Key Terms

Bitesize takeaway:
In order to reveal, one must conceal.
Summary
This chapter delves deeper into the analogies that were given in the previous
chapter to explain the Tzimtzum and the Reshimu and uses these
analogies to delve into various aspects of these concepts.
Main Points:
The previous chapter ended off with a few analogies for the Tzimtzum ( original removal
of G-ds light) and the Reshimu ( the imprint which remained after G-d removed, so to
speak, his essential light).
The Mittler Rebbe reiterates the analogies he had brought up in the previous chapter and shows
how each analogy can teach us certain qualities about the and the .
The Analogies for the , as outlined in the previous chapter are:
1. Teacher teaching a student
2. The life force of the soul as manifest in the body
3. The power of movement that expresses itself in actual movement or the power of
intellect as it is expressed when one is intellectualizing (the Mittler Rebbe lumps these 2
analogies into one category)
We will now look at each of these in further detail to help us understand what aspects of these
analogies parallel aspects of the :

Analogy

Aspect of Note What we learn about

from this

1. Teacher Teaching a. The teacher can only give over the

a Student information in an articulate way by
concealing and removing the fullness
of his knowledge and only giving over
a summary of the idea.
b. While the teacher is only
articulating a very small aspect of the
concept, internally, he always retains

a. When G-d removed his

light, it was only for the
purpose of revelation.

b. The removal is only to the

recipient. Its more of a
concealment than an actual

full knowledge of every intricate

detail. We see proof of this from the
fact that at any given time, someone
can ask the teacher any question
related to the topic at hand and the
teacher can still answer with a lengthy
explanation.
2. The lifeforce of a. The more expansive light of the
the soul as manifest soul only shines in a more limited
in the body way, in direct proportion to the bodys
qualities.

removal. G-ds perspective,

there has been no removal at
all and the light has not
changed at all.

a. The essential light shines

through the in direct
proportion to that which is
below it.

b. Although the soul is spiritual and

the body physical, they do retain a
connection with one another. If the
body does something, the soul gets
affected.

b. Even though G-d is

hiding from the world via the
, the world still retains a
connection to G-ds essential
light. When something
happens in the world down
here, G-d feels it/gets
affected by it, so to speak.

c. However, the souls essence never

changes. Even if there is a lack of life
force in a particular limb, that life
force is still very much vibrant in the
spiritual plane.

c. The essential light

does not change
essentially no matter what
happens down below in the
realm after the

3. The Power of The Mittler Rebbe doesnt elaborate

Movement or on this analogy as he feels it is self
Intellect explanatory based on all of the
above.

The Analogies for the :

1. A summary of a concept
2. An architects plan/blueprint
3. A mnemonic device (to help someone remember something)
4. A stone thrown from a persons hand.
5. The motion of a hand writing.
6. A hand movement which indicates a deep concept.
We will now look at each of these in further detail to help us understand what aspects of these
analogies parallel aspects of the :

Analogy
1. A summary of a concept

Aspect of Note

What we learn about the

from this

Contains the full length of a

concept within it.

The is sometimes
referred to the , the
power to limit/finitude. G-d is
capable of both infinitude and
finitude. Thus even the power
of limitation/finitude contains
G-ds full power within it. The
Mittler Rebbe says this is not
the best analogy however,
since it implies that G-d
actually removed Himself (i.e.
not just concealed Himself).

2. A Blueprint for a building

An architect needs to just

look at the blueprint of the
building and knows all the
details of what needs to go
into building it. It serves as a
sort of memory device so that
the architect doesnt have to
re-examine and analyze all
the details anew every step
along the way. Everything is
hinted at in the blueprint.

The is like the blueprint

for all of creation.

3. A mnemonic device

Similar to the blueprint, the

mnemonic serves as a
reminder of the many details
which it signifies.

The serves as a sort of

mnemonic for its source which
the conceals.

4. A stone thrown from a

persons hand

5. The motion of a hand

writing

The power of movement is The hides its source. The

Sefer HaBahir alludes to this
even more hidden here. All
analogy with a phrase
you see is the rock
( lit. like it was thrown).
We see this analogy especially
clearly when we look at the
astrological bodies which circle
around. These are G-ds
stones so to speak that he
throws to animate the world.
As the words are being
written, it is apparent who the
writer is.

This is a closer type of

movement, and not as
accurate an analogy for the
as the stone being
thrown, since the
appears more removed from

its source.

6. A hand movement which

indicates a deep concept.

Even though the hand

movement on its own has
nothing inherently to do with
the concept itself, its being
used to hint at the concept
and contains within it the
ability to elucidate all the
aspects of the concept.

Even though the comes

about from the removal of the
light, this is from where
all the details of the
come about (via the
).

As a final note, what all of these analogies have in common, as does the is that they contain 2
opposites. On the one hand, they serve to hide everything which is above it (i.e that which they are
representing), and on the other hand, they serve to reveal to everything which is below it. We see
this aspect of the revelation to that which is below hinted at in the letter ( vov) of the word ( the
line which draws out from the from which all of creation emerges. This will be examined
more in depth in the following chapter). The letter is made up of a on top which then draws
downwards - signifying this revelation to below via the power of limitation/concealment.