“The Meaning of Intelligence – Stop Making Sense” p: 55

 AyinBase with R' Paltiel p: 54 9/8/11 ThursdayNight 9 Elul 5771 

Page 55 – 11^th line – line starts, 'bebchinus malchus...'  

Akiva has a question/difficulty. The difficulty is focussing on the concept we are addressing and this depth of learning. For starters we are saying things that paradoxical, within the same sentence! It's 'an entity and it is not an entity'. This is not a description of a tangible entity. If it is not tangible, what is the point of discussing it – what is the meaning of, 'understanding this inyan' when it seems beyond understanding and what could the purpose be!!?

So to get into this realm of thinking, we have to identify again the meaning of the world 'intelligence/sechel'.

Even at the level of the animal soul and certainly above that the function of sechel/intelligence is NOT as it is defined and used in the practical world – 'to make sense of and describe and manipulate the world and it's objects...'

the sechel we are talking about is something that exists exclusively in sechel. At the tangible and emotional level it doesn't exist!! Emotion can respond but not grasp intelligence. sechel/intelligence is divine – not consisting of a tangible presence. At the worldly level you have a demanding/precarious reality. The question doesn't apply in G-dly reality.

The RAMBAN had a student who was passing away young. The RAMBAN said, I want you to demand up above, “why are our people suffering so much!” and when you have the answer come and tell me. The student passed away and didn't come tell his teacher. Later they met again and the RAMBAN asked, what happened? Did you ask the question when you came above? And he answered, there was no place for the question! Above everything was clear and the question was stupid!

Sechel is the first incling of the devine – we have experiences that are super worldly – experiences of truth.

So when we are inside our text and looking at things like, 'chomer harishon' we don't try to give it feet. It exists only at the level of sechel.

The Rebbe has an order, but that is not a plan or a structure that is open to us at this point.  

Why did the Rebbe mention malchus? Because even though the creature in the sea, like thoughts unto ourselves are not entities, yet when they become revealed it is not a shock, and it is not hischadshus/novelty since there was a prior existence. This is in contrast to malchus of atzilus where all the creatures of briah originate, but there it is 'heder hametziut legamre/complete absence of entities' – this is the nullification of entities and making it absent. What is the Rebbe adding by this? 

Heder is refering to a state of being that is hidden. Efes is nullification.

The Alte Rebbe was overheard saying during prayer, 'I don't want anything, I don't want your Garden of Eden, I don't want your world to come, I just want You!' 

What is being expressed here? Why does he say this? The principle is that he senses 'the total bitul, not just because of his bitul, because all he is is Elokus and in this sense, his desire and movement is in the focus of not being aware of this, but just being with Him. The act of nullification is the sensing of the higher truth and the nullification of anything that interferes. His sensing of the Higher Truth that his activity is to reach further into that sensitivity, into that truth, by nullifying anything that his getting in the way, and that sensitivity itself is getting in the way!!! 'I don't want the experience of G-dliness, I want You, I want the truth that is beyond experience'.

This is an active pursuit.