. Sight of the G-dly “mind's eye” is different – there is no darkness, so sight with that “mind's eye” is not confirmation, but rather the focusing in to see “how great is that truth.”

For video, click here.

... וחיי עולם

Into the sun

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/12/10 Wednes 28 Iyar 5770

Page 29. About a third from from the top. At the line starting “bemakom acher”. Click on the herring (in tool bar on the right) to see text. 

There are two sides to chochmah. Above, relating to the essence, and on the other hand seeing reality, but from the “outside”, so that there are identifyable components – containing all the kochot.

Oneg is a nefesh experience, but at the same time it is contracted for each koach separately. It is the chochmah that makes this contraction. The chochmah does not interfere – it allows the oneg to relate to the nefesh.

How does nefesh have oneg on the level of the hand? This is through chochmah.

This is the principle of bitul of chochmah. This is not negating its services, it negates its personal experience.

Our example of a gilui atzmi is the sun. the sun doesn't give light as an action. The sun and the light are one. The sun is light through and through. This means that light to the sun is completely different experience to what we know. For us, light is in contrast to darkness. For us light exists on a functional level. In the sun, light is an essential presence – there is no darkness there and the the light is not countering darkness.

There is light within the sun itself – contained within an area, where there is no darkness. This is a level of light that is reflective of the sun itself and knows no darkness, yet it is light. It thus contains an essential light. This is the transition between the sun and that which is outside.

For video, click here.

                                                                                 

... וחיי עולם

You see everything, but you see nothing

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/11/10 Tuesday 27 Iyar 5770

Page 29. About a third from from the top. At end of line starting “bichlal”.

Click on the herring (in tool bar on the right) to see text.

All functioning kochot are originating in chochmah.

The functioning kochot are the vessels to essential lights of the nefesh. These kochot are initiated by that which is above them – essential lights.

Thus the tynug can express itself in the koach of chochmah. Since chochmah can take tynug the way it is, but with all the ramifications so that it comes to the level of specific kochot. The etzem/essence remains concealed within itself.

Gilui means that you're looking at it from the outside and this means that regardless of how profound it is, “it has to have a presence, which means 'it takes up room'”. Any expression outside means that it is not just a presence unto itself, but also a presentation beyond itself. Chochmah is the reshit hagilui – the start of this process of expression.

This is how tynug which is entirely self contained comes to affect kochot giluim/pratim. In chochmah there is the sense that this tynug can be expressed in different ways.

Everything in our world exists in space and time – it is not an etzem. Etzem is that which is true in and of itself, not because it has been shown to be true. Etzem precedes the factual existence.

Tynug is gilui of the etzem on a makif level. It is not gilui on a gilui level, it is gilui on an etzem level.

For video, click here.

... וחיי עולם

Simple pleasure

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/10/10 Monday 26 Iyar 5770

Page 29. 7th line from the top. Line starts “behagbalah”.   

We are looking at kochot/powers and their formulation. It is pleasure that gives them a real presence, yet the pleasure is not an individual property of the koach itself. It is from the nefesh.

In the nefesh it self it is oneg pashut / simple pleasure, yet when it comes into the kochot it becomes an oneg that is specific and appropriate for this particular koach and action.

That there should be a limit and a focus in the pleasure is completely different from how it is in the nefesh.

The pleasure comes down to them via a memutzah / intermediary. At this intermediate level it incorporates and recognizes all the kochot.
This memutzah is the koach of chochmah in the nefesh.

Chochmah includes all the kochot, since all the kochot originate in the head and in the chochmah specifically. For man everything is processed through his sechel. This is why it takes a baby a year to learn to walk, as opposed to the foal that walks and jumps half an hour after birth.

It is impossible for it not to be through the sechel because for a human all things are correlated. Even the beating of the heart goes through the sechel but not through the conscious sechel.

In chochmah one can relate to all his kochot down the most mundane level. Chochmah conceptualizes the full spectrum of the human being. Chochmah is a koach that is so pure it reflects the nefesh. Because chochmah is a koach it can relate to all the functioning of the human being.

We move the little toe and we conceptualize – these disparate elements are complementatry – part of a whole – we have to be able to do both. This is the way it is supposed to be. There is not one extraneous element of the human being. Chochmah has this concept of what is a human being and thus at this level all the kochot are included too.

The nefesh that chochmah represents is of such perfection that it takes 613 elements to represent it on the outside.

Chochmah is also able to relate to the essence of the nefesh. Chochmah is privy to the nefesh as it is unto itself. The nefesh wants to express itself. Chochmah is rashit hagilui hanefesh. At this level the chochmah is a vessel for the essential kochot of the nefesh.

... וחיי עולם

Cup of blessing

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/9/10 Sunday 25 Iyar 5770

3rd line from the end of 28.  

Nature conceals, so if you see the world on an entirely natural phenomenon, then you land up seeing the human being as a machine – and this is where you reject it.

Understanding of a human is based on ratzon and tynug. Something superimposed on you is not called understanding.

Sechel that tries to understand that wich is beyond sechel is not even sechel. Sechel draws from life/oneg – that's what it is. There is a great misunderstanding of the term “objective knowledge” - it is lifeless. Objective knowledge is its own kind of subjectivity.

3rd line from the end of 28.

We are looking at how torah is a memutzah/intermediary connecting ein sof with neshamas yisroel and ohr ein sof with the world.

We see that there is soul pleasure in every koach and experience.

If one is suffering/depressed he will not experience pleasure from anything.

When the nefesh is in a state of fundamental/plain pleasure, just from living – then he will have pleasure in every and any activity.

There is even oneg in the suffering – if not for it he wouldn't feel the pain.

The rebbe is showing us is that the oneg is the underlying phenomenon of every activity and makes it possible. And this oneg is really of the nefesh, not contained in the koach itself. The rebbe goes further beyond the clarity to bring the proof that one in a state of tzaar will not feel the oneg of anything. To feel the oneg he has to have the plain pleasure of being alive.

This is the same oneg in each of the kochot, yet each koach feels it separately. The oneg itself is completely removed from the kochot. The oneg is restrained and focused to relate to a particular koach.

Sechel recognizes this, but cannot grasp it. We have no grasp of the oneg of the nefesh. Oneg is the true experience of life.

The oneg is limited to a specific action in the koach of movement of the hand but it is connected to the plain oneg – it is the whole koach that is focused down to a specific task.

Aaron ha Kohein lit the lights in the Temple – what's his praise that he did it like he was told – the praise is that he knew the implication of what he was doing and how it was raising up the souls and yet he followed through as instructed without getting distracted. The rebbe would pour out thousands of cups of blessing and never spill a drop.

For video, click here.

... וחיי עולם

The pleasure in everything

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/7/10 Friday 23 Iyar 5770

Page 28. Lower third of the page. Line starts, “hamagid”. 

We are looking at the fact that in every koach there is the underlying aspect of oneg/pleasure, which brings it out into function.

It is only due to the oneg that any midah will come out. Oneg is what activates everything.

Tynug is the deepest representative of the nefesh itself. In order for any koach to function it has to have an impetus from the nefesh. In what way are all the kochot united? Through the oneg!

The tynug spreads out to all the kochot. For example in the 4 senses – there is pleasure in the seeing of the eye. Seeing something beautiful but also just the function of the koach. We see the life of a person in his functioning. But there is also a fundamental element of life in his body. This basic life element is not an experience or a function, yet an oneg underlies that too.

Where is the pleasure of sechel? Labor of sechel seems to be like work, but when he reaches and understands he has a great oneg. But at the fundamental level there is oneg in the labor too.

So too in the lowest kochot – you cannot make a step without the element of oneg. It is all due to the fact that the pleasure/tynug is the principle of their existence and life. You can build a robot, but you cannot duplicate the pleasure of a human.

Although the oneg expresses itself in a defined manner in the koach, but it is from the tynug of the nefesh. Ultimately the nefesh has oneg. The pleasure of each koach is not independent.

For video, click here.

... וחיי עולם

The journey is the destination

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/6/10 ThursdayNight 22 Iyar 5770

Page 28. About half way into the main paragraph. Line starts “bechinat chochmah”. 

Torah is chochmah, since it is that which is given it has to be something that can be viewed from outside. The highest level that can be viewed from outside is chochmah.

Pleasure is the core/principle sustenance and essence of everything. Every koach, 'tho it is a koach, is maintained by pleasure.

How does tynug differ from every other koach? Pleasure is considered even more of an essence than ratzon/desire.

In every koach there is a positive and a negative and the koach comes to counter the negative. This is because it is not an essence, it is a function. It is an “action” to fill a void. “Alte rebbe, why did He make the world?” “He did it by oneg/pleasure and on pleasure there is not question since it does not come to fill a void. “ Oneg means the positive without a negative – the essence.

To make a step, there has to be an element of pleasure, just in the walking. Without this oneg element you cannot do anything, no matter how compelling the necessity of the action – it has to have a presence of its own. Despite the fact that it is a koach with a positive and negative it has an essential core.

In everything is oil. This is the essence. This is the oneg.

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... וחיי עולם

Stairway to heaven

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/6/10 Thursday 22 Iyar 5770

Page 28. About 10 lines into the second paragraph. 

Torah is rooted in the hidden essence of chochmah – this was discussed yesterday.

Chochmah on the one hand is an “outsider”- a koach, but on the other hand we call it hidden in the essence. This is the special quality of chochmah, based on its bitul. It relates to the inyan not on the basis of first identifying itself. The experience of sight is what I see, not that I see.

Torah is rooted actually above that in the level of tynug/pleasure.

King David described torah as song. What is missing in this description. Song is an expression of the hidden pleasure. Why was king David punished?

Torah is capable of bringing atzmus ein sof into the world. World is by definition something that was preceded by non-existence. It has a beginning, and it has a purpose. If you take away its purpose it vanishes. It does not have an essential presence. Functionality is by definition a composite.

In contrast elokus is on an essential level – it is true on and of itself. We recognize the contrast between neshamah and guf. Guf is the way things are in the world. The body has many needs and processes. Through maintenance it lives – it is not an essential life. And through all this effort it receives a spark of the neshamah. The spark of the neshamah is life itself. It is not based on a process. We experience it all the time, but cannot grasp it. We can only grasp what can be placed on a physical platform – the brain.

Atzmus is even beyond the neshamah. It does not manifest itself at all. In a certain sense we may say that in the world there is no atzmus.

Torah is supposed to connect atzmus ein sof itself to world! After Moshiach and redemption there will be a revelation of atzmus / essence in the world. Now a physical item is so concealing that it appears to exist of itself – that element will be transformed and it will show atzmus. All matters of torah will be known from the world itself – not as an add-on quality.

Torah is a memutzah that allows the ohr ein sof into this world.

The essential pleasure is dressed in torah.

For video, click here.

... וחיי עולם

This is the first moment of consciousness

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/5/10 Wednesday 21 Iyar 5770

Page 28. Third line. 

Torah is rooted in the essential pleasure, where it has not yet come down to any level of expression!

At this level it is hidden in the essence. At the level of essence there is a simple unity. There is no multiplicity, so how is tynug a defined entity? In our experience we see things emerging due to some external stimuli. We cannot conceive of the will of the nefesh coming from itself. This is a ratzon atzmi. Sechel cannot comprehend it. Sechel can only grasp things in some kind of natural order.

“I will be for him a plaything/enjoyment” - the torah is at the level of essential plaything/enjoyment. There is something that etzem enjoys. And this plaything is of that level, originating there.

What was He doing before He made the world? Was he bored stiff? This is a valid question for an entity like ourselves that is not an essential presence.

“Your laws are like songs to me”, said King David to Hashem. Your laws are my greatest pleasure. Our sages say he was punished for this statement. Why? Song is an expression of excitement of pleasure in the nefesh. This is an inner pleasure, not from some external source. The Levis would sing in the Temple at the time of service. This is like the pleasure of chochmah. On the one hand chochmah is a koach, on the other hand it is a koach that does not have its own form/presence. Sight is a mashal for this since it is a clear channel. Why not say the songs are like tynug, why say chochmah? This is because for something to be revealed on the outside through song, it must come through chochmah.

This is the first moment of consciousness.

Thus, this is the message of King David – that he recognized the essential/concealed pleasure that is in torah. Chochmah is able to sense that which is hidden. So why was he punished? Hashem said to him, “you call the laws songs?! You are focusing on an external element.”
But we saw it is a very high level, so why the reprimand?

Stay tuned for the answer.

For video, click here.

... וחיי עולם

I am real – He makes me

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/4/10 Tuesday 20 Iyar 5770

Page 28. Third line.  

That which is contained within itself, without expression, we do not see.

Tzalmenu – is an expression that is rooted in the very essence. This means that one can show of himself that one wants others to know, then there is “tzalmenu” - the moment of expression of me – who I am. This is chochmah. This is like sight. We experience chochmah without identifying with it. There is a primary knowledge that doe s not get retranslated – this is chochmah. This is what is visable as opposed to that which is shown/demonstrated.

This is like knowing oneself. We really know things since Hashem is making us see it – He is showing it to us. We don't think of it this way, since we don't think deeply into ourselves. Knowledge can be superimposed, from an external perspective. Or it can be internal, where he and the knowledge can unite. Chochmah is this level of knowledge with unity. This is a recognition that comes from realizing the Creator. All things coming from One source – I see the world and it doesn't detract from my knowledge of myself and my “personal calm”.

My being is beyond the demonstration level. I am part of reality itself, this is the level of chochmah. He makes me.

If a person seeks peace/security/quiet you may think it would be satisfying to be sent into space in a capsule. On a superficial level it is bliss, but it is worse than death since he is disassociated from reality itself.

Anything a person does for himself can be viewed as the result of some cause. But that which comes from the Creator is primary, and He made him because He made him. So as soon as he realizes it is given to him by the Creator there is no because.

Since this is not knowledge that is superimposed it must start with yourself. The animal knows things on a reactionary level. A human being has real knowledge - “what is this unto itself”. This is knowledge that is from the essence.

So far we said torah is rooted in the hidden chochmah – an emanation from the essence. It can further be said that torah is rooted within the essential pleasure/oneg itself.

This is a level that is beyond chochmah.

A human being has chochmah – the primary duty of a human is capture the world. Why? What does the world have to do with me? Every person from the perspective of chochmah feels in perfect unity with the world. He relates to the truth and is not separate from it. He feels at home, not like he's in a strange place.

Yidden were led into the gas chambers – they were walking. What gave them the strength to walk. How? What is making a step under these circumstances? Since even under these circumstance they know the truth.

... וחיי עולם

His memoirs

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 5/3/10 Sunday 19 Iyar 5770

Page 27 - a new discourse.  
The form of the human being is not this way to house various kochot. It is a tzelem of the etzem . The essence is described in it.

And torah is called “Our form”. Torah comes from chochmah which is the essence of atzilus.

Even though in atzilus there are also the 10 sphirot, at that level they are part of chochmah, which is “to see the truth at it is from above”. That is why atzilus is not really a created world – it is fully representative of kesser.

It was also explained previously that torah in its ultimate root it is even higher – rooted in the Primary Chochmah. This means the helem ha-atzmi (that which is concealed within the essence). This is similar to “the knowing of Himself” as it were. “By knowing Himself, He knows the torah.”

The concept of kn/owing of oneself, is something which in itself “self contradictory”. Usually I know something which is not me. So what is knowing oneself? In sechel there are 2 parts, the way I see it and the subject the way it is. Elokus has the element of the truth because it is the truth, not because it is “me”. This is where the truth and the “me” come together. So too with a human being – he is supposed to know himself – he knows his limits and his merits and demerits. He's able to look at himself from a perspective of true value, not just from a stance of, “this is me”.

This is why no matter what a human being achieves, he feels an emptiness unless it has an inherent value. A human being is essentially sechel and he must see what he does as having value at that level.

Torah is yediah – right from wrong – but it is yediat atzmi. It is knowing Himself. Not just “this is me”. Ultimately torah is rooted in oneg, but it is reflected in chochmah.

... וחיי עולם