Darkness into light and evil into good

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/29/2010 Friday 19Tammuz 5770

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Page 34 – 7 lines from the end of the page. Line starts “davar...”

We saw that sechel was identical to oneg – both of them reflect the pshitus ha nefesh. There is not subject in this oneg or sechel. It is perceiving the pure G-dliness itself.

For this reason the nefesh is called nefesh ha sichlis.

A child enjoys his toys, without any practical benefit. He plays simply because it appeals to him. So too chochmah of torah is to Him above even the ratzon atzmi.

He lacks nothing, so what is the appeal? This essence from the perspective of being perfect incorporates value and goodness. He doesn't need a push from outside to be awakened.

Torah has this element of being “essential plaything”. There is an element of the luminary in it. When one senses Him it supersedes his own yeshus. This is beyond sechel and reprimand.

Torah is not an anti-dote to the confusion of the world. It is sourced beyond that. It is not there in response to a need. It is truth itself. In the essence of ein sof is torah. Oneg in the nefesh identifies the truth. Sechel can lead one into the abyss of darkness or into the glory of light.

Torah is light and exposes you to the luminary that is in it.

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... וחיי עולם

An economy of abundance

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/29/2010 ThursdayNight 18Tammuz 5770

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Page 34 – the lower third of the page – about 10 lines from the end. Line starts “veshorsho...”

The true root of sechel is tynug. Tynug carries all the kochot. And sechel (specifically chochmah) is the koach from tynug that carries all the other kochot.

When we perceive the purity of the sky, we can see it in 2 ways – in light and in dark. This is the difference between how we perceive reality versus how the world perceives reality. From a world perspective all is developed for its own purpose. In this perception space allows for the house – it is not a participant. Anything that exists is seen to be in a constant battle for the space it occupies.

We have the opposite perception – nothing has to fight for its existence. It is provided for by its Creator on an infinite basis. Not just the space, but also the provisions needed. Air flows into our lungs. We open the mouth and He fills it!

This is a dark world – it is not welcoming – says a worldly perspective. When you walk into a dark room, you stumble upon stuff – that's how you discover the objects. In an illuminated room there's no conflict. No obstacles, everything has its place.



A world in the dark does not really nosay/carry/facilitate all it contains – things are fighting. An illuminated world nosay – facilitates and births all it contains. To bring this to the open is through malchus, in terms of being there it is in the oneg and chochmah.

Pure open space says, “all are welcome, but don't contaminate me” - this is the chesed and gevurah. This is the oneg and the chochmah.

Hashem gives and sets a standard, “I provided you with an expansive land and you profaned it by lying and cursing, you usurp it for yourself, rather than acknowledging that I give it to you”.

Sechel relates to the pure truth. It relates to the nothingness – the untainted pure truth.

To a great extent the flash of chochmah is that “this is explicable” and “there is such a thing as truth”.

How can it be we accept a thought without a full-fledged understanding of it? This is the perception of chochmah. This is the root element. This goes to the level of hi-uli – that there is hardly any definitive element - “nothing happened, but it is part of the truth.” then there is a level prior to this – inside the essence. The world was created with the intent that man live there.

Oneg is this step before hi-uli – this is reality itself and chochmah is rooted right there. Oneg is the truth itself. Oneg is that element in our experience that needs no explanation – it defies explanation. This is why it can be usurped by klippa. It is so pure.

We can't explain what the essence is about. Oneg is the essence.


... וחיי עולם

Constant pleasure

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/29/2010 Thursday 18Tammuz 5770

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Page 34 – the lower third of the page. Line starts “detynug...”

What gives support to tynug and chochmah is exactly the same thing. They are both rooted in the essence, though clearly sechel provides a different function from the oneg. In truth they are one and the same. The reason sechel is so true is because it is rooted in tynug.

Even though tynug seems to be an experience, which we think of it as related to circumstance. We say “a tynug that does not vary is a not a tynug”. Air is around us, but a breeze gives us a feel for it.

Here we say its atzmi and constant! It is a constant pleasure that is beyond time and space. It is not dependent on anything.

Sechel is not equipped to grasp this, but it can identify something beyond sechel. In everything there is tynug.

In the natural word, things are cause and effect, but if we focus on a living thing we see the hand has chayut (life) and more so the human being as a whole. This is a true presence, independent of anything. So too the nefesh is a presence independent of anything. A bird flies because G-d made it fly – not to escape predators.

For the nefesh the tynug is constant and ever fresh. We say of torah, that every moment it should be new, but we had it yesterday! The answer is that it is constantly coming from atzmus and something essential never gets old.

The greater the kingdom, the greater the variety it contains. The faculties are flowing out from the nefesh. When a man gets involved with any activity, the nefesh is there with him, its not like talking a foreign language – it comes from the richness of his nefesh. The true root of the sechel is the essential tynug.

The depth of sechel is immense. An owner of a dog teases it and it barks. The human doesn't react to the stimulus – he looks and sees the depth behind it. Sechel is objective and can perceive a truth element.

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... וחיי עולם

Breathing fresh air

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/28/2010 Wednesday 17Tammuz 5770

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Page 34 – the lower third of the page. Line starts “detynug...”

Underlying every kind of tynug is a pretense, even a false pretense, that this is the truth. Every crime is committed under the pretense of some kind of justification. This is the pathway for imprisoning the neshamah. Conceptually it should be impossible to steal. It is possible only due to the helem ve hester (hiding and concealment) of the world.

The mafia has a code of “honor”, but it is false. Honor is kavod, which is a G-dly attribute.

The primary quality of sechel is the ability to view things “objectively” - searching for the pure truth. How can a human do this? It means recognizing that there is a supreme, unidentifiable truth. Sechel gives everything a place of how it comes from that absolute truth. Sechel looks for the positive intent even if it cannot be defined. It knows that the truth is there, since without it nothing would exist. So the way I relate to this precarious existence is that “this ultimate truth” created it, and if not for that I could not relate to it.

This determination that “there has to be an ultimate truth” is tynug. Without that “I can't find a place for myself” - its not just a question of what the world is about, but “what am I about?” sechel is in touch with tynug and thus knows of this ultimate truth.

In America, one of the most popular words are, “free”. Getting something for free gives one a sense of delight. The reason for the pleasure is that one has a sense of something that is not in response to one's own actions. It provides a sense of something greater. Oneg has this attribute of being greater and not of one's own making. This being “one with the truth” is what sechel is trying to extend to an entire view.

“Objectivity” alludes to this level of truth – this is where sechel and oneg are identical. That level of truth is a delight.

Essence of all sechel is emunah, which is a direct recipient of tynug. This is the inner most meaning of sechel. Chochmah has a perception of this truth.

The outer walls of the house include () all the rooms. But it includes it in a general way. Nosay is “carrying” - the oneg is noseh all the faculties. All the kochot ultimately represent the oneg.

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... וחיי עולם

Like fire, it rises upwards

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/27/2010 Tuesday 16Tammuz 5770 

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Page 34 – the lower third of the page. Line starts “mushrash...”

The sechel gives an ID and a purpose to all the kochot.

All the faculties are rooted in source. This means that the faculties are not added later – they are not circumstantial.

Sechel has an atzmi/essence in it. It is there as a faculty, prior to the need of function. It is a a primary reality.

Essence of koach ha sechel is not its function, but its intent. Sechel wants to see things from an essential state.

The sechel at this level is of the essential tynug/pleasure. We experience based on a certain experience or subject, but this is not the end of pleasure. Life itself has a truth. This is a distant mashal for oneg Above or of the nefesh. The will to live is a subset of the nefesh itself.

All the oneg that we know is only a reflection of the truth of the oneg in the nefesh.

In the nefesh the oneg is an atzmi, even though we call it delight/satisfaction. There is a constant sense of delight in the nefesh – just from being. This type of being, is not only self-sustaining, it has the strength of being beyond any sense of justification. Sechel and oneg here are the same – the oneg is not my preference, but truth itself. Inherent in this sechel is the tynug of truth and hence the delight.

Because there is oneg, there is chochmah.



... וחיי עולם

You Have to Turn Away From Here

A poem by Yitzchak Bloom written after the Nachamu fabrengen

You Have to Turn Away From Here


You have to turn away from here
To reach another spot,
To get to somewhere over there
So here you will be not:


You can’t get over there and stay
Back where you were because
Your leaving is the only way
You’ll get over what was.


So Moses when he turned to face
The burning bush of yore
Turned first from his accustomed place
To the place he turned for:


But had he tried to view it from
His former point of view
He surely never would have come
To the place that he came to.


~ Yitzchak Bloom

To go where it will cease to be

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/26/2010 Monday 12Tammuz 5770

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Page 34 – a few lines below the middle of the page. Line starts “ha-atzmi...”

We have been looking at the etzem of the sechel, where it is rooted in the nefesh itself. And because it is rooted there, the nefesh is called nefesh hasichli. What is the message of seche? That you should not seek metziut. And this is what nefesh is. The reason the nefesh can have sechel, which in terms of kochot is an oddity, is since its interest is in the level that is “bilti metziut” - it is seeking to go up to where it will cease to be.

Even though the sechel is rooted in the nefesh, you may say, “well it is still a koach”, yet the nefesh is called, “nefesh hasichli”. After all the sechel is not in the etzem because of itself. It is there because of the gilui element of etzem, not the hidden aspect of essence. So our question remains, “why is the whole soul called nefesh hasichlis?”

Essence is only elokus/G-dliness – it didn't come into existence. In our perception we say, “what came before existence? Nothingness.” But the truth is just the opposite. The reason we can put something down is not because there is empty nothingness, but because there is space that is a provision for it. So too ein sof – not only does it allow for everything, but from it all emerges.

So what was He doing before he created the world? The question is based on misunderstanding, but how can we put a handle on it? There is the inyan of oneg/pleasure. For us there is no primary oneg – we have pleasure from a tasty piece of food – there is subject involved, but deeper than this we see oneg is a constant. Life itself is based on oneg. The depth of oneg is endless and one with etzem that precedes all existence.

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... וחיי עולם

Consecrated earth

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/25/2010 Sunday 14 Tammuz 5770

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Page 34 – about just below the middle of the page. Line starts “hanefesh...”

We are looking at how the torah which is chochmah is nevertheless superior to the ratzon that is in mitzvot. A mashal of nefesh ha-adam is used to explain this. How is the nefesh called “nefesh ha sichli”?

Nefesh is a atzmi, not a koach. Sechel is an aspect that says there is an underlying truth. If one lives at the level of truth, then separation between himself and others will be reduced to nothing, since all is one above.

Sechel has the principle that it can only be related to on its level. It can be revealed, but stays purly sechel. It is not a function of sechel to co-ordinate things on the physical plane.

Sechel has two levels, revealed sechel and secondly essential sechel.

Atzmi means, that which pre-exists the development of the koach. Atzmi means, that which is contained within the essence.

A piece of land undergoes a change when found by a human – the possibility of use now exists – this is “hi-uli”/possibility. The land acquired the hi-uli element of giving support to the human being. The hi-uli remains part of the essence, but not as separate presence.

Same thing in sechel. There is a level that is completely unified with the essence, but not as separate entity.

Due to this essential level of sechel, is the nefesh called nefesh hasichli. Because there is an element of sechel that is part and parcel of the nefesh itself, is it called nefesh hasichli.

What is so special about sechel that it has this special relationship to the soul? Briefly: the principle of sechel is the “objectivity” - not the common usage, but the actual perception of a higher absolute truth. Sechel continually seeks to unify all that it sees with this higher truth. It wants to see the real source of everything. It wants to see from a higher perspective. It wants the pure truth. It is not satisfied with being satisfied. It needs the truth, since the sechel is part of the nefesh.

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... וחיי עולם

An essential faculty

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/23/2010 Friday 12Tammuz 5770

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Page 34 – about just below the middle of the page. Line starts “hanefesh...”

We have been looking at the essence of chochmah.

This is the level of “my Holiness...”

We were explaining this by looking at how the human soul is called nefesh hasichlis, when sechel is only one of the faculties of the soul. Last night we looked at the pure sechel, which allows us to see how it is a fitting descriptor.

There is an inner level to sechel that is united with the soul, even though the nefesh is beyond having any specific koach/faculty quality. A koach/faculty is something that has a function.

Nefesh is an essence, for itself – not like an inanimate object – but at one with the entire existence/truth, not by finding out, but by being.

The power of the hand to move does not have to be active to exist. It is there of itself, not because it is being activated. When the hand moves, the power that was there is now functioning.

Just as we see a simple faculty, like that of movement, exists in an essential state, and is rooted in the nefesh, so too the kochot before they show themselves exist in an essential state.

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... וחיי עולם

Rising to the truth

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/22/2010 ThursdayNight 11Tammuz 5770

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Page 34 – a few lines above the middle of the page. Line starts “hakav ve chut...”

this morning we talked about the kav ve chut that comes after the tzimzum. Before the tzimzum there was just great light – ohr ein sof. A world with structure and multiplicity was not possible.

The kav ve chut comes after the tzimzum. It comes as a narrow pathway – a sequential development, but it represents the ohr ein sof that was before the tzimzum. It represents it in an incremental manner. This is the principle of world. Since it comes now in a formulated manner, there is the inyan of pnimius.

Pnimius means, as in our experience, there is the personal relationship to what we see, without which it doesn't become “ours”. After the tzimzum there is still the makif, but now there is pnimius – which is full absorbtion – recognition from the limited perspective. Torah has the element of tziur/form that applies only to the way this inyan comes into the pnimius of kav ve chut.

We say the structure of a human is from chochmah on down. But why not from oneg – pleasure? Why don't we say the origin is this oneg/pleasure? The reason is, is that oneg is present, but doesn't really become part of him. Chochmah on down is what a person can relate to from his finite perspective. Torah is the inyan of chochmah, as it comes into this kav/line that is the start of worlds.

Mitzvot are not the specific of the deed, there is makif. They are the makif of the kav.

Chochmah of torah reaches in and receives the oneg into itself. The chochmah itself is not etzem, it has a tziur.

There is a level of chochmah of torah that is not just a derivative of the oneg, it is an inyan atzmi. How can that be? It is an observer, not of the essence. Genesis starts with “brayshit barah...” - the base rashit are torah and Israel. Thus torah and its chochmah is rooted before oneg and ratzon in the ein sof. Ein sof is not ohr, it is absolute reality and this is where the chochmah of torah is rooted.

This is “My Holiness is beyond your holiness” meaning the holiness bestowed on Israel is by mitzvot, but torah is My Holiness. This can be understood by the example of the structure of a human – he has a nefesh ha sichlit which is a description of the human nefesh – sechel puts humans in a class of their own. What is the core element of sechel? It is what we usually call “objectivity”. (“objectivity” is used her not in the worldly sense, where things are stripped of significance, leaving man as a caricature of what he should be). The true objectivity of sechel is, not because nothing matters, but because the real truth is above any definitions - “if I want to understand anything truly I have to rise up to a higher plateau of the pure truth, stripped of worldly interest.”

This is the real inyan of adam/man. The human is capable of relating to the absolute truth.

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... וחיי עולם

Beyond making sense

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/22/2010 Thursday 11Tammuz 5770 

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Page 34 – about 14 lines from the top of the page. Line starts “Key im...”

The truth itself is not limited to the constraints of intellect. Something that develops needs to be consistent and not contradictory. The truth that exists is not limited to being free of contradictions.

A mitzvah is pure ratzon and thus superior to torah, but there is an advantage in torah due to it's earlier root in the essence, in the ein sof.

We say torah is chochmah and not etzem, when we are talking about how it comes into the aspect of being an ohr pnimi. This is the interior of the kav and chut that is revealed after the tzimzum. Before this kav/line is tzimzum, and before that there was infinite light filling the entire “space”.

“Filling space” can be thought of an emptiness that needs filling, a process of filling. Alternatively it can be thought of as always present - “everpresent, everywhere” and there was no place to put “worlds”. Worlds involve process and this was beyond that. This is like bringing light inside the sun. The tzimzum concealed the essential presence/truth, that allowed for a “vacant” space, into which to put the world. Kav/line means, multiple sequential identifiable points – thus a presence can be recognized. The kav represented ohr ein sof.

Chochmah is helpful in this regard. It can perceive this truth. It is not “it”, but it perceives “it”. Chochmah is like, “the light of the sun, within the sun” since it doesn't sense that it is sensing something. It is like a perfect observer, yet within chochmah is the beginning of the formation of tziurim/form/sphirot. You can see how what it sees can correlate to the “outside”.

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... וחיי עולם

The coin you lost

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/19/2010 Wednesday 10 Tammuz 5770 

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Page 34 – about 10 lines from the top of the page. Line starts “hamitzvot gevohim...”

Taam means “the reason for...” but in in the word taam is the understanding that it can be based on sechel/intellect or on oneg/pleasure.

What does the taam add to the mitzvah? It can add that you're able to relate to the mitzvah on the level of sechel, but also that there is found the element of oneg/pleasure that is in the mitzvah – and oneg is the principle of truth – G-dliness in the mitzvah.

The oneg is revealed through chochmah. The oneg is brought down into chochmah. Chochmah is not the essence of oneg.

In sphirot, chochmah is the purist and highest, but still that is in the realm of revelation and so not at the level of the essence of the will that is in mizvot.

Mitzvot represent the G-dly presence in the world and that we are acting in the presence of this makif. The context of the mitzvah is not world, but the makif Eloki. It is of etzem haratzon and not behamshacha. In torah, too there is oneg, but not of the level that is in mitzvot.

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... וחיי עולם

Changing the perspective

End of tisha be av – an impromptu piece of learning with R' Paltiel from the Rebbe Rashab

Chochmah relates to the essence.   

Multiplicity that has to be coordinated goes already into bina.

Chochmah has thepoint of truth. Bina is the grasping and development of the intellect into a formulated manner. This is the difference between chochmah and binah.

The true understanding is at the level of bina. Chochmah doesn't have the full grasp. Yet the the chochmah has the essence while the hispashtus (spreading out) is in bina only.



Sight is knowing the object, not at the knowable level – it is knowing the mehus ha-davar. A lower level is relating to something “as it relates to me”, but sight is the truth of the matter.

This is the real level of yediah.

The inyan of elokus (G-dliness) – one can say, “there's a world and in itself it doesn't make sense. And so the question is addressed. But in chochmah, you get to the point where elokus becomes the reality. This changes the whole perspective of what the world is.

Avraham avinu started by searching into the world. Till he found Him.

Sourced in perfect unity

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/19/2010 Monday 8 Tammuz 5770 

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Page 34 – sixth line from the top of the page. Line starts “lemutav...”

Mitzvot are etzem ha ratzon – where there is no cause for the will.

This pure essence is an imperative – the sechel compels realization that this is the source of everything. If not we would have to think that the source is some kind of interaction, but actually the source is a perfect unity.

As our sechel emanates from our nefesh, despite it's structure we must always have the sense that there is one theme running through everything. One cannot conceive of one's life as a response to other factors. The sechel senses the source where it comes from.

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... וחיי עולם

Beyond the river that runs through it

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/18/2010 Sunday 7 Tammuz 5770

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Page 34 – sixth line from the top of the page. Line starts “lemutav...”

Torah brings down infinity into vessels/enclothement, since one needs to understand what is being learned. But mitzvot have the ratzon (G-dly will) without enclothement.

Torah has the element of returning a person to the right path. Mitzvot don't have this feature – if he strays it won't bring him back, but learning torah, even in impurity will have the effect of turning him to the path.

The mitzvot are from etzem haratzon. From His essential will. Etzem is not composite, so how does it have a ratzon/will?
Etzem is like open space itself. We say that it reaches it's fullest potential when you begin to use it. When you begin to show what type of things it can be used for. Space in it's neutrality demands that you use it to show it's full value.

Imagine rivers flowing through the land. This provides, vitality and trade etc. So generally the city was on a river. The value of the river becomes evident. It is “wild” terrain, yet it has a certain message.

Essence/etzem is completely devoid of any definition, so how can we discern any ratzon? The essence is not lacking in any way. We tend to think of etzem like a rock – inert and signifying nothing. When we say there is etzem haratzon – we are saying it is based on elokus, since there is no etzem without elokus. There is nothing compelling Him to make the world. There is no concern that without the world He would not be reaching His full potential.

It is impossible for us to understand essence. Sechel observes from outside. Even sight, which connects to the object itself, yet it too is observation from the outside.

Why do we struggle with these issues, since they are beyond definition? As small and precarious as we are we are living a truth. When you have a “piece” of the essence, you have the whole thing – when you have a mitzvah – you have an entire truth. Every moment of life is really an infinity. This goes beyond knowing. We live way beyond our understanding. Intellect is a wonderful thing, but it has to lead you to the truth. While we don't understand essential ratzon, we can relate to it.


... וחיי עולם

Who serves you?

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/16/2010 Fridday 5 Tammuz 5770

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Page 34 – third line from the top of the page. Line starts “hislabshut...”

We're looking at torah vs mitzvahs. They both have a form and that is because they go through chochmah.

The mitzvah is rooted in ratzon/kesser, though it comes through in the form that His chochmah assigns to it, but you relate to the ratzon itself. In torah you also have the same elements, but you relate to it through hislabshut, since you have to understand it.

A soldier was standing guard on a hot day and a river was near by, so he jumped in for a swim. At that moment the Czar came to inspect his post. The soldier jumped out of the river and saluted saying, “My king, who serves you? My uniform or I?” and he got away with it. In mitzvahs you serve with “I”, but with torah there is a uniform.



... וחיי עולם

Words like fire

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/15/2010 ThursdayNight 4 Tammuz 5770

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Page 33 – About 6 lines from the bottom of the page. Line starts “hishtalshalus...”

We explained the principle of mitzvot – that they are the pillars that connect kesser with the world.

On the other hand torah is of the element of chochmah, and thus mitzvot are above torah, since they are from kesser.

In both torah and mitzvot the light comes from beyond the level of seder and hadragah (order and graduation) – this means this is the same ohr as it is in its source. The halachas are not based on worldly rationale, but on torah rationale. The words of torah are pure and remain above any impurity. The words of torah are like fire, that cannot be made impure.

Ye we say there is a difference. Torah comes in hislabshut and mitzvot not in hislabshut. To learn torah one has to understand – hislabshut. The main element of mitzvot is that you are doing what Hashem wants you to do.

Through torah learning we get chochmah ilah, but through a message. In mitzvot it is not through learning any specifics – in doing the mitzvah, the One who commanded is present. The ohr is not by hislabshut, but by doing the mitzvah.

We said a mitzvah is like a pillar connecting to beyond chochmah, and later we said it is chochmah ilah. Which is it? This relates back to the meaning of the word gilui – it means here that a mitzvah reveal what is contained, but to identify what is contained in kesser, that comes through chochmah.

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... וחיי עולם

From crown to ground

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/15/2010 Thursday 4 Tammuz 5770

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Page 33 – About 7 lines from the bottom of the page. Line starts “seder hishtalshalus...”

Mitzvot draw down into revealed way, the ohr ein sof the way it is above and translates it into a form that can be revealed below. Mitzvot become part of our world but they are from above seder hishtalshalus.

Mitzvot are a direct statement of the ohr ein sof. One can look at a the foot as a functional part of the body, or one can see that it is an essential part of the body. Missing a toe-nail is of no consequence for the level of chochmah, but for ratzon this is considered a mum/defect.

We are talking of torah and mitzvot. We are saying there are 2 different messages. On the one hand we see torah is above mitvot, but on the other hand mitzvot are superior to torah. We are addressing this. Mitzvot are the pillars of light connecting the crown with the ground. The way it is lamayla, that is how it comes down below, even though there are no composite parts above, but to represent the crown at the worldly level, the mitzvot apply, and each is of infinite quality.

Mitzvot represent here below, on a functional level, something that is of the essential value.

For video, click here.


... וחיי עולם

Be honest, don't fool yourself

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/14/2010 Wednesday 3 Tammuz 5770

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Page 33 – About 7 lines from the bottom of the page. Line starts “seder hishtalshalus...”

We have been looking at the 2 levels of makif. This is like the factors of torah and mitzvot.

Mitzvot are like the pillar that connects the roof to the floor.

From the perspective of chochmah he has a foot in order to fulfill what it wants the person to do, from the perspective of ratzon he has a foot because he is a human being. Mitzvot represent the way they are in kesser and they connect ratzon to seder hishtalshalus.



... וחיי עולם

Blown off your feet

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/13/2010 Tues 2 MenchemAv 5770

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Page 33 – Just below mid point of the page. Line starts “she-hi...”

After a description of the level of standing and jumping, we began to learn inside the text.

There are two kinds of makif – the level of samech is beyond one's level, but the mem has an element of hisyashvut. Torah has both of these levels.

Yesterday we looked at how torah is sourced in helem ha-atzmi.

Seder hishtalshalus is from chochmah on down. Hishtalshalus is a develpmental process and then there is a level beyond that. What one has in chochmah, needs development to be made manifest, true and consumated. Ratzon is beyond hishtalshalus and does not need consummation. This is ratzon atzmi – which is what the nefesh is. This is how things are in the essence.

Mitzvot (613 +7 = 620 = Kesser) are of the level of crown, which is beyond procedural development - the mitzvot bring down this level, into revelation here below.



... וחיי עולם

Not a response to a need

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/12/2010 Monday 1 Menachem Av 5770

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Page 33 – Below the mid point of the page. Line starts “hamshacha ve hachizuk...”

We tend to see torah, not as it is, but how we relate to everything else in the world – as a response to a need.

In fact, the whole world is a representation of torah. The initial thought of making a world is rooted in torah. Torah is an inyan atzmi.

Adam was at first both male and female – there was perfect unity and he lacked nothing. Hashem said, this is not a good thing, so “I will make a helper and an opponent for him, and that's going to be good” - how's that good? And why is a situation of no problem, not good? This is because the full realization of humanity was not in the unity of Adam, but the unity that comes later. Humans are to bring the G-dly presence into the world – his presence in the world represents that truth and that is accomplished by the split and union of a helper and opponent.

The whole matter of shalom bayit is not an afterthought – it is part of the intended creation.

He didn't have to make the wold – the directives of torah is not to rectify shortcomings in the world, but the way the truth is present in the world.

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... וחיי עולם

The center floats

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/11/2010 Sunday 29 Tammuz 5770

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Page 33 – at the mid point of the page. Line starts “le-yeday...”

There can be an element of hamshacha from the makif of ohr chozer, but it is not revealed – it comes by way of riddle and hint.

This is the inyan of final mem and samech, that are in the ten commandments, and their center piece just floats. The mem has a flat bottom and the samech is round.



... וחיי עולם

Training and learning

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/9/2010 Friday 27 Tammuz 5770 

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Page 33 – Just above mid point of the page. Line starts “bepnimiut...”

there are 2 levels of makif – de ohr yashar and de ohr chozer. The first has an element of hamshacha, of which some can be drawn into fulll comprehension.

The second level does not come to the level of revelation/hamshacha at all. It is in a state of hidden concealment (helem achar helem).

This is the element that is not possible to be revealed. The animal can be trained to do things that appear to be human – what ever the animal does has nothing to do with its essence – he doesn't relate to it. The animal may know certain facts, but will not have an overall perspective.

A man learns to walk because he has a chochmah, but the essence in the nefesh will never be revealed.



... וחיי עולם

As he walks in the courtyard...

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/8/2010 Thursday 26 Tammuz 5770

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Page 33 – Just above mid point of the page. Line starts “bepnimiut...”

In all the matters we have been looking at we are talking about our relationship with Hashem.

There are levels of great variety.

Talmid and mashpia – the mentor formulates a sechel to transmit to the student. The sechel is a message from the nefesh from the mashpia, 'tho it may sound like a piece of logic. The basis of 1+1 =2 is that we sense that this is one world. There is a perfect unity. It is a message from the nefesh. Usually we not aware of this sense of intellectual unity.

To develop a child's intellect, we give him simple statement, that he then develops a feel for – an intellectual reality.

Sechel is something that only exists in sechel. Light is physical, “day” is sechel.

The reason the sechel can relate to day is that we have a nefesh, which is an essence of life, and can perceive the G-dliness in the world. Sechel is a koach of the nefesh.

So everything that a mashpia teaches, is on this level. He gives through his sechel. This is like teaching our children – not just the dry facts.

Sechel brings a real revelation from the mashpia.

The student “wakes up to the idea”, not just because of the mashpia's words, but because he sees the mashpia is alive to the idea. So the relationship is very, very important, even though he is teaching sechel, the sechel is too chitzoni alone – the relationship facilitates getting the pnimius.

In all relationships of mashpia and mekabel there is a primary recognition of, “where this is coming from and he senses something truer than what is being presented to him.” This effect in general is called a makif.

There is such a thing has receiving an effect, but not in revelation. He sees truth exists. Helem achar Helem. “I was 8 years old in Moscow, not even going to chedar, and I looked at my grandfather davening and I said, 'this is the real thing!'”

Makif represents the truth itself. Truth that can be presented, and truth that is self-contained. This second level is makif of ohr chozer, yet somehow it too has an effect – as if one could see the essence itself or the sense that truth exists.

For video, click here.

... וחיי עולם

What makes "good", "good"?

Ayinbase with R' Paltiel - Audio - 7.8.10 Thursday 26 of Tammuz 

Page 33.

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There is no measure to the sky

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/5/2010 Monday 23 Tammuz 5770

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Page 33 – Just above mid point of the page. Line starts “behinat hamshacha...”

ohr makif is that which is representing the source or etzem, that cannot be dressed in keilim/vessels. To come into a form/vessel, it has to have some limit. Makif doesn't have this limit or circumscription.

Being in a keili, means being described. Being be-pnimius, means being sensed. Seeing an object and seeing the sky are different. There is no measure to the sky. The sight of the sky is still in your keilim/vessel of sight, yet its infinity is sensed.

Makif de ohr chozer in the mashpia, means that in the mashpia is an ohr, and the ohr chozer, within that is that, the message of this ohr is not “I wanna be ohr / I wanna go back and connect to the mashpia”, but rather “there is nothing, but the mashpia”.

Hashem wanted to give merit to Israel, so he gave a lot of mitzvoth – they elevate the people and bring out their best qualities. Yet, the real element in mitzvot is not that at all - it is tha He is telling me to do it. This is the ultimate significance, not its purifying qualities. It connects us to Him, not that it makes us a better people in the world.

A mitzvah is a command – thus there is a Commander. We're not trying to understand the King – it is sufficient for us to do His will.

Makif by definition cannot be in a keili. Not because it is too big, but because it does not exist at the level of keili. Its message is that there is the etzem (not that there is the ohr).

Makif of ohr chozer of the mashpia, is the inyan of the light, whose message is not, “look at the qualities of the mashpia”, but rather, “there is nothing but the mashpia” - it is a light that reflects back and shows what the illuminator is rather than his abilities.

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... וחיי עולם

I dunno what I'm looking for, but it sure ain't this

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/4/2010 Sunday 22 Tammuz 5770

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Page 33 – Just above mid point of the page. Line starts “behinat hamshacha...”

Being in a room provides a makif. It gives a sense of togetherness before the activity takes place. Every activity has a makif that gives it a context, within which it is enacted.

There are two levels of makif – makif de ohr yashar and makif de ohr chozer. Makif goes beyond what is fully comprehended. Makif has the element of infinity.

Or yashar means something that is directly related to this makif. Or chozer is something that reverts back. A way to think of this is like a ball thrown against a wall.

When the ball hits the wall and bounces back, this is or chozer. It flies back to its source, but it is flying now due to hitting the wall. It is an unknown. The original source is no longer directly involved.

When the ball flies back the makif is totally passive. What was the origin is now the recipient. It is now the recipient because it was the source.

Tshuvah is called or chozer. You are distant and don't know the truth, yet you are pulled towards it.

You are distant and have discomfort with your present situation. That discomfort is due to the truth of the neshama – I sense the negativity since deep down there is the real thing.

When a man walks to the subway to go to work, there is a ratzon that motivates that, and this extends to higher levels, till it is beyond definition. The real essence of the person not even within his experience.

Love between two people is within a makif that unites them. This is called makif de or yashar. That “I seek to express this truth of our relationship in some way” is already a hamshacha. - bringing it into expression and definition. From this hamshacha comes the or yashar.

We have the sun – the sun is superior by far to the element of light. The sun does not have darkness to illuminate. The light emanates from the truth of the sun having the essence of light.

When the sunlight hits the object it is transformed into heat. The heat is the essence of the sun. Heat is the source of the light. The light we get is the subset/lower level of the sun.

Since there is light it gives function to the heat. This is a side point.

We have made the distinction between light and day. Day is the essence of light. While we have light that illuminates darkness, at the same time there is a big difference if you use candle-light or daylight. Sunlight has for us that, “I am not just seeing the object, but there is overall light – daylight – all is visible” - daylight is like the makif of this or on the specifica object.

Makif in general is connected to the etzem. This is how it provides the power. In hamshacha there are 2 elements – the source and the destination. Hamshacha of the etzem – knowing oneself – and it is impossible to do anything in the world without first knowing oneself, even though it was not an hamshacha to the outside.

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... וחיי עולם

Flowers, snowflakes and tables

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/2/2010 Friday 20 Tammuz 5770 

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Page 33 – About a third into the page line. Line starts “haray...”

Every experience has an environment, that gives it reality. This is makif. This is the overall goodness or kindness that surrounds the experience. It represents the sense that there is an overall goodness. Only with this sense is he able to develop intellectually and emotionally.

There are two levels of makif – makif de ohr yashar and makif de ohr chozer. Makif goes beyond what is fully comprehended. Makif has the element of infinity.

The ultimate truth is hidden and not valid due to any statement or exposition.

When we say He has a name, we start to think in our terms, but He cannot be explained from a functional perspective, He is that reality. When we use a name, we are referring to Him as he is known to us. Anochi is referring to Him above name. He is not an entity of any specificity. Thus it is true to say the world is coming from nothing.

Makif of ohr yashar – has an element of hamshacha. Like the table is provide for by its environment – the environment helps define the table. This means that the environment is some how relating to the table – this is hamshacha.

For video, click here.

Later, Yitzchak indicated that this poem (seen below), by Emerson has bearing on what we are learning:

The Rhodora

On being asked, whence is the flower.

In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,
I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,
Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,
To please the desert and the sluggish brook.
The purple petals fallen in the pool
Made the black water with their beauty gay;
Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,
And court the flower that cheapens his array.
Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why
This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,
Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing,
Then beauty is its own excuse for Being;
Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!
I never thought to ask; I never knew;
But in my simple ignorance suppose
The self-same power that brought me there, brought you.


... וחיי עולם

Hanging in mid air

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/1/2010 ThursdayNight 19 Tammuz 5770 

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Page 33 – about 10th line from the top. Line starts, “de-einsof...”

There is an element in torah that is higher than chochmah and this corresponds to tshuvah.

Torah provides the power to do birurim. The birur involves being able to do something without having a grasp of what you're doing – this is helem ha-atzmi.

Torah provides the truth that one can descend into this physical world and not lose track of the existence of essence. Birurim means that no matter how mixed into the klippa the kedusha becomes, it will never be dissolved.

Even though torah is chochmah, embedded in it is the essential truth...

Principle of helem ha-atzmi is that everything has its own place – connected back to the source of sources. Everything is equal in this setting.

In tohu each element has its essential quality and feels like it can relate on its own. Here we are saying the essence has to do with what you are connected to not what you are.

This is like the letters mem and samech, in the tablets. They are similar to the letter “O” in their shape and thus their center piece was hanging in mid air.

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... וחיי עולם

A little dirt and the food

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 7/1/2010 Thursday 19 Tammuz 5770

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Page 33 - 9th line from the top.

Birurim means to clean, clear out.

The dirt produced the fruit, the wheat, but the dirt must release it. The food grew in the earth since He put a G-dly power in the earth to produce.

Birurim in avodah is also dealing with mixture and confusion. A small impurity can render a whole thing impure. One touch can render the whole body impure.

Birurim are rooted in the atzmus ein sof – with this power can you purify.

Everything has elokus in it. You start with all you see is bad. Then you work it over till you see the good. To learn and to purify, you disregard your own experience and pick away the dust and the covering. This work connects you directly to the king. You may not care so much – but the king wants you to do it. In war the enemy does not represent the truth – an enemy of the Jewish people is an enemy of G-d.

There is a recognition that torah must be perfectly pure – this is a recognition not of chochmah, it is an acknowledgment that it comes from G-d and must be pure. Chochmah gives a form and this is like an alloy added to pure gold.

Torah is not limited by its form. Its essence from before it is a shape – from oneg atzmi. A form or shape is a system, with cause and effect. For things to make sense the sphirot must be in a inter-related form. Essence looks at each thing and how it emanates from its source – this is beyond chochmah.

And see below, the first hand account of a story we heard recently...

... וחיי עולם