Space makes a statement... “the sky's the limit!”

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/28/2010 Tuesday 20 Tishrei 5771

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Page 30 – just below the middle of the page, line starts, “bechochmah...”

The ohr ein sof becomes part of the chochmah. It is not merely that chochmah is a conduit, it is able to relate to ohr ein sof and disseminate this to other kochot.

The mashal for this is sight. Sight is sechel on a gashmius level. The seeing of space provides the profound reality that we experience in sight. Seeing space versus seeing an object – when you see the object you see where it is present and where it is not, you can turn away from it. You cannot turn away from space – in our experience this is like infinity.

However space allows for objects to be placed there. This is how infinity is dressed in finitude. Space includes the possibility for everything. Space has the paradox of providing for everything and yet not grasped by the objects.

The infinity 0f space: anything that exists is not infinite, anything that needs to be made is not infinite. The world is constantly being made. The concept of infinity is something that does not have to be made – this is ratzon – the G-dly will. Will represents something that is there without having to be created.

Chochmah is like this – it has the infinity of space and has the finitude of providing for specific elements. Space is a mashal – it shows we are capable of rising to a level and perceiving matters that are higher than world. Truth is not world and the world is butel to the truth. The world exists within infinity, which is the real thing that supports it.

Imagine a structure being built in an open field. No streets, no city. Inside the building he divides it into rooms. The purpose of the house becomes apparent – it is a house for people – not a storage barn. When it is apparent which room is the dining room, it is the makor galui (revealed source) for the dining room table and chairs.

Atzilus is only a makor, but it is a makor galui. Chochmah doesn't provide the table, but calls for it. Chochmah says, “this is a dining room” and bina says, “hmmm, let's see how to do this, we need a table, how big should it be? We need chairs... etc”

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... וחיי עולם

Oil and wine

Sara Palin and Larry King talk Chassidus - Stand, Walk and Jump!

Relating to reality

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/27/2010 Monday 19 Tishrei 5771 

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Page 30 – around the middle of the page. Line starts, “she ba ve-al yadah...”

We saw yesterday how chochmah ilah is related to torah. Through them is drawn down the aspect of tynug into all of creation.

Tynug is not a tangible element. And tynug does not exist without recognition of its source.

The nefesh experiences the oneg of all the different faculties and senses.

It is the chochmah itself that is a vessel for the giluim atzmi-im of the nefesh.

Chochmah is called koach ma – it is a faculty and nothing at the same time!

The rebbe once said of our lineage - “we get everything from our rebbe, where he gets it from is not our affair!” There is nothing outside. The nation is on the one hand separate from the king, but on the other hand totally butel, that they become one with him. The unity between king and nation is greater than any other unity. A son is a derivative of his father, in contrast to the nation being the hispashtus/spreading out of the king.

The malchus is one of ten sphirot – the kingship is not artificially created, it is an actual element of the nefesh. In malchus is reflected the essence of the king.

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... וחיי עולם

The experience of infinity

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/26/2010 Sunday 18 Tishrei 5771

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Page 30 – about a third from the top, line starts, “ubechinat hatynug...”

We said that atzilus is the revelation of ohr ein sof. Being that it is revelation – the primary element is tynug. Oneg represents an element that is fully self contained – real in and of itself – which is an atribute we usually only apply to ohr ein sof. Oneg is the experience of infinity.

Oneg does not beg for a source of basis. On a trivial level, a sweet taste can make you feel good - “you're being treated, taken care of, attended to...” If you eat 2 candies in a row, then it becomes just physical. And the physical/gashmi lacks inherent oneg. Atzilus is the source of oneg.

To draw oneg down it has to be connected to the source. It has to have an element of infinity. The serpent eats dust – and walks on its belly – you have food and never fall – sounds great! The human stands on two legs and has to hold himself up. You would think this would make the serpent secure and calm, but he is jealous and venomous. The snake sees the world - “it is a lot, but it is not infinite – he has lost his connection with infinity and never experiences oneg”.



Chochmah ilah is from the top down – atzilus is an emanation not a creation. In our world there is a world and it has a source. In atzilus it is the opposite, there is a Source and hence there is a world. This is chochmah ilah.

This chochmah ilah is the torah of atzilus. For us the difference between torah and our own wisdom is that the torah is a directive from above.

Torah comes from the top and says, “I want you to do this...” Chochmah ilah of atzilus is torah.

When Socrates came above he requested the same Gan Eden (Garden of Eden) as Avraham Avinu. They answered him, “you gave your life for your convictions, but Avraham gave himself over for G-d.”

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... וחיי עולם

Daily Miracle

Not disparate and circumstantial

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/22/2010 Wednesday 14 Tishrei 5771

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Page 30 – about a third from the top, line starts, “ubechinat hatynug...”

From the element of delight that is in the world of atzilus is drawn forth all pleasure that is promulgated into the world.

Atzilus has the aspect of gilui and can thus relate to the lower worlds.

Here's an important point: realize the significance of all the things that exist in the world. They seem disparate and circumstantial. So why do we say they are rooted in higher and higher worlds all the way to atzilus. In the creation of the man are foretold all human inventions and making of human imagination.



Therefore we say that in the essential element of atzilus, even though above all is in a perfect state, nevertheless, there everything from the lower levels is contained.

In the soul will (ratzon atzmi) there are no compromises. When a king wants to build a house, all the details of the house are contained therein. If one brick or window is missing then the ratzon is not satisfied.

Within atzilus itself the tynug is there by virtue of a general root that contains everything. From this is drawn the lower levels of tynug. In atzilus the tynug is called chochmah ilah – a supreme wisdom. It is the element of Torah in atzilus.



... וחיי עולם

Pleasure camouflaged and exposed

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/21/2010 Tuesday 13 Tishrei 5771

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Page 30 – about a third from the top, line starts, “ubechinat hatynug...”

Oneg for everything is rooted in atzilus. Everything a human does and relates to is rooted in his nefesh. This is because he can ultimately relate to it.



World is a presence beyond what is present – ohr be kli. This is a little like “thought” - we are hardly consciouse of the words and language of the thougth – the structure seems completely hidden, but in dibur there has to be a structure – that's a world. A world has beginning middle and end – a structure. And thought doesn't have this structure in the full sense of the word.

The oneg gets camouflaged, but it is sourced above in atzilut.

  


... וחיי עולם

Constant thought

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/20/2010 Monday 12 Tishrei 5771

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Page 30 – at the 9th line starts, “shoshanah...”

Oneg has a truth quality – something that stand on its own. Physical oneg may be profound, but there is a subject and an experience – it is not truth in and of itself and thus cannot really stand on its own. It has a higher level that gives it importance.

One can get distracted from the truth of a simcha, by all the preparations and details, but the sechel of the simcha is held up by emunah, which attests to its truth.

This is “govayah mayal govayah shomer” - the higher level gives it a sense of reality. This extends all the way to atzilus. Everything finds its element of truth there. Without this one may see the whole world as circumstantial.

Atzilus is like the intermediary between ohr ein sof and the creation. Like chochmah is the intermediary between tynug and the faculties.

Things come out of the essence into revelation. It can be that when revealed it is still in a state of potential. You cannot read without learning the alef – base, you cannot imagine the activity of reading. Potential is already a big gilui. In ohr ein sof the creation is not even in a state of potential.



... וחיי עולם

Beyond the moment

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/196/2010 SundayNight 11 Tishrei 5771

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Page 30 – second line at the word “umuvan...”

We've been looking at how something in world is temporary. Anything that is beyond the moment is inherently eloki – it has an element of truth in it.

It is understood that even the lowest level of the garden of Eden is superior to the highest level of pleasure/tynug that is found in the lower worlds in gashmiut.

Sechel and midot are very different. The emotion exists when there is a subject. Sechel is much deeper – one can be alone and totally engrossed in sechel. This means that the oneg that is contained there does not need to be expressed. What is the oneg in sechel? Both sechel and midot represent a G-dly element of true value.

In the world and kippa, real goodness is hardly possible – there is such a level of self-involvement. But the nefesh is beyond this since it is invulnerable and can thus be completely altuistic. Sechel has the recognition that such a thing as truth exists and the world is not totally dependent on structure.

Both sechel and midot are possible since the world is a G-dly creation.

The origin of chochmah (and midot too) is the acknowledgment that there is a First Creator who bring all into existence. This is why there is truth/oneg in the world.

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... וחיי עולם

A river flows through it... a river flows from it...

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/19/2010 Sunday 11 Tishrei 5771 

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Page 29 – about last quarter of the page. Line starts, “kenaal...”

We're still looking at the matter of domim / inanimate matter. The oneg is spread through all levels of the person and the faculties, by means of the chochmah. Actually the oneg is imbued into the physical/gashmi world. It is so much part of it that the nefesh itself gains pleasure from this specific faculty – whether sight or hearing etc...

This oneg of hashem is what keeps each element of the creation in existence. “Tynug in the gold, silver and precious stones” is understood how? A sound disturbs the eardrum, but the pleasant sound is pursued, and he wants to hear it again... this indicates oneg. The world exists for the moment, continually changing and if something exists the next moment, it is due to a flow of life from the source. So the constancy of the word is a sign infinity – of His input. The continued existence of all materials is by virtue of His oneg.

The oneg does not belong to the silver and gold – it is dressed in it and is expressed through it, but it does not carry it on its own.

This is the bringing of elokus into the world in the most “face to face” level. The world is created at every moment. This is the sechel of it, but it doesn't bring you to recognize elokus of it. To recognize His presence in the world is by seeing the oneg/beauty in the world. “Gold is telling you something way beyond the statement that, 'I exist'”.

Just the taste of grain, has such richness that it call forth and arouses the daas in the baby and he first calls “father/mommy”.

All the tynug/pleasure is sourced in the the river that runs through and from Edan. It is said that in the garden of Eden is the ruchnius/spirituality of that which we have in physicality.

Take for example the octupuss – which is so different from the normal structure. At first it is totally outside our experience, yet after a while we relate to it. We in our soul have much more depth and a relationship to the truth far beyond what our sechel and intellect allows. This means that ultimately we can relate to everything you observe in the world.

Nothing exists in the world except that it has a source at a G-dly level. This is why it is so real and we can realate to it.

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... וחיי עולם

A true, pure view

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/16/2010 ThursdayNight 8 Tishrei 5771

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Page 29 – last quarter of the page. Line starts, “ke-naal...”

We said this morning that there is oneg in everything. This means, everything was created by G-d. But this can be seen in 2 ways – He made it and then it was merely a creation, or that He made it and that this G-dly element stays with it.

Inanimate means that the object is quiet, not that it doesn't stand for anything.

We can relate to the world in different ways. Either everything is in constant conflict and battle for its existence, or it can be seen as a creation. If the world is a creation then the sun rotates around the earth in order to serve it. If seen from a worldly perspective then the movement of the planets is all accidental.

The tynug is dressed into all aspect of the physical world, since the tynug is what keeps them in existence. The life in the body gives it its real presence.

After the life/soul leaves it, the body disintegrates. This is true of everything and every object in the world – there is a tynug/life force in it that maintains it. We lose this perspective, everyone below the level of a tzaddik loses this perception.

If not preoccupied with our own existence then we see the world from this perspective of everything created by Him.

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... וחיי עולם

The rock, the chicken and the blade of grass

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/16/2010 Thursday 8 Tishrei 5771 

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Page 29 – about last quarter of the page. Line starts, “oneg eloki...”

We have looked at how oneg extends into every faculty and extends back to the nefesh, making it a participant in the activities of the faculties.

This occurs via chochmah. Nefesh has chochmah and it itself is reflected here, yet on the other hand it is only a faculty.

Everything that a person does, no matter how small, and even if seemingly initiated by an external stimulus, relates back to the nefesh.

This connection is due to the general koach/faculty that is the essence of all the others – koach ha chochmah is this faculty.

Even in a plant or stone there is tynug. It itself does not experience anything. They lack (as do the animal world) the level of personal experience. They don't have a spiritual perception of “what and who am I”. So what is the tynug here? It is the tynug that gives them a place in the world.

The secular world came up with the idea of evolution as an explanation – all evolving from itself – from amoeba onwards... And that man came from a monkey. What is the driving force in this process? To secure it its own existence. There is no cognizance of anything greater. And there is a constant sense of its own precariousness. Thus from this perspective there is no meaning to a man's existence and no such thing as true friendship.

From a Torah perspective: Oneg is that level of presence that is truth unto itself – fundamental, without vulnerability – indestructible. This oneg is sourced in the fact that the world was/is created by G-d. This is why rocks, plants and creatures have not only a right to be, but meaning to be. When you shecht a chicken it has reached the epitome of existence, being included in something higher than itself.

We have the mitzvah of not wasting, not destroying something of value. The fact that He created it means it is imbued with this aspect, there is a G-dly element in this object – it is alive – it doesn't have to fight to be. There is a G-dly light in everything – this is called oneg, this is not sechel – it is a real element of presence. It relates the world to something higher.

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וחיי עולם

Beyond darkness into light...

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/7/2010 Wednesday 7 Tishrei 5771 

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Page 29 – lower third of the page. Line starts, “bigdulas havaya...”

We've been looking at the way oneg extends itself into the faculties. The nefesh itself has delight in the activities of the faculties and senses.

One may ask. What additional experience is provided by the faculties and senses? The nefesh has the etzem of elokus? What is contributed by the kochot? The special addition is the “gilui” element – the aspect of the nefesh elokis becoming revealed.

The experience is akin to “the advantage of light from the darkness” - when he sees elokus from within something finite, this is the recognition of the infinite in the finite.

The fact that Torah can be expressed in clear words is phenomenal. There is a special oneg in the fact that something so infinite can be expressed in finite words.

Oneg is total calm and satisfaction. Oneg eloki is beyond this since elokus is already beyond a precarious framework. There is no negative. So thus oneg means that is is not an oneg of coming from darkness into light. It has no definitive explanation or element. The oneg eloki is by defnition bli gvul and yet it is having oneg in something finite. From a particular activity. Like speech etc...

This is a tynug atzum – a powerful delight! How so? This is due to the services of the chochmah element in the nefesh that is the keli for the koach of tynug. And through the chochmah the nefesh has the oneg. Chochmah has a consciousness, which is already not the essence – it is itself and outside the essence. This is a consciousness of the essence.

Since it has an outside it can relate to all the faculties and observations.

This chochmah of the nefesh gives the nefesh a presence in the consciousness level. The concept of a presence is like a name – it gives a person presence/recognition that touches his very essence. This is reaching into an element that in itself does not reveal itself.

All the grace and beauty in the world is trying to “catch up with” and express that “He made the world” and this is like chochmah revealing the essence.



... וחיי עולם

All personal experience is in the heart

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/13/2010 Monday 5 Tishrei5770

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Page 29 – just below middle of the page. Line starts, “tynug gadol...”

There is nothing in physicality that provides the same elation and delight as sight. There is a spiritual sight that has a comparable effect, to the extent that it creates a great pleasure for the nefesh.

Discovery is possible in the mind. The heart only relates to that which is available and it can relate to directly. So what is the sechel in the heart? On the level of sechel, there is relationship with reality, the heart has the subjective truth of “my preference” - the heart of nefesh elokis, responds only to truth. It looks at the King with the qualities of sechel.

The richness of elokus is not because it is coming out of non-existence. This is not something that lends itself to the definitions of sechel. The whole issue of existence doesn't apply to elokus. So to look into elokus is to look at the richness of the King. When you look at a physical thing, you first see that it exists. Here it is just focusing in on the message.

Similarly there is a G-dly pleasure in hearing. Sight is for things that are in your line of vision, and hearing has to do with things at a distance. With sound you have the effect, rather than the essence, which you have in sight.



... וחיי עולם

Seeing through it

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/12/2010 Sunday 4 Tishrei 5770 

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Page 29 – about middle of the page. Line starts, “hakochot...”

The main point is that chochmah is the intermediary between nefesh/oneg and the finite experience.

Chochmah is a vessel for the “essential lights”. Chochmah to us means “wisdom”, but we said that oneg is this unique element that emanates from the nefesh and is the true representation of the nefesh. So even though oneg has this truth element, nevertheless, there is an experience involved, an element of satisfaction, so thus not just focused on pure truth. Etzem/essence is where experience is totally irrelevant.

Essence is present, without the qualifications of presence. oneg/pleasure has the parameters of experience. Who can relate to truth just because it's true, not because it is experienced? Who has that level of self-effacement? That is the level called chochmah. It is a pure window, but it also beyond a window since it allows you to relate to that which is invisible.

The “natural nefesh” is different in that it can relate to worldliness. The nefesh ha-elokis relates to G-dliness not world.

The natural soul – it is also a living entity. It is on the level of cause and effect. It has a reactive quality. Nefesh elokis has a different nature, it doesn't relate to “occurrences”.

Nefesh elokis doesn't see something because it blocks its line of vision – it sees through the object to the truth of it.

The nefesh elokis is taking initiative.

The difference between elolkus and world is that wold does not exist, till you prove it exists. This is true in out daily experience. Things are here since I see them and you can walk through the table – there are not true objects in the world – everything is incidental and discovered.

Elokus doesn't have the whole element of non-existence. The activity is to connect to the richness that is in elokus – hehistaklah byikarah deMalka.

Looking at the world with an open eye is looking at the actual grandeur of the world without concern of its utility. This is the eye of the nefesh eloki.



... וחיי עולם

Soul pleasure in everything

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/7/2010 Tuesday 28 Elul 5770

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Page 29 – about middle of the page. Line starts, “shelemata...”

Chochmah has bitul – self-effacement and can thus receive the essence. On the other hand chochmah is a koach that contains all the other faculties. It takes this essence/ein and shows how it is a the level of yesh.

Through this the nefesh relates to the finite tastes and tunes etc...

What can give oneg to the nefesh? It means that the nefesh, through the chochmah is able to discern in this thing a certain truth that it can relate to. That refinement and truth exists virtually in everything – sweet and sour. But must be presented in the proper measure. It it hits you hard that is a body not a nefesh/soul thing.



... וחיי עולם

Like a needle through cloth...

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/6/2010 Monday 27 Elul 5770

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Page 29 – near the middle of the page. Line starts, “ha-emtzait-hachochmah...”

We say the oneg is in the nefesh itself

And the nefesh is mesaneg in all the faculties.

There is an oneg element in the most minute concept.

The nefesh is never in a state of absence of oneg. So meaning of “the nefesh is misaneget (delights)?” - it means the nefesh is a participant in every activity and makes the activity real and not just make-believe or just functional.




... וחיי עולם

Rely on nothing

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/5/2010 Sunday 26 Elul 5770

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Page 29 – about a third from the top. Line starts, “bemakom acher...”

We've been seeing how chochmah is a proper intermediary, that relates to the ohrot atzmi-im. The oneg becomes part-and-parcel of the chochmah, and the chochmah becomes permeated by oneg, which is then disseminated to all the specific faculties.

Even though chochmah is a koach, yet the tynug is dressed in it.

In the nefesh things are in a state of “singular” or “only” - “unique singularity” (yachid) and at the level of chochmah they are in a state of “unity” (echad).

Till now we describe oneg being dressed in the chochmah. Now we are saying the nefesh delights in all the chushim (senses) and kochot, meaning they reach back into the nefesh itself.

Oneg itself is clear testimony of the G-dly presence in the world. G-d created the world vs it created itself – this debate comes down to “is there an element of truth in the world or is it all circumstantial?”

The reality of oneg is not just the experience itself – it is possible only when there is full and total trust and relating to the inyan. There is no real delight unless He made the world.

You can climb a ladder conscious that the ground holds it. So you are depending on something outside – this is not 100% unity with the ladder. The rebbe maharash could keep climbing while the other boys couldn't go further. The real oneg is the fact that it is rooted in the essence. Truth itself has not supporting factors – its there even where its not.



How does the infinity of the nefesh come into revelation in a limited form? This is by the work of the chochmah being the intermediary. The chochmah is a keil for the essential revelations. The revelation of the nefesh in the chochmah is not the oneg, but that the nefesh has oneg – the oneg as it comes from the nefesh.

In our world there is no such thing as pure light. Sunlight inside the sun is different. The sun is light through and through. Light to the sun is not functional – it is a fundamental and primary state. This element of light in the sun, that is not the opposite of darkness, is such, since it has an essence – and we can relate to this by the element of “day”.

Chochmah receives from the nefesh, not just an input, but the essence.

Chochmah is a spark – a fleeting spark. If its sechel you should know what you see, but you don't know what it is! To get a handle on it you have to focus in on the experience, since what sechel/chochmah saw is not sechel at all – it is essence – the truth as it is.

Chochmah thus connects the nefesh with the kochot. It observes the way the oneg is in the nefesh. Oneg at its inception.

Music should be for the soul, not to shake the body. The nefesh has delight/misaneg in that it can extend even to the faculties.



... וחיי עולם

That pure place, that pure moment

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/3/2010 Friday 24 Elul 5770

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Page 29 – 9 lines from the top. Line starts, “mislabesh...”

The link between tynug of the nefesh and the specific faculties is the chochmah of the nefesh. The chochmah incorporates all the kochot.

As varied as a person is, he can relate to all his faculties as one – this is in the chochmah, that he has this perspective.

Tanya in chapter 51: the alte rebbe explains how all life in the world originates in torah. He uses the illustration of the faculty of chochmah. It is the inception and head of the revealed powers/faculties – this is like the first glance of a panorama. This is the moment where the nefesh touches the body. Chochmah sees body matters / faculties from the nefesh perspective.

Thus the essential lights (orot atzmi-im) can be revealed in chochmah.

At that moment you can relate to that which is not metziut. It is the moment of relating to the nefesh without asking “what is it?”

At mount Sinai we related to “that” He is speaking to us, rather than “what” is He saying to us.

By chochmah, the orot makifim become part-and-parcel of the person. They are integrated internally.

Tynug cannot be present where it needs to be changed. It is the purity of the life of the nefesh. Only to a place where it can be received in a pure manner will it go – chochmah is that pure place/moment where it is received.

Though the faculties contain oneg, they still function in their limited way – this is due to the intermediary of chochmah.

Chochmah has the ability to receive the essential lights, this is real life, this is beyond conscious thinking, this is not process dependent. These lights are brought to the level where they have a relationship to the faculties that are below chochmah.



... וחיי עולם

Loyal to the sky

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/1/2010 ThursdayNight 22 Elul 5770

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Page 29 – about 8 lines from the top. Line starts, “ubehechrech lomar...”

there is oneg in every faculty, and that oneg is representing the presence of the nefesh – the nefesh with all its richness and glory relates to the experience of every faculty.

How is it possible that this oneg is condensed to relate to all these specifics? It is by means of an intermediary – and chochmah is that intermediary. Chochmah can relate to all the faculties and is the starting point of all the functioning faculties and it can thus receive the essential lights of the nefesh.

This is wonderful. It gives a rich sense of “how is it that we can see the physical world and at the same time recognize G-dliness – opposites that are impossible to correlate”.

Chochmah is “this miracle koach / faculty” that can relate to essential lights and at the same time can relate to all the other faculties. The mashal / metaphor for chochmah is raiya / sight.

Sight has the 2 elements we've seen in chochmah. When we enter a room, we see the entire view in a single glance, and at the same time we see all the details that are contained. The “single glance” and “seeing all the details” are really two different levels of observation.

We see the whole panorama in one glance and later we unpack it. The single observation is not made up of details – it is at a much higher level.

Sight like chochmah has an element, of “not I see, but this is reality”.

Sight observs the object, without having to come in contact with the item. You may think touch gives you a fuller perspective, but sight is what gives one a much deeper sense of the reality of the world than anything else. Sight connects us not just to what we see, but to the reality/essence of it.

The shul should have windows so you can see the sky when we pray / daven. What do we see when we see the sky? There's nothing to see, but it is a real experience. Without seeing the sky you're like a human being without chochmah. You would have all the faculties, but not the sense of reality. In sight we experience the reality and the infinity of the world, not its content and then when things come into view they are very real, since they are part of this higher, undefined reality.

That which exists without reality and definition is closer to reality. Emunah is undefined quality. This is the upper reaches of chochmah / sight.

Now how can be drawn from here the lower level of sight?

Sight, like chochmah has an apparent contradiction. Infinity cannot be described in time and space, yet in sight when we look at the sky we see the infinity.

Chochmah brings down the infinity of the nefesh to the level that it can relate to metziut.

Space is an infinite facilitator, we don't say everything is “fighting for it's right to be, that's the way the world sees it; actually space welcomes and facilitates everything. Chochmah is the same – it receives the essential lights. “

Chochmah truly brings the chayut of the nefesh into the human being. And translates it into simple action! Every koach is ultimately part of the chochmah.

How does oneg fit in with the concept of orot atzmi-im (essential lights)? Think of the sun. in the essence of the sun there is no darkness. So the sun doesn't experience the beauty of light, that is experienced only when there is the possibility of darkness. Now from this essential light comes a ray of light shining out, that brings a true experience of light. This is the makif element – this is what we call “day”. It is reflecting the essence in a makif way and doesn't relate to specific objects. This is makif – and this is oneg. Because chochmah can relate to orot atzi-im it can be a keili (vessel) for oneg.

For video, click here (right click to open video in new window)

... וחיי עולם

An absolute, not an experience

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/1/2010 Thursday 22 Elul 5770

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

Page 29 – about 8 lines from the top. Line starts, “ubehechrech lomar...”

The nefesh and the oneg/pleasure: oneg is the “supreme life element” - taste doesn't “bother the nefesh one way or another” - this supremacy does not reject any of the qualities – it is above them and supreme – it is not insensitive.

No experience is beyond its purview.

The more intelligent an adult – the more he can understand the child's play.

The sechel is the memutzah – the sechel doesn't take over – it is connection that translates the taste to the nefesh.

The koach of chochmah in the nefesh is the memutza/intermediary. The chochmah incorporates all the kochot. They are all first included in the head.

Chochmah is able to process the essential orot of the nefesh. Those faculties that are the surrounding elements of the soul, come down into the chochmah.

In summary: there has to be an intermediary, to bring the tynug into the faculties. It must relate to the tynug and to the faculties. Both of these requirements are the properties of chochmah – the wisdom of the soul.

Seen conceptually: what is the element of chochmah in the nefesh? Nefesh is an absolute truth in-and-of itself. Chochmah means knowledge, so what is this in the nefesh? In our lives awareness and knowledge are primary experiences, but the nefesh is essential and doesn't have process and structure. So what is chochmah in nefesh?! Within the absolute truth are 2 levels - “my understanding” and “the reality that anyone can know” - these two levels can be applied to the nefesh too – nefesh truth unto itself and secondly universal soul truth.

It is chochmah where this second level of the soul is revealed. Chochmah reveals an element that is higher than the experience of nefesh itself. Chochmah is a vessel for ohrot atzmi-im (essential lights). Makif (oneg) is always an element of experience, which has to some extent its own presence, etzem (essence) is not an experience – it an absolute.

Chochmah brings out the truth of the oneg. It shows in the oneg a higher element.

Like a name – completely external and not even a makif – name refers to the etzem. The name represents the person, not as he is but as he is being created by Hashem.

Nefesh looks at itself through this chochmah.



... וחיי עולם

Pleasure is not translated

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 9/1/2010 Wednesday 22 Elul 5770 

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

Page 29 – End of the 4th line.

Any particular experience of oneg is not isolated – it always involves the overall disposition – the nefesh itself. If one is in a depressed state he will not experience oneg in anything.

This tynug is tynug ha nefesh atzmi. The whole person is be tynug. The nefesh is involved.

Eat something tasty and through the palate YOU are experiencing something tasty.

They tynug comes into the faculties in a limited fashion. The tynug itself is completely above all the faculties/kochot.

Thus the fact that this oneg comes from its place of glory, into the faculty is a limitation – something imposes a limit on it.

Sweet and sour are both enjoyable for the palate – the faculty of taste discerns and relates to distinct tastes differently.

The oneg itself is beyond any particular type of experience or pleasure.

The oneg is drawn into the specific faculty by means of an intermediary.

The oneg relates to the form of the faculty, yet remains oneg.

Oneg itself is not translatable, but it is in a different degree of revelation and function in different situations.

The king provides for the country. He does this by means of the ministers.

For video, click here (right click to open in new window) 

... וחיי עולם