Yichud HaYeeruh - Part 1: The Yichud

Yichud HaYeeruh

The Unification of Awe

A Treatise by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal) Translated with commentary & notes Segment 1 of 3: Introduction & The Yichud Text (Sections א–טו) Segment 1 · Pesach Devorim & The Yichud · Sections א–טו

פתח דברי — Opening of Words (Editor's Introduction)

Among the collected writings of our great master the Ramchal1 — Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto — there is found the awesome treatise "Yichud HaYeeruh" יחוד היראה — "The Unification of Awe" — in which are expounded great and lofty secrets concerning yir'as haromimus יראת הרוממות — Awe of the [Divine] Sublimity — and its [spiritual] effect and operation. The treatise is found in two manuscripts: the Columbia University manuscript (Ms. X 893 K 17) and the Mantua manuscript (Ms. 112 2). Both are copies made by scribes, and there are minor variations between them. We established the text on the basis of both, and in certain places we have brought an alternate reading.

It is visible to the eye that the scribal copies are deficient in both omissions and additions, and there are therefore some obscure passages within [the text]. The Yichud and its commentary were written within a letter from one of the Ramchal's disciples to his fellow [disciple] — their names are not known. The treatise is built and founded upon the teaching of our master the Ramchal, and it is highly probable that its source is from him. As stated, the treatise was written in installments within letters sent by a disciple of our master. At the conclusion of one of the letters, he writes:

The treatise is divided into three parts: The Yichud [itself], The Explanation of the Zoharic Passage, and The Commentary on the Yichud. It is not clear whether all three are from the same author.2 "Behold — I send you this great and awesome Yichud. Guard it and remember it, for it is your very life. And remember that concerning this, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai of blessed memory said: 'Woe if I say it — woe if I do not say it!' — for one whose actions are not pure can, Heaven forbid, mingle the profane with the sacred. Know well, as you will understand from the commentary on the passage which I am sending you — half today, and the rest I will send you little by little until I complete it, G-d willing. And be careful not to teach this awesome Yichud except to great, righteous, and pious individuals. Be very, very cautious and guard your soul! And do not intend [perform] this Yichud until you know it by heart, and repeat it many times until it flows fluently from your mouth. And know beforehand the entire explanation of the passage, for this Yichud cannot be understood in its plain sense until one knows the elucidation of the entire passage — and there your thirst shall be quenched. And until I complete the entire passage, in the meantime study the Yichud so as to take it into your memory — my brother and my dear one, peace be upon you from now and forever." — Letter from a disciple of the Ramchal to a fellow disciple

In light of what has been said — and moreover because it is unclear whether the Yichud was written with the intention of publishing it in print — we have therefore omitted a passage from the Yichud (in section יא) so that people should not come to make use of it in practice.3 And so did our master the Ramchal himself do in the "Yichud HaGan" [Unification of the Garden] in the book Adir BaMarom, p. 42 — see there.

The photographic image of the manuscript of the treatise was obtained some years ago from the Columbia University library, through the efforts of our teacher the Gaon and Tzaddik [whose name we refrain from mentioning here as per our practice]4 — who also labored in its transcription and proofreading. During his visit to the USA, he took the trouble of traveling to Columbia University to examine the manuscript itself, in order to complete words and terms that were missing from the photograph. May his memory be blessed.

Yir'as haromimus — Awe of the Sublimity — was among the foundations which our master taught to his disciples. As he writes in a letter to his disciples:

"Be strong and be courageous and be valiant soldiers in the service that is complete, and in the Torah of our G-d, and in the true love which we have taught ourselves in our study-house — and the yir'as haromimus in which we have walked — let it not depart from you! And know and see that G-d desires nothing in His world except that His servants recognize His glory, and exalt His greatness, and exult in His hidden ways." — Letters of the Ramchal, §164

יחוד היראה — The Yichud of Awe

(In the Mantua manuscript, the title reads: "This is the Secret of the Yichud as an Abridgment")

At the outset, seclude yourself alone and make verbal confession [hisvadus] — unless it is a day when one does not fall upon one's face [tachanun]. And afterwards, recite this verse: To fear the Name, the glorious and the awesome — the Lord your G-d [Devarim 28:58]. Then begin to set your heart to contemplate the romimus [sublimity/elevation, root: ר-מ-מ] of the Ayn Sof Baruch Hu — the Blessed Infinite One — Who is exalted above all, and perfect in every perfection, Who has absolutely no need whatsoever of His creatures.

And contemplate that He stands and oversees from there upon you, for He is always present in every place. And imagine — as it were — as if you could behold the splendor of His glory standing over you, even though it is impossible for any created being whatsoever to see Him. Only think this so as to draw upon yourself awe and shame [yeeruh u'voshes].

Then intend that just as you are concentrating upon His sublimity, so too does He draw you near to illuminate for you.5

Then intend, through the secret of the Keser Elyon — the Supernal Crown — to remove the darkness which the primordial Adam [Adam HaRishon] caused, so that through the Curtain [Pargod] the supernal יוד of the א [Alef] should shine radiantly.

Then become ashamed before His blessed Sublimity, and do not lift your face at all — rather, close your eyes and intend to draw upon yourself still more of His radiance.

Then remember your sins in your heart, and be ashamed before Him.

Then intend that the Shechinah [Divine Presence] be aroused — She within Whom the Illas HaIllos [Cause of all Causes] lowers His Unification — and that She shall reign with a great sovereignty.

And then immediately intend that through this secret, all the worlds rise up and are all considered as nothing but the Sovereignty [Malchus] of the Ayn Sof Baruch Hu.

Then intend [through] the Name אדנ"י — which is in Malchus [Sovereignty] — and acknowledge His blessed Lordship. And through this secret stands the entire matter of Ziv [radiance/splendor], which is the secret of the Sefiros as is well known.6 [And this is the secret: Sovereign, unique, ruling over all — as is elucidated in the Commentary on the Passage.]

Then intend to illuminate the secret of the Torah — which is the extension of all the luminaries toward the dimension of [Divine] service, so that you may have a connection on high.

Then intend [through] the Name יהו"ה, and intend [regarding] the Tishach [תש"ך = 920] lights in Yesod [Foundation], through the secret of Chai [חי = 18] which becomes Ayin-Beis [ע"ב = 72], and afterwards Tishach. For through them descend the Chai HaChaim — the Life of all Life — from the Ayn Sof Baruch Hu, by means of two lights of Atik Yomin [the "Ancient of Days"].

And intend [regarding] these two lights which are the secret of Awe: אהיה אהיה — Ehyeh Ehyeh — which strike one against the other and produce four [divine] strikes which are the four letters of אדנ"י.

Then intend [regarding]: אהיה אשר אהיה אדני — Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh Adonai — and intend that through Chochma [Wisdom] all these matters are contained. And Awe and Wisdom strike one against the other, and from there the Name יהו"ה emerges through the secret of clear knowledge [yedi'ah brurah].

And intend that it [the Name יהו"ה] is there in Wisdom alone [as potential]. Then descend from there to the Tif'eres [Beauty] of Ze'ir Anpin, where the Name יהו"ה [resides], and intend to make from אהי"ה אשר אהי"ה אדנ"י — Yeeruh [Awe] — through the secret of the Seal of the Extremities [Chosam HaKtzavos], as follows:

The four "extremities" (ktzavos) of the configuration are: the י of אדנ"י · the ר of אשר · the א of [the first] אהיה · the ה of [the second] אהיה — these four letters, in the order of their illumination, form the "Seal" that binds all extremities into one unified configuration, the secret of Awe. And they [the vowel-points] shall make the vowelization of Awe [nikud yeeruh] upon the active Name יהו"ה — resulting in יְהֹוָה.

And intend that the vowel-points add up to 46 [מ"ו] — corresponding to the numerical value of אהי"ה אהי"ה plus the four letters of אדנ"י, through the secret of "Adonai within them" [אדנ"י בם]. And then they shall make "Awe of God" [yir'as Hashem] in conjunction with the Name.

Then intend [regarding] the word לִירָאה — "to fear" — in the verse, so that the vowel-points shall produce 611 [תרי"א] lights — for now the secret of Torah shall be included here.

And intend that the Name itself is the secret of [the first two of the Ten Commandments:] אָנֹכִי "I am" and לֹא יִהְיֶה לְךָ "You shall have no [other]" — and 611 remain in the vowel-points.

Then intend that אנכי is י"ה and לא יהיה לך is ו"ה — and afterwards they interchange through the secret of "My Name" and "My Memory" — and 613 [תרי"ג] is completed.

Then intend that 613 is the secret of the [mystical] Body [guf], and two rise up through the secret of נ"ר [candle = nefesh/ruach — the two lower soul-levels], through the secret of Avraham and Yitzchak, and through the secret of the 612 of the anointed ones [Mashichain]. And this is through the secret of the souls of Israel. And through this secret you shall have a gateway-house [beis kenisah] to enter on high.

Then intend that these 613 produce 613 diyukna'os [divine images/archetypes] of the "Children of [the letter] Kuf."

And intend that the root of the souls of Israel in Ze'ir Anpin is through the secret of מ"ה — and intend through the secret of Yaakov from without, Moshe from within. And through this secret you shall make the 613 through the secret of Adam [primordial Man] — and this is the Adam who sits upon the Throne. And intend that the essence is through the secret of Yaakov.

Then intend to divide these 613 diyukna'os through the secret of שנא"ן [= 400 + 50 + 1 + 50 = 501; gematria of את].

Then intend [regarding] the word אֵת in the verse — for its numerical value equals שנא"ן.

[Note: Section יא has been deliberately omitted by the editors, following the guidance of the Ramchal himself, as this level of practice requires the highest purity of action and may not be transmitted publicly. See the editor's introduction above.]

[This section has been withheld from publication by the editors, following the Ramchal's own precedent in Adir BaMarom p. 42, so that the Yichud not be enacted without full preparation and purity of deed.] Afterwards, intend to make the "houses" of the knowledge-states [battim shel hayedi'os].

Then intend that the Life of Life [Chai HaChaim] descends and the Light illuminates upon the נ"ר [nefesh/ruach].

And intend that מ"ה shall reign through the secret of Moshe, and the knowledge-states shall shine forth.

And intend [regarding] the word הַשֵּׁם — "the Name" [in the verse "to fear the Name"] — for it is [numerically equivalent to] מֹשֶׁה [Moshe], through the secret of "In all My house he is faithful" [Bamidbar 12:7], [through the secret of these dimensions]. And then include your נר"ן [nefesh, ruach, neshamah] in great humility [hakno'oh], and the Light of the Ayn Sof Baruch Hu shall shine within you.

And then intend through this Light to repair all of the Name Baruch Hu through the secret of honor [kavod] and awe [moroh]:

י"ה — through [the secret of] honor. Intend [the full spelling]: יוו"י.

ו"ה — through [the secret of] awe.

And intend: three times ע"ב [= 72].

And further intend [regarding] one א [= 1]. Then intend to combine the entire Torah through Ayt-Bash [א"ת ב"ש — the letter-substitution cipher, alef↔tav, beis↔shin], and draw upon yourself the Awe and the shame of face [boshes ponim] — to be constantly upon your face.

And then intend to include the entire Name through the secret of א' יוי [=27], through the secret of the Supernal Unification [Yichud HaElyon]. Bind beginning and end and middle together through the secret of "I am the first" etc. And the supernal יו"ד of the א shall reign and radiate. And intend regarding the vowelization of this Name [את] that it is 46 [מ"ו] in the vowelization of Awe.

And then intend to draw forth from this the revelation of the Yichud — whatever is appropriate to that moment — through the secret of יאהלוההי"ם [the interleaving of יהוה and אלקים]. And this is: "the Lord your G-d."

Translator's Summary — Segment 1 (The Yichud Text)

The Yichud HaYeeruh presents a fifteen-stage meditative kavono [intentional focus], to be performed following private confession and the recitation of the verse "to fear the Name, the glorious and the awesome — the Lord your G-d" [Devarim 28:58]. The structure is a chain of ascent and return:

Stages א–ב establish the foundational orientation: the worshipper contemplates the utter, absolute sublimity of the Ayn Sof Baruch Hu — so far above all creation that He needs nothing from it — and from this arises genuine shame and trembling. Simultaneously, the Ramchal reveals that this very act of humbled awe causes G-d to draw the worshipper near and illuminate him (stage ב). This is the peri yir'as haromimus — the fruit of Awe of Sublimity. Stages ו–ז are the technical heart of the Yichud: the Tishach (920) Lights in Yesod are activated; the two Names אהיה אהיה strike together and generate אדנ"י; then Awe and Wisdom (Chochma) also strike together at the level of Chochma Stima'ah, generating יהו"ה with the vowel-points of Awe — יְהֹוָה. The Chosam HaKtzavos (Seal of the Extremities) diagram above visualizes this configuration.

Stage ג arouses the Shechinah to her full sovereignty; stage ד activates the Name אדנ"י in Malchus; stage ה draws in the Torah's light. Stage יא is withheld.

Stages ח–י integrate the 613 commandments into the Yichud: the entire Torah's 613 mitzvahs are included in the vowel-point count (611 + the 2 heard directly from G-d), distributed through the four letters of the Divine Name and rooted in the souls of Israel through Yaakov and Moshe. Stages יב–טו complete the Yichud by establishing the "houses" of knowledge (battim shel hayedi'os), fully illuminating the nefesh, ruach, neshamah through the merit of Moshe, and drawing all into the supreme Unification through the interleaved Name יאהלוההי"ם — the secret of "the Lord your G-d."

The entire sequence is a single unified act of consciousness: beginning in shame and trembling before the Infinite, passing through the kabbalistic architecture of the Sefiros, and culminating in the revelation of the Yichud — the recognition that all worlds, all forces, all knowledge are nothing other than the Sovereignty of the Infinite One Himself. This is Yichud HaYeeruh: Awe that unifies.

2 The treatise first appeared in print in 5748 (1988), as an appendix to Adir BaMarom, Part II.

3 The withheld section (§יא) involves a specific practical application of the Yichud that requires a level of purity and preparation the editors deemed dangerous to publish openly. The Ramchal himself acted similarly with the "Yichud HaGan" in Adir BaMarom.

4 We follow our practice of not mentioning contemporary rabbis by name.

5 Cf. the Ramchal's language in Adir BaMarom p. 319: "One who fears the Awe of Sublimity — it causes him closeness and attachment to that which is concealed from him… and they themselves draw close to them the Luminaries that are their root, and they attain through them a great attainment."

6 The bracketed phrase ["Sovereign, unique, ruling over all — as elucidated in the Commentary"] is an addition found in the Mantua manuscript. — END OF SEGMENT 1 · CONTINUE TO SEGMENT 2: MAAMAR HAZOHAIR & BI'UR INYAN CHOSAM HAYEERUH —