The Middle of the World

24 - The Middle of the World [In the language of our Rebbe, of blessed memory] They asked him: Where is the middle of the world? He raised his finger and said to them: Here. They asked him: Who will say [it is so]? He said to them: Bring ropes and measure.

[In the language of our Rebbe, of blessed memory] They asked him: Where is the middle of the world? He raised his finger and said to them: Here. They asked him: Who will say [it is so]? He said to them: Bring ropes and measure.

1. Know, that there is a light that is above **souls** [**nafshin**], **spirits** [**ruchin**], and **neshamot** [**nishmatin**], and it is the light of the **infinity** [**or Ain Sof**]. And even though the intellect cannot grasp it, nevertheless, the pursuit of thought (machshava) pursues after it. And by means of the pursuit, the intellect (then) grasps it in the aspect of "reaches and does not reach (muttee viloa muttee." For in truth, it is impossible to grasp it because it is above soul, spirit, [and] neshamah.

2. And know that it is impossible to grasp it even in the aspect of "reaches and does not reach" except by means of performing the mitzvos [divine commandments] in **joy**. For by means of the joy of the mitzvah, the holiness is completed and elevates the vitality and the holiness that is in the **shells** [**klipos** - evil forces], in the aspect of the eleven spices of the incense. For the **klipos** are the aspect of superfluities (moasroas), and they are the aspect of sorrow, in the aspect of:"In all sorrow there is extra (moasar)"(Proverbs 14:23. The simple meaning is that through exertion one gains). And they are the tokfa dideena (force/intensity/harshness of judgement), in the aspect of:"And He was grieved in His heart"(Genesis 6:6). And the main part of joy is in the heart, as it is written:"You have put joy in my heart"(Psalms 4:8). And the exile of the **Divine Presence** [**Shechinah** - the immanent aspect of G-d], which is the aspect of the heart that is the joy of Israel - the main part of its exile is when sorrow, which are the **klipos**, overcome it, in the aspect of: "And He was grieved in His heart." And this is when Israel goes out from the exile, it is written:"For in joy you shall go out"(Isaiah 55:12). And for this [reason] that by means of the incense they elevate their vitality from the **klipos**, it is written regarding them:"Incense gladdens the heart"(Proverbs 27:9). It turns out that when he does a mitzvah in joy, he then elevates the **Divine Presence**, which is the mitzvah, which is the joy of the heart, from between the **klipos**. And this is the aspect of the **Kingship** [**malkhus**] of **Formation** [**yetzirah**] that ascends from the **klipos**.

3. And when a person does a mitzvah, there is power in the mitzvah to go and arouse all the worlds to the service of Hashem, blessed be He, in the aspect of:"With our young and with our old we will go, with our flocks and with our herds we will go"(Exodus 10:9). And this is the aspect of **Kingship** clothing **Victory** [**netzakh**], **Glory** [**hod**], [and] **Foundation** [**yesod**], which are the instruments of going. And this is the aspect of:"The Torah of his G-d is in his heart, his steps shall not falter"(Psalms 37:31), that it goes to arouse. And this is the aspect of:"The goings of my G-d my king in holiness"(Psalms 68:25) - when they elevate **Kingship** into the holiness, it clothes "the goings of my G-d," the **Victory**, **Glory**, [and] **Foundation**, to go and arouse all things to the service of Hashem, blessed be He.

4. And by means of the arousal - that is, by means of going - a **blessing** is drawn to all the worlds. And this is the aspect of: **Victory**, **Glory**, [and] **Foundation** clothing **Lovingkindness** [**chesed**], **Might** [**gevurah**], [and] **Beauty** [**tiferes**], which are the hands, from where all the **blessings** [come]. And this is the aspect of:"And Hashem blessed you at my feet"(Genesis 30:30). It turns out that the feet ascend in the aspect of hands, in the aspect of:"And the hand of the children of Israel went and hardened"(Judges 4:24). And the main part of **blessings** [comes] from the hands,"And Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them"(Leviticus 9:22). And as it is written:"From the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, from there, shepherds the stone of Israel"(Genesis 49:24).

5. And the main part of the **blessing** that is poured from the hands is **intellect**. And when they come down below, they are made for each and every one according to his will, as it is written:"You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing"(Psalms 145:16). Therefore, one who is an owner of a soul needs to direct his will that he should draw a blessing of **intellect** in the aspect of:"He crossed his hands"(Genesis 48:14). And in the aspect of:"The sanctuary, Hashem, which Your hands have established"(Exodus 15:17). And this is the aspect of **Lovingkindness**, **Might**, [and] **Beauty**, that clothes **Wisdom**, **Understanding**, [and] **Knowledge** of **Action** [**asiyah**].

6. And one needs to draw **faith** into the **blessing** of the **intellect**, for there is no reliance on the **intellect** itself, as is known. And this is the aspect of:"A man of faiths, many blessings"(Proverbs 28:20). And the aspect of:"And his hands were faith"(Exodus 17:12). And the aspect of:"And it shall arise in your hand the kingdom of Israel"(I Samuel 24:21) - that is, that he should draw **faith** into the **blessing** of the hands. And this is the aspect of:"And I built him a faithful house"(I Samuel 2:35). And this is the aspect of:"Your faith in the assembly of holy ones"(Psalms 89:8). Holy, this is the aspect of **brains** [**mokhin**]. And this is the aspect of: **Kingship** of **Formation** is made from it **Wisdom**, **Understanding**, [and] **Knowledge** of **Action** [**asiyah**] of **Emanation** [**atzilus**] above, above.

7. And in the interiority of the **blessings** - that is, the thinness of the **blessings** - from them is blessed the arranger and the settler of the **intellect**, which is the aspect of **Crown** [**keser**], the aspect of:"And I will be with you and I will bless you"(Genesis 26:3). **Crown** is a language of waiting, as it is written:"Wait for me a little"(Job 36:2). For when they ask a person what the **intellect** is, he says: Wait until I settle [it]. And also there, **faith** is needed, in the aspect of a faithful nursemaid (see Tikkun 70). And this is the aspect that from the interiority of **Lovingkindness**, **Might**, [and] **Beauty**, and from the interiority of **Kingship** of **Formation**, is made the **Crown** of **Action** of **Emanation** above, above. And this is:"Blessed be the glory of Hashem from His place"(Ezekiel 3:12). Blessed, this is the aspect of hands. Glory of Hashem, this is the aspect of **faith**. From His place, this is the aspect of **Crown**.

And when he does and rectifies the settler and the arranger, which is the **Crown** as is proper, and the **brains** pursue to grasp the light of the **infinity**, and the **Crown** detains the **intellect** in order to settle the **intellect** - and by means of the pursuit and the detainer, then the **brains** strike the settler and the arranger, and haichalos (chambers) are made for the light of the **infinity**. And even so, "not known and not known," as is brought in the Zohar, parashas Noakh (65a). And from this curtain in the pursuit of this thought, "reaches and does not reach." And the curtain, this is the arranger and the settler, which is the aspect of the **Crown** that is spread between the emanated and the emanator. And nine haichalos (chambers) were made, that they are "not lights, and not spirits, and not neshamot, and there is no one who stands in them, and they do not cleave, and are not known." And know, that this is the ultimate of knowledge, for the ultimate of knowledge is to "not know." And this is the aspect of:"And He will satisfy your soul in parched places"(Isaiah 58:11). For these lights are the "parched places" that are above the **sefirot** [divine emanations] (see Pardes Rimonim, gate of the parched places). Happy is he who merits that his thought pursues to grasp these attainments, even though there is no ability in the hand of the **intellect** to grasp them, for they "do not cleave and are not known." And these nine haichalos (chambers) are made by means of the striking that the **brains** strike in the **Crown** at the time of pursuit. And the **brains** are three, and each one is included from three, for they are included at the time of pursuit, and three times three are nine.

And this is the aspect of the nine haichalos. [This matter is deep, deep; who can find it, as is understood by the enlightened, and as our Rebbe, of blessed memory, himself hinted to me, the greatness of the depth of this awesome secret that reaches above, above, etc. And as is explained in this Torah to the one who analyzes, and the necessity is to explain the matter a little. And it is: that the **Crown** is the settler and the arranger of the **brains** - that is, the power that is in a person's **intellect** to settle and arrange the brain and the knowledge so that it should not break out beyond the boundary - this power is the aspect of **Crown**, as above. And this power is like a partition that separates between the **brains** and the light of the **infinity**, for this power, which is the settler and the arranger, stands before them like a partition and detains them from their pursuit, as above. And by means of the pursuit and the detainer - that is, by means of the pursuit that the **brains** (moachin) pursue to grasp the light of the **infinity**, and by means of the power of the detainer that is the power of the settler and the arranger, the aspect of **Crown** (Kessehr), as above - by means of these two aspects, by means of this, the **brains** strike and hit the aspect of the aforementioned partition, which is the settler and the arranger. And by means of this, the aspect of instruments and haichalos (chambers) are made in supernal spirituality to grasp by their hand in the aspect of "reaches and does not reach" the light of the **infinity**, blessed be He. For if there was no detainer at all, as mentioned above, and there was no one to detain the **brains** from their pursuit and their running, the **brains** would be nullified completely, for the person would be nullified in existence, for the light of the **infinity** is impossible to grasp. But by means of the two aspects that are the pursuit and the detainer, by means of this, the aspect of partitions and the aforementioned haichalos are made, that by their hand they grasp the light of the **infinity** only in the aspect of "reaches and does not reach (muttee viloa muttee)." And the explanation of "reaches and does not reach" (muttee viloa muttee) is known to the understanders - that is, that it reaches and does not reach, that it pursues and reaches to grasp, and even so, does not reach and grasp, that this is made by means of the pursuit and the detainer, as above. And even though these aforementioned haichalos (chambers) are made, even so, they are "not known and not known, and there is no one who stands in them, and they do not cleave and are not known, etc.," as mentioned above, for it is impossible to picture these attainments, these aforementioned haichalos (chambers), in the **intellect**, for they are above souls, spirits, and neshamot, above all intellects, for they are above the **sefirot**, etc., as explained above in the language of our Rebbe, of blessed memory. [See there well, and you will understand that I did not add anything at all. For in the generality of his words are my words. I only repeated and explained the things a little, because of the great substance of their depth, until the infinity] and for this, nine haichalos are made precisely, for the **brains** are three, and because of their pursuit and their hitting in the aforementioned detainer, they are included, this in that, and each one is made to be included from three, and three times three are nine. And this is the aspect of the aforementioned nine haichalos.

Happy is he who merits to go and ascend in the way of holiness that is said in this Torah, until he merits to these attainments]. And this is what the elders of the house of the furnace asked: "The middle of the world, where?" They were asking him: How does one grasp the light of the **infinity**, which is the middle of the world, from which all things draw vitality and abundance? He raised a finger - this is the aspect of **blessings**, as above, the aspect of:"And Aaron lifted up his hands and blessed them,"as above - that is to say, that by means of the **blessings**, the **brains** (moachin) strike in **Crown** (Kessehr), and haichalos (chambers) are made, as above. And they said to him: "Who will say?" Who is this that will enter in the haichalos of the exchanges to the place of the **klipos** to elevate from there the holiness, in the aspect of incense, as above, and that by means of its elevation the **blessings** will be elevated, as above? And this "Who will say" is a language of exchange, the language of:"If he exchange, he exchanges it"(Leviticus 27:10). And he replied to them: "Bring s ropes and measure." That is to say, the main elevation of the holiness is by means of joy. And in the future, when Israel goes out from the exile in joy, as it is written:"For in joy you shall go out,"then the **klipos** will be completely consumed. And this: "Bring ropes" - that is, by your hands and against your will, the **klipos** will be nullified, for you yourselves will bring the house of Israel from the exile, who are called "ropes" - that is (Deuteronomy 32:9), 'chevel nachalaso' (the portion/rope of His inheritance), as it is written:"And they shall bring your brothers the house of Israel"(Isaiah 66:20) - that each and every one from the nations will bring in their hand the house of Israel from the exile, by means of the increase of joy that will be at that time, as it is written:"Then they will say among the nations: Hashem has done great with these and so on, we were joyful"(Psalms 126:2-3). And by means of the joy, the **klipos** will be nullified, in the aspect of:"And he measured them with a rope, he laid them down to the ground"(II Samuel 8:2) (see Zohar, Balak 190a). And this is: "Measure," that is, the measuring to consume them.