Present at this meal

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/29/2010 Friday 21 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 33 – 6 lines from the end of the page. Line starts, “hishtalshalus...”

We pointed out that at times we say mitzvot are higher and other times we say torah is higher.

Mitzvah break through the whole seder hishtalshalus and bring directly His ratzon/will.

Thus by means of the mitzvah the ohr ein sof is revealed. Torah on the other hand is chochmah. And so from this perspective mitzvahs are above torah. How is the ohr ein sof nimshach if the seder hishtalshalus is being ignored?!

Any thing that is not ohr ein sof would automatically be caught up in the seder hishtalshalus. Mitzvahs by pass this. It is a direct translation of how the mitzvah is above. It is an ohr that is not affected by seder hishtalshalus.



... וחיי עולם

Anything you want

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/28/2010 Thursday 20 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 33 – near the middle of the page. Line starts, “be pnimius...”

Makif is that which cannot be contained in a vessel. It is surrounding and not grasped.

Makif gives the feeel of an inexhaustible resource.

The makif that is related to through ohr chozer is not that which is contained in the revelation, it is cognizance of the makif as it is in the mashpia.

This is like a ball bouncing off a wall. The ball hits the wall, is not absorbed by it and bounces back. There are two elements, a) the flight of the ball is not limited to one direction and b) the wall says, “i don't accept this, I push it back”.

From the mashpia side the koach is not limited to the specific direction.

When the mushpah reaches bottom it says, “i don't want to be here, and there is the presence of the mashpia...”

the Baal Shem Tov says “why does He hide from us?” This is like a father playing hide-and-seek with his son. The child recognizes that even though he doesn't see his father, he is around and watching him. This is the element of hiding. Nothing is revealed, it is a recognition of the reality.



... וחיי עולם

Miracle Letters

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/27/2010 Wednesday 19 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 33 – about 10 lines from top of the page. Line starts, “de ein sof...

The reality of the world is not from the world itself, but from the fact that the world has a Creator.

A table is set in a room, and we don't move it, not because of the table itself, but because someone placed it in that situation.

Torah contains the ablility to purify.

How does one distinguish, that which is authentic torah teaching from that which is not?
Is there a limit to interpretation?

There is a spirit of torah that directs one as to what is authentic.

Torah is not limited to chochmah – it has a hidden essence that is not expressed that enables birurim.

This corresponds to the “mem” and the “samech” that are in the tablets. They were miracle letters – their centers just hovered.

They correspond to 2 types of makif – that of the direct light and of the reflected light.

Chochmah and sechel, no matter how well presented is based on a perception of reality – this is the makif of ohr yashar (direct light).



... וחיי עולם

No eye can perceive...

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/26/2010 Tuesday 18 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 33 – 3rd line from the top.

We saw a dialogue brought from the Zohar, between Hashem and torah.

The point here is that where Hashem answers, “am I called erech apaim (super patient) for nothing!?” is to say that Hashem has something beyond what the torah has.

This was the intent of torah, that He reveal this attribute.

The light that is in torah bring one back to the good. That is to say that in torah itself is an element that is above chochmah/torah. This is the meor in torah.

This element of return corresponds to the second tablets that were given on yom kippur.

The first tablets were higher from the criteria of revelation, but the second tablets came in a quiet hidden way and represented a much deeper origin.

Tshuvah is a simple scream, without words, and the working with words of torah, when you don't have the light, has a similar theme.

The real reason the world appears so real is not because of the reality of the world itself, but because of what it represents, the koach eloki that creates it. This is like seeing the words without yet discerning the meaning.



... וחיי עולם

Reflected light

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/25/2010 Monday 17 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 32 – last line of the page.

The second tablets, given on Yom Kippur, provide the opportunity for tshuvah. When there is confusion and holiness and klippah is mixed, then you can go in an clarify the situation – this is called ohr chozer and this reaches higher than chochmah.

A ball flies in a certain direction. When it hits a wall it bounces back. You may think, “well it is thrown in one direction, and when it hits an obstacle it should just stop”, but the wall reveals an element deeper than the direction of the trajectory – it uncovers its inherent energy and hence the bounce back.

This is a mashal for ohr chozer – reflected light. When the koach becomes independent of the chochmah the ohr yashar falls down and it becomes a metziut unto itself. The oneg in world is completely lost. Then you have to go into this abyss to clarify and to reconnect it to elokus.

How does this take place? Since even if you go down to a level that is completely devoid of the light of chochmah, then you see shouldn't exist, but it is still there – this is the atzmus element that is in the creation that came through the torah.



... וחיי עולם

"I am he"

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/24/2010 Sunday 16 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 32 – lower third of the page, 6 lines from the bottom – starts “ee-efshar...” (at the end of the line)

Although torah appears to be, an is chochmah, is is really higher than that. The rebbe explains that this can be seen by the fact that torah contains tshuvah...

Since it has this and torah directs us to it, thus torah itself is rooted in this lofty level.

The 3 impure shells/klippot cannot be addessed by the level of the chochmah of torah, cannot be addressed by korbanot (sacrifices). We say chochmah is like sight, yet it is the easiest to obstruct – any fine film can obscure the sight. Torah is a conduit that allows you to see kedusha, holiness, but if you are stuck in the 3 impure shells/klippot then when you open your eyes then this is what you see. The Holiness is hidden from you.

With tshuvah though a connection can be made from any position. This is sourced in the essence of ein sof that is above chochmah.

The nazis lost connection to their human quality. Their perception became divorced from their soul perspective.

Tshuvah comes from “soul of the soul” in the person. It has no features or content. It is essence to essence and bypasses all logic and modalities. It makes a single statement, “I am he” who is one thing with the King. This can break out even from the 3 completely impure shells/klippot.

When we look at the world, we look through it and see it represents its source – an infinite resource.

Torah itself is chochmah, but what does it represent? It is coming from atzmus. This is seen in the fact that there is an element in torah that is beyond torah, “do tshuvah!”

The Freddike Rebbe writes in his diary about the guidance he received from his father for Elul and Tishrei, while he was a young man. After a very stringent program after yom kippur he came to his father and asked him, “now that we finished y0m kippur, what do we do?” and the father answered, “now we do tshuvah!”

This is the inyan of chassidus. The alte rebbe originally wanted to call chassidim, “baal tshuvahs!”

The orot of tohu must be brought into the keilim of tikkun. The fiery impulse of tshuvah needs to be brought into a more settled understanding.

Adam was alone and Hashem created Chavah (Eve), who provided a level of opposition, but this is called “good”. Before her creation, Adam was alone and at peace with himself, but that was “peace” at the worldly level – that's not “good”. The unity comes with the source – you are different, but there is a source that unifies you – and that's good.

... וחיי עולם

You are forgiven

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/22/2010 Friday 14 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 32 – lower third of the page – starts “ha-atzmus...” (at the end of the line)

Oneg/delight is from infinity. From the resource not the product. And thus the essential delight of mitzvot is that we were commanded to do them.

This is why on Yom Kippur, the day of tshuvah it is forbidden to eat and drink. Eating and drinking is an element of oneg and restoring life. Why is it fobidden? Not due to saddness – it is a joyous day.

The day is above eating and drinking. “In His place (where He is in His full glory) it is forbidden to eat”.



... וחיי עולם

“There is more where this came from!”

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/21/2010 ThursdayNight 13 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 32 – a few lines above the middle of the page - line starts abbreviation “matan torah...”

We have been seein how there are 4 levels in torah (see notes/video from this morning).

Nishmata / soul is the hidden delight of chochmah. This is what gives life.

Why is it a hidden tynug / delight? Tynug/delight as has been discussed in these weeks, relates exclusively to infinity. It cannot relate to any thing that is finite. Infinity cannot exist in something that is begilui (revealed). Anything that has a presence cannot have infinity. So tynug is behind that which shows up as a presence.

So where is the infinity element in the world? It is not in the presence of a creation, but in the resource where it is coming from. The tynug is never in what one has, but in the sense of “there is more where this came from!”

Before matan torah there was chochmah, but the infinity/tynug element came with the giving of torah.

The fourth level cannot be expressed in chochmah. This is like the infinity, within which the earth is suspended.

Chassidus corresponds to “the soul of the soul” of torah. If it is not drawn down even by the level of the hidden delight of chochmah, then how are we learning chassidus?!

Learning of chassidus is a unique type of learning.

In all parts of torah, one learns by recognizing that it comes from hashem, but there are 3 separate elements; the world, the mind and The Creator.



Chassidus is a different, unique approach. To start with the reality that you deal with is not world - “the reality you deal with is elokus, so when we say we are learning Chassidus, the approach is that it starts 'above to below' with emunah (faith)...”

“Like in Tanya the Rebbe asks, 'since the whole world is inside Elokus, how come it exists as a separate entity?' and why does he leave the question hanging is because it is good to be in doubt of the actuality of world, since the approach of chassidus is from above – reality is Elokus. We make sense of the metziut, by saying it is representative of Elokus.”

“From the depths, I called to you” - meaning the depth of the depths. This is tshuvah. The earth is suspended in nothingness – this nothingness is the real solidity, since there is nowhere to fall – it is based on Hashem's reality and not on any definitive presence. Then there is nishmata de nishmata that is not even a resource for existence.


... וחיי עולם

“A tomato from my garden...”

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/21/2010 Thursday 13 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 32 – third from the top of the page – starts “ha-etzem...”

Essence cannot be presented. On the level of human intellect, there is a standard of behavior that is rooted in the essence of the human being.

The Zohar teaches that ther are 4 levels to Torah. Levush, guf, neshamah and nishama de nishamah. Levush (garment) is the stories, guf (body) are the statements of the laws of torah, neshama (soul) is that which activates the body. The body doesn't activate itself.

The neshama is the inherent tynug that is hidden and concealed in the chochmah. The body of laws can be seen to make sense, therefore you may think that the whole thing is a derivative of its context. The neshamah/tynug is what gives it an essential character, beyond the level of consequences.



... וחיי עולם

I cannot leave Him for a moment

AyinAyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/20/2010 Wednesday 12 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 32 – third from the top of the page – starts “kuli...” (below the line starting ra-ot)

Seeing with an actual eye is superior sight of the mind's eye. This is brought as a way to show the difference between the way something is in oneg (delight) versus how it is in sechel (mind).

Seeing without any content relates to the essence itself – this gives the world a sense of reality beyond limit.

This is representing Him above creation – atzmus – that is not content dependent at all. At the same time it is this “feature” that conceals G-dliness. If we fail to perceive that it is a flow of elokus then it becomes gashmius that conceals.

Sight of the mind's eye is always dependent on content. It is in the world of meaning. Actual sight is without embellishment.

Sechel, as great as it is, is just an observation – it is not the thing itself. Emunah / Faith is not atzmi, it relates to sechel.

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

... וחיי עולם

Ways of seeing - our teacher is hiding...

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/19/2010 Tuesday 11 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 32 – 10th line of the page – starts “vetziur...(the second of the two) ”

A person relates to himself in a wholesome manner, his sechel, middot and appearance have a unique relationship to and satisfaction for him. There is an essential connection, “this is you” - this exists on two levels – oneg and chochmah.

The first principle of sight (as opposed to all the other faculties) is that there is no personal effect – it is something that comes to you. It tells you “i am here”. Oneg is only possible when it is effortless – it has to come from an infinite source, and this is what you have in sight in general. In sight there are two levels – sight of the mind's eye and sight of the eye itself.

The mind's eye, even though it is sight, there is still an activity/awareness involved. There is a participation on the part of the seer. For the actual eye there is no participation – no activity. You are observing the essence itself.

We perceive, and its real, “the sky's the limit”. There are 2 ways to relate to this infinity. One: it represents meaninglessness – it's just there and doesn't say anything. Two: this limitlessness is actually His provision. He wants to give you the experience of him. This is the real truth. Perception of limitlessness is beyond human perception and we only perceive it because He gives it to us.

Our teacher is hiding and he doesn't want to overwhelm us, so we have to get ready to perceive what He is wanting to show us.



... וחיי עולם

… the truth, because it is true...

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/18/2010 Monday 10 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 32 – end of 7th line of the page – starts “lehergesh...”

We're looking at how wisdom and delight are essentially one thing.

When in tynug/delight it is not formulated or dressed in any garment.

We usually think in terms of circumstances and not essence.

We are aware of the world as a physical entity and then we understand that it was created. So we don't see it from the essential level of it being created.

The real truth is that the whole existence of the world is that it is being created by its Creator.

This is the only reason the nefesh is aware of the world is because it (the world) is a G-dly creation.

Chochmah is the awareness that there is an absolute truth.

The human and the animal are both physical. So you may think you can define the point where they differ. But the body of man and the body of the animal are NOT similar. The human body is a receptacle for the nefesh/soul. Therefore to say the human and animal are both physical is no longer a real statement.

For video, click here.


... וחיי עולם

Reality from the soul – the living soul!

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/15/2010 Friday 7 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 32 – end of 2nd line of the page.

We pointed out yesterday that in order to arouse chochmah there has to be a search – Avraham searched through the world asking himself, “how is this order of the world maintained?”

Why does the Rambam say this is his question? Why not ask “where is the world from at all?” This is because the approach from sechel must be from a level that we observe and he never observed the change from nothing to something.

That is what we are saying here oneg and sechel are representing the same thing – one has a halbasha and one does not.

The answer to the two questions above is the same – except the sechel is on the level of question and answer and thus has a garment.

The intellect conceptualizes something from the essence – a table emanates from the human being. It emanated from the chochmah, took on a form, and becomes a separate creation.

Binah identifies what the chochmah comes up with – it gives flesh and bones to the insight of chochmah.

Halbasha comes in when something is not real unless it has a form. For the nefesh/soul itself, no form is needed – it is chochmah atzmis itself.

How does one assure that one's binah draws from one's own chochmah and not from some external source? Essentially one has to have bitul. Chochmah is bitul. The truth is where its coming from, not I. If I relate to the truth then I become something worthwhile.

At many universities the professors are all saying, “I have it” and the wonder of the Creator is usurped and they go for recognition of their own metziut. Real learning is not about oneself, but pursuit of truth. The real pursuit of life is to serve the Creator, since this is what you're observing. This is the difference between binah following chochmah or going after its own identity and metziut.

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... וחיי עולם

The fitting vessel

AyinBase with R' Paltiel

10/15/2010 Friday 7 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 31 – last line of the page

We looked at how oneg and chochmah are one inyan.

If something occurs acording to the directive of one's chochmah it results in a personal/all embracing oneg.

What is the difference? In chochmah it comes in some kind of content of some element – there is a “thing” in addition to the experience. When the oneg comes in some kind of form, it is chochmah. It is a direct derivative from the source itself.

When Adam ate from the tree of good and evil he felt that it was inappropriate to be without clothes and immediately clothed himself. After they ate they heard G-d moving about in the garden, but before that they dressed themselves in fig leaves. This means they had no company and yet still felt that being naked was inappropriate.

What aroused their embarrassment, their sense of modesty? It is an expression of their own chochmah. It is chochmah atzmis. Chochmah atzmis is a receptacle for oneg. So even thought the chochmah has a tziur, still it is an essential sense.

Oneg is without a form. And is therefore higher. With embarrassment you cannot define the damage done, but it touches the essence. It is rooted in perception and chochmah level. When violated it touches his essence. Torah is rooted in the essence of oneg. And the chochmah atzmis is a receptacle for oneg atzmis.

... וחיי עולם

Wisdom and delight meet

Cape Town, Table Mountain

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/14/2010

ThursdayNight 5 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 31 – 6th line from the end of the page – at the end of the line.

Torah is the root of actual existence of the world. It is not an afterthought.

Torah is the oneg – the delight and source of the world.

This means that the world as seemingly precarious and meaningless as it seems, represents an essential element in elokus. Creation itself was not an afterthought – it is rooted in the oneg eloki.

Recent advances and discoveries are due to the secret essential life that is in torah and torah is the source of the world. This is an understatement in terms of describing the torah. Everything in the world is represents a G-dly element.

On the one hand torah is chochmah, on the other hand it is essential oneg/delight/plaything. In truth tynug and chochmah are one thing.

“They are one aspect, one funtion”.

What is the similarity between them? Tynug is the thing that needs not justification – the G-dly spark, delight in everything. Oneg is the representation of the presence of life. Chochmah also has that quality. It has a cognizance of truth “because it is true” - it has a similar element to what oneg has.

They seem different, but really they are one thing.

They provide a similar base for what they maintain.

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

... וחיי עולם

The meaning and the music

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/14/2010 Thursday 5 Cheshvan 5771 

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Page 31 – lower third of the page (line starts “beshum davar... “) about ten lines from the bottom of the page.

Chochmah means “wisdom” - in everything it seeks out the absolute reality/truth. It doesn't need to satisfy any need of its own. It looks for the deepest reality.

Nevertheless even the level of chochmah needs a degree of hislabshlut – it is not at the level of oneg. The reality itself is not dressed in anything... this is why in order to receive the torah the jews had to say, “na-aseh ve nishmah” - how can you say you will obey before you know what is being asked? The answer is because “i am one with you” and so it is not really obedience.

“You don't need a reason for the reason, when it is an essential element – it is on the level of taste” at the higher level the question “why” doesn't apply any more.

Taste here also refers to tune. There is a correlation between the message and the tune.

The tune / taam is a reason that does not beg an explanation. It is a real taste, but it can be sensed in chochmah. If you sense a presence, that is not it's essence, that is it's manifestation. Chochmah is able to margish/sense and inyan atzmi – so here the external level of the tynug atzmi (essential delight) is grasped. Only chochmah can gain a sense of this taam/tune, since it is not dressed in a tangible form. Yet this level of taam is still a manifestation and not the essential element, behind which is an essential delight that is not dressed in anything.

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

... וחיי עולם

Higher than song

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/13/2010 Wednesday 5 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 31 – lower third of the page (line starts “kuli... “)

torah is not just the conduit of delight into the world, but it is in touch with that, which is higher than world. Chochmah is a recipient to that which is higher than it.

King David was receptive to this, but this is the essential delight not in its original source, but rather as it is expressed in chochmah – in a state of hamshacha after leaving it's original state. But in truth the torah is in a state of essential plaything/delight that cannot be revealed or dressed into any lower level.

This essential delight is not dressed in the highest level of chochmah.



... וחיי עולם

Looking at the sky

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/12/2010 Tuesday 4 Cheshvan 5771  

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Page 32 – around the middle of the page (line starts “min hakesser...“)

Just as there are hidden and revealed powers in the nefesh is a mashal for how it is above in elokus.

From kesser on down to malchus there are sphirot.

Chochmah is the intermediary that can relate to the source and the defined entity.



A chocham relates to the truth because it is true, rather than due to any experience he may have from it.

Chochmah can relate to the ohr ein sof, since it doesn't need to grasp something to relate to it.

This is the idea of chochmah of torah at the level where it is in the Pristine Chochmah in the Essence.

It is the intermediary by means of which the essential tynug/delight is brought down into lower levels. The tynug is representative of the G-dly spark that is in everything.



... וחיי עולם

Thought of the soul's experience

Monday 10/11/10 3 Cheshvan 5771 Ayin Base with R' Paltiel

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Are you for real?

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/10/2010 Sunday 2 Cheshvan 5771

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Page 31 – towards top of the page (about 9th line from the top of the page – line starts “hamochin... “ - at the end of the line)

Just like light and sight in contrast to other senses, the experience is direct, and not via a proof – touch hits up against objects, but light is true in and of itself.

Sechel has light – you see it is right and true. Middot are based on the sechel. For the hidden kochot/faculties they all have the ohr of the nefesh – so middot at this level don't need the substantiation of sechel. Each comes out directly from the nefesh – nevertheless we are saying that if the middot come out with sechel, then that sechel already informs/educates the middah.

The middot recognise that there is something superior to them – a koach elyon.

Why does the soul reveal itself? What is the initial state of revelation? It is the chochmah that initiates the revelation of the hidden faculties.

Sechel is what has the connection to the outside/other and it says, “the reality is bigger than yourself... you may have an abundance of wealth, but you have to be part of the bigger world.”

Chochmah looks at the intangible, “what is the reality?” not “how can this be used?”

this centrality of chochmah/sechel can be understood by the concept of “the name”. Each one has a name – on the one hand it was given to him at birth on the other hand it connects to his essence. It gives a person an essential being beyond function. Elements of the world come and go, but the earth stands forever – the name is the eternality of that individual.

The chochmah is where that bigger truth is recognized. The truth bigger than myself. The fact that “He put me here”.

For video, click here.

... וחיי עולם

Knowing the truth

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/8/2010 Friday 30 Tishrei 5771

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Page 31 – towards top of the page (5th line from the top of the page at the end of the line).

Even in the hidden faculties there is a degree of seder/order even though each is based directly on the nefesh.

Our experiences are relative, so we cannot really understand G-dliness. We work in the parameter of circumstances, but He is beyond that. We accept and follow through, but cannot understand. Nevertheless though mochin/mind cannot grasp this, yet it relates to the fact of a truth that is not circumstantial. Middot do not go that far.




... וחיי עולם

A song from the soul

Aliya, Moshe Feiglin, Crown Heights

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/7/2010 ThursdayNight 29 Tishrei 5771

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Page 31 – the top of the page. Second line.

Baruch started off the class by asking a question about how the hidden kochot resemble the lights of tohu. Rabbi clarified that here the hidden faculties give rise to the revealed powers. This is not the case with tohu and tikkun. Tohu doesn't give rise to tikkun.

Sechel and midot have different intentions. The truth element is primary in sechel, whereas the presence/koach element is primary in midot.

We are looking at the difference of sechel and midot at a mehus level. Referring to revealed powers the rebbe said on the 3rd line from the top of the previous page, he said they are essentially different and both rooted above. The rebbe introduces the difference on the level of revealed powers.

Mochin is objective, without experience. Middot involves participation – experience. In terms of avodah middah is more profound since is leads to refinement that allows one to actually experience fear and love of Him.

What is the point of hidden powers? It is to give cognizance to the fact that the powers are not reactionary, they are faculties emanating from the nefesh.

As we say in today's Tanya - “it is all a simple unity, yet it divides into different parts... how is that possible?” We have earth and water. The earth is static and the water is in constant motion.

Water descends from a high place to a low place. It is flexible, yet it also has weight and power. Water is chesed and it has plenty of gevurah in it. It is essentially water, but it includes all kinds of different qualities. The soul is a G-dly truth/power and as such it represents the awareness of G-dliness, to the extend that, “that which the nefesh knows is the proof of its truth.” The soul includes all aspect of truth – mochin and middot.

We know the real metzius is elokus, which is the source of all creation. There is physicality because there is atzmus. Mochin is the sense of elokus, which is ein (non metziut), then there's middot, where the nefesh is an entity that experiences elokus, then there is where the nefesh has a purpose – which correspond to the lower middot of production.

This is what we have been revisiting – whatever we learn to do eventually becomes second nature and we can relate to that.

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... וחיי עולם

The blank surface

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/7/2010 Thursday 29 Tishrei 5771

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Page 30 – towards end of the page (2th line from the end of the page).

Mind reflects the finer image of the light of the nefesh. The emotions reflect the coarser elements of soul – its metziut or bitul. The mind and emotions both reflect the ohr of the nefesh equally.

We used the metaphor of a parchment for kochot coming directly from the soul.

In writing there is an order and the words follow each other. Then there are the letters themselves – each letter needs its own space on the parchment and cannot touch another. A surface allows for the writing of letters and is seemingly not involved – it facilitates the writing. If you present a painting it is not just the image, but the background too that makes the composition.

So too for the soul some faculties are not part-and-parcel of the nefesh, while others (the hidden faculties) are based in the nefesh themselves.

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... וחיי עולם

I want to be real

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/6/2010 Wednesday 28 Tishrei 5771

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Page 30 – towards end of the page (4th line from the end of the page).

We've been looking at hidden and revealed faculties. kochot/faculties should not be thought of as reactionary/circumstantial – they are positive emanations from the soul. Sechel is revealing a gift of oneg. It reveals a positive reality, not just physical facts.

For the hidden faculties they are all rooted in the soul and are all equally insistent. This is like 2 snowflakes not colliding, and if they did, the gemara says it would destroy the world! What is going on?! It is showing that everything is true in itself because it has a G-dly element. This is reminiscent of tohu. Still even though they come direct from the soul there are differences between them.

There are 4 elements. The higher is more refined. The more coarse something is the more self contained, the more refined - means that it indicates its source. So chochmah is elyon since it perceives a truth that is beyond perception.

Chochmah rises up to beyond what it can grasp, but it wants the truth, not a possession. He wants something real, not a means to an end. This is why we call it wisdom, “you have to be very wise to want this element.”

So for this reason there is a difference between these qualities even at a soul level. Mochin and middot are 2 separate levels. These are 2 distinct truths in the nefesh.

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... וחיי עולם

The real destination

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/5/2010 Tuesday 27 Tishrei 5771

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Page 30 – towards end of the page (six lines from the end of the page), at the end of the line that starts, “ne-elamimim...”

We have been looking at a new concept – kochot ne-elamim – hidden faculties.

Revealed/functioning kochot are more easily understood. Hidden faculties are not “essence”, but still hidden.

Hidden kochot emanate directly from the nefesh. With revealed faculties, “i am aware, not only what i'm doing, but also aware of the context and the background that is on the higher level – the purpose and destination motivates and supports the walking...”

“A man goes to work and there is a higher purpose above him, that supersedes even the support of his family...!“

the hidden powers emanate from the soul directly. We spoke yesterday about the letters written on the parchment. Does the klaf/parchment miss anything if nothing is written on it? No. But if you write a name/word and you miss out a letter, then you have not fulfilled your original intent. The revealed faculty has requirements in terms of being fulfilled, but for concealed faculties, no requirements are present.



Nefesh does not get complimented by being expressed in kochot.

The hidden faculties have a high degree of insistence since they come directly from the soul and hence there is no order and hierarchy – they are all revealed equally and can all be revealed at the same time.

This can be seen at a time of great joy, when the soul expresses itself directly, bypassing sechel...

Even though they don't derive from each other, still on an essential level they are separate from each other.

... וחיי עולם

The Hidden Source

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/4/2010  Monday 26 Tishrei 5771

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Page 30 – towards end of the page, line starts, “mimenu...”

Hidden sources provide the origination of the revealed sources. Lower faculty is supported and enlivened by the higher faculty. Thus the lower koach has life and structure.

They are ultimately sourced in chochmah.

The structure of the world is made up of klal (general) and prat (specific). This is like the container and what it contains. In revealed faculties there has to be an awareness of the higher container/structure.

Chochmah provides a reality without the need for a structure. We are aware of it, but it is not defined. This is a revealed source, but it is not defined by us. It gives a sense that we are functioning within a real/structured realm.

In contrast the concealed powers are beyond the functional level – they represent the truth of each element. The hidden faculties all receive their life direct fro the nefesh itself.



... וחיי עולם

Every move illuminated

AyinBase with R' Paltiel 10/3/2010 Sunday 25 Tishrei 5771

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

Tynug is the G-dly quality that flows through all of creation. “this is a truth quality in everything... even in a rock...”

There are 10 defined sphirot that emanate for the lower worlds... these are the revealed sources. The are identifiable as relating to the lower levels that follow...

For a human being to act there has to be a reality and recognition of what he is doing. In Egypt they made Israel do work to break the spirit – dig a ditch and fill it up. Even though Isreal had no urge to help Egypt, when he was digging the ditch he thought he was actually doing something real, till he was told to fill it.

There is oneg in moving the hand. And if not for that oneg the hand cannot be moved. Hence one who is dispirited, lacks the power to move... since the oneg is not being brought down into the faculties.

Speech is not rooted in the 5 locales of the mouth. It is rooted in the nefesh and the mouth enables the sounds... everything in a person goes back to the source... in all revealed powers there is a light. Each higher power supplies to the lower faculty.

In a human being everything has to go through his sechel/mind. The message is from his nefesh and is on the level of intellect, but it gets mediated through his faculties till he can write down his thoughts, word-by-word and letter-by-letter.

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... וחיי עולם