Running Commentary on Torah 33 — Mi Ha-Ish He-Chafetz Chayim

Beginner: This Torah is built around a verse from Psalms (34:13): "Who is the man who desires life, loves days to see good?" The full meaning of the verse will be decoded at the end: "desires" refers to the heart; "life" refers to da'at — knowledge/awareness of G-d; "loves days" means drawing love from da'at into the days and attributes; and "to see good" means to perceive the or ha-ganuz — the hidden light of the concealed Torah and tzaddikim. But to understand why, we must first work through the entire teaching. Intermediate: Opening verse: "Mi ha-ish he-chafetz chayim, ohev yamim lir'ot tov" (Teh' 34:13). Final decoding (§10-11): chafetz = lev; chayim = da'at; ohev yamim = drawing love from da'at into the middot; lir'ot tov = perceiving the or ha-ganuz (hidden Torah and tzaddikim).

Beginner: The teaching opens with a sweeping principle of Jewish life: a person needs to seek shalom — peace. Not only peace between people (peace among Israel), but an inner, personal shalom: peace within his own character traits (middot) and in all events that befall him. The key is this — there should be no essential difference in his inner life whether he is experiencing a state of tov (goodness, blessing) or ra (badness, difficulty). In both states, he should always be able to find G-d. The verse captures this perfectly: "In this [Hashem — the name of mercy] I will praise a word; in G-d [Elohim — the name of strict judgment] I will praise a word" (Psalms 56:11). The person of true shalom praises G-d in both His aspects — both when life is merciful and when it is strict. But how is this possible in practice? How can a person find G-d during a bad day? Through the Torah, which is called shalom — "all her paths are peace" (Proverbs 3:17; Zohar, Parshas Korach). And through the tzaddikim, who are called the brit shalom — the covenant of peace — because they embody the inner unity that finds G-d in all things. When one clings to Torah and to tzaddikim, one acquires the inner vision to find G-d in all circumstances. Intermediate: §1: Seek shalom — inner peace in all circumstances, finding G-d in both tov and ra. "Ba-Hashem ahalel davar, b-Elohim ahalel davar" (Teh' 56:11). Achieved through Torah = shalom (Mishlei 3:17; Zohar Korach 176a) and tzaddikim = brit shalom.

Beginner: Why is it possible to find G-d in all things — even in the most material and seemingly negative things? Rabbeinu draws on the deepest foundation of Jewish mystical thought: G-d's divinity fills all of creation without exception. "The whole earth is full of His glory" (Isaiah 6:3). "There is no place empty of Him" (Tikunei Zohar 57). "He fills all worlds and surrounds all worlds" (Zohar, Ra'ya Mehemna, Parshas Pinchas). These are precise Kabbalistic descriptions, not metaphors. Even in the most material things — and even in the languages and cultural expressions of the non-Jewish nations — one can find G-d's divine vitality. Without a spark of G-d's life-force within them, they could not exist at all: "And You give life to all of them" (Nehemiah 9:6). However, this vitality is present in extreme tzimtzum — contraction and concealment. G-d progressively clothed His divinity through many layers of tzimtzumim (contractions), all the way down to the material world's innermost point. The further down the chain, the more garments the divinity wears. In the realm of the kelipot (spiritual husks of negativity), the divine spark is most deeply hidden. The Sages hint at this in the Talmud (Menachot 34b): interpreting certain foreign words embedded in halachic contexts, they demonstrate that even the languages of the nations contain wisdom. The message: no level of creation is entirely devoid of G-d's presence — He is there, contracted and hidden, waiting to be found. Intermediate: §2: G-d's divinity fills everything — "melo khol ha-aretz kevodo" (Yesh' 6:3); "leit atar panui minei" (Tikunim 57); "hu memalle kol almin ve-sovev kol almin" (Zohar Ra'ya Mehemna, Pinchas 225a). Divine vitality present even in the kelipot and nations' languages (Menachot 34b), in extreme tzimtzum. No circumstance removes the possibility of finding G-d.

Beginner: **ג. And behold, there are two kinds of days** — **yamim tovim** and **yamim ra'im**. As it is written (**Koheles 7:14**): **"B'yom tovah heyeh b'tov, u'v'yom ra'ah re'eh"** — 'on a day of good, be in good; and on a day of evil, see.' That is, a person must look there very, very well — and he will certainly find there **yamim tovim**, namely **Torah**. And the days are called **midos**, as it is written (**Tehillim 39:5**): **"u'midas yamai"** — 'and the measure of my days.' And the midos are the Torah — because **Orayta kulah midosav shel HKB"H** — the entire Torah consists of HKB"H's character-attributes — because the Torah speaks of **ahavah, yirah**, and the rest of the midos. And through it HKB"H created the worlds, as it is written (**Mishlei 8:30**): **"va'ehyeh etzlo amon"** — 'and I was with Him an amon.' **Al tikrei amon ela oman** (do not read amon, but oman — craftsman) — see **Bereishis Rabbah 1:1**; **Zohar Shemini 35b**. And the **osios ha'Torah** are what **give life to every single thing**. Only: the more a madreigah is below, the more the osios ha'Torah are there in **greater tzimtzum** than they were in a higher madreigah, and they do not illuminate as much as above in the upper madreigah — **in order not to shefer or v'chiyus more than is proper**. It emerges that even in the **m'dor ha'klipos** — namely in **yamim ra'im**, which are **midos ra'os and l'shonos akum** — **there too one can find osios ha'Torah**. But due to the **great number of levushim and the magnitude of the tzimtzum**, the osios ha'Torah (namely, the yemei tov) are not visible, because of the yemei ra and the darkness that rests upon them. But **one who subdues his yetzer ha'ra** — namely the **yemei ra**, namely the **midos ra'os** — then the ra is completely thrown into confusion vis-à-vis the yemei tov that are in them, and then the **osios protrude and are seen and illuminate more**. Because at the beginning they did not illuminate so much — they did not receive light from above, in order that the yemei ra should not receive more than the measure of their chiyus. But now that the ra has been nullified, and the osios ha'Torah are left by themselves — now they **receive abundant light from above**. It emerges: this one who subdues his yetzer — that is, who subdues the yemei ra: when he speaks with an akum or sees their midos, then **immediately the ra that dwells upon the tov** — namely the osios ha'Torah — **is nullified and falls**, and the osios ha'Torah **protrude**. Then **he knows the Torah that is in that very thing**. And this is what is said in the **Zohar ha'Kadosh (Lech Lecha 90a)**: **"Barchu Hashem mal'achav, gibborei koach, osei d'varo"** (**Tehillim 103:20**) — 'Bless Hashem, His angels, mighty of strength, who perform His word.' **"Ilein inun d'misgabrin al yitzreihon, inun damin l'mal'achin mamash"** — 'these are those who overcome their yetzer; they are like mal'achim literally.' **"Osei d'varo"** — **"d'avdin l'hai davar"** — 'who build this davar.' **"L'shmo'a b'kol d'varo"** — **"inun zakin l'mish'ma kalin m'l'eila"** — 'these merit to hear voices from above.' Because **the Torah is called "davar"**, as it is written (**Tehillim 105:8**): **"davar tzivah l'elef dor"** — 'the word He commanded for a thousand generations.' And the more the osios ha'Torah are contracted and clothed in additional tzimtzumim and levushim, the Torah is in greater **he'elem v'iskasia** (concealment). And **one who strips the osios ha'Torah from the levushim is like one who builds the Torah**. For example: the osios ha'Torah that were scattered and separated in **l'shonos ha'akum**, and no one knew of them, due to the yemei ra that darkened over them and clothed them. And when this man comes — who is likened to **a mal'ach of Hashem Tzevakos** — through subduing his yetzer, namely the yemei ra — then the ra (namely the l'shonos ha'akum) are **bent and nullified before him**. And then the osios ha'Torah remain protruding. And when they are stripped from the **gashmi levushim** — namely from l'shonos ha'akum, namely from midos ra'os, namely from yemei ra — then **these osios ha'Torah receive more abundant light** than they were receiving at first. Because at first they were only receiving the measure of chiyus fitting for that place, in order not to shefa more than is proper for them. As it is written in **Kisvei ha'Ari"zal**: **"ad d'lo yada bein arur Haman l'baruch Mordechai"** — meaning, to draw shefa to the klipos only to the measure of their chiyus, and no more (see **Pri Etz Chaim, Kavanos Purim ch. 6**: it explains there that one must draw chiyus to the **kedushah ne'elemes** hidden inside the klipos, but one must draw the chiyus in a **tzimtzum gadol** — this is the sod of the kavanos of the shichrus of Purim; see there). But when the osios are stripped from the klipos, then they **receive abundant light from above**. And this is: **"osei d'varo, l'shmo'a b'kol d'varo"** — when one performs and builds up the Torah that was at first scattered and separated in l'shonos akum and in midos ra'os and in yemei ra, then **"l'shmo'a b'kol d'varo"** — and one merits to hear voices from above. Namely, that the davar — that is, the Torah — receives **abundant light from above**, and this is the **sh'mi'as ha'Torah** (the hearing of Torah). And this is the bechinah of **na'aseh v'nishma**: at first **"osin u'vonin"** to the osios ha'Torah — so that they should be **protruding letters that combine** (**Yoma 73b**: "bolt'os u'mitzt'rafos"); and afterwards **"nishma"** — merit to hear voices from above. Namely, that the osios ha'Torah receive **chiyus and greater light** than they were receiving at first, when they were clothed in **l'shonos ha'goyim** and in **yemei ra**. Intermediate: **ג. 2 minei yamim** — **yemei tov** / **yemei ra** (**"b'yom tovah heyeh b'tov, u'v'yom ra'ah re'eh"** Koh 7:14). Tzarich l'histakel heitev heitev — yim'tza sham **yemei tov = Torah**. Yamim = **midos** ("u'midas yamai" Teh 39:5); midos = Torah (**"Orayta kulah midosav shel HKB"H"** — ahavah, yirah etc.). Bah bara HKB"H olamin: **"va'ehyeh etzlo amon"** (Mishlei 8:30); **al tikrei amon ela oman** (BR 1:1; Zohar Shemini 35b). **Osios haTorah m'chayyin kol davar**; madreigah l'matah → osios b'**tzimtzum gadol yoser**, ein me'irin k'mo l'ma'alah (**she'lo l'hashpi'a or/chiyus yoser min ha'ra'ui**). Af **m'dor ha'klipos** (yemei ra = midos ra'os u'l'shonos akum) — yesh osios haTorah; aval merov levushim v'godel ha'tzimtzum, ein nis'in. **Kofeh yitzro** (= kofeh yemei ra) → ha'ra **nisbalbel** neged yemei tov she'bahem → osios **bolt'os u'me'irot beyoter** (kabel or rav mi'l'ma'alah achar bitul ha'ra). **Medaber im akum / ro'eh midoseihem** → miyad **ha'ra ha'shochen al ha'tov (=osios haTorah) nisbatel v'nofel** → osios bolt'in → yode'a Torah she'b'oso davar. **Zohar Lech Lecha 90a** al "Barchu Hashem mal'achav, gibborei koach, osei d'varo, l'shmo'a b'kol d'varo" (Teh 103:20): **"Ilein inun d'misgabrin al yitzreihon, damin l'mal'achin mamash." "Osei d'varo" = d'avdin l'hai davar. "L'shmo'a b'kol d'varo"** = zakin l'mish'ma **kalin m'l'eila**. Torah=davar ("davar tzivah l'elef dor" Teh 105:8). Osios osios ha'Torah mitzt'mtz'mos → Torah b'he'elem; **mefashet osios mi'levushim = doemh l'k'voneh Torah**. Osios ha'mefuzar'in b'l'shonos akum — ish zeh (damin l'mal'ach) kofeh yitzro → **l'shonos akum nichp'afin u'nisbat'lin**, osios bolt'os → **mi'she'nif'shatos** → **me'irot or rav**. (Mi'techilah rak k'dei chiyuso; k'mo kavanas shichrus Purim — **"ad d'lo yada bein arur Haman l'baruch Mordechai"** = hamshachas chiyus la'klipos b'**tzimtzum gadol**; **Pri Etz Chaim, Kavanos Purim perek 6**). **"Osei d'varo l'shmo'a b'kol d'varo"** — osin u'vonin ha'Torah she'haysah mefuzeres b'l'shonos akum → **lishmo'a kalin m'l'eila**. **Bechinas na'aseh v'nishma**: techilah **osin u'vonin** l'osios ("bolt'os u'mitzt'rafos" **Yoma 73b**); achar kach **nishma** — zach'in l'kalin m'l'eila = osios mekablin or/chiyus rav yoser.

Beginner: Section 4 reveals a deeper dimension: not only is Torah wisdom hidden within every situation, but G-d's love (ahavah) — His chesed (lovingkindness) — is actively flowing within every single day and every single middah. The Zohar (Parshas Balak 191b) expounds the verse: "By day (yomam) G-d commands His chesed" (Psalms 42:9). The specific word yomam (translated here as "daytime" or "by day") suggests a "day that goes with all the other days" — the divine chesed is present within each and every middah (day), like an inner current animating them all. G-d's love does not disappear in the "bad days" — it is there, even if hidden. And chesed equals ahavah — love — as the verse says: "I have loved you with an eternal love; therefore I have drawn you with chesed" (Jeremiah 31:3). The lovingkindness and the love are the same divine force. The middot themselves, Rabbeinu explains, are tzimtzumim — contractions of G-d's infinite being — shaped into distinct attributes precisely so that a created, finite person can relate to the Infinite through them. They are contracted channels through which His infinite light reaches us. Within each channel, His love flows. This is why the tzaddik who subdues his yetzer can feel G-d's love even in difficult days — he perceives the current of divine chesed flowing through what appears to others as a bad day. Intermediate: §4: G-d's chesed/ahavah flows in every day/middah — "yomam yetzaveh Hashem chasdo" (Teh' 42:9; Zohar Balak 191b — "yoma d'azal im kulhu yomin"). Chesed = ahavah (Yirm' 31:3). Middot = tzimtzumim of G-d's infinity, enabling human access. The tzaddik who subdues the yetzer perceives this love in every circumstance.

Beginner: **§ה. Two types of ahavah**: **"yesh shnei minei ahavos"** — 'there are two kinds of loves': **(1) Ahavah *she'ba'yamim* (ahavah-in-the-days) — the *b'fo'al* love**: **"achas she'hi ahavah she'ba'yamim, k'mo she'muva l'eil 'yomam y'tzaveh Hashem chasdo' — 'yoma d'azal im kulhu yomin'"** — 'one that is the love-in-the-days, as brought above [citing the Zohar on Tehillim 42:9]: *yoma* that travels with all the yomin.' **"she'b'chol yom — heyno she'b'chol midah u'midah — yesh sham ahavaso shel HKB"H im Yisrael, v'zeh she'b'fo'al"** — 'in every day — i.e., in every midah — there is the love of HKB"H with Yisrael, and *this is the b'fo'al* (actualized) love.' This love is **distributed across every sefirah** — manifest, enclothed, accessible. **(2) Ahavah *she'hu b'ko'ach* (ahavah-in-potential) — the *pre-bri'ah* love**: **"v'yesh ahavah she'hu b'ko'ach, heyno ha'ahavah she'hayah bein Yisrael la'Avihem she'ba'shamayim kodem ha'b'ri'ah, she'hayu Yisrael adayin b'da'ato u'v'mocho"** — 'and there is a love that is *b'ko'ach* — namely the love that was between Yisrael and their Father-in-Heaven *before the Creation* — when Yisrael were still in His Da'as and in His Mo'ach.' **The mashal**: **"l'mashal, yesh ahavah she'ha'av ohev es b'no, she'kol adam yachol l'hasig zos ha'ahavah"** — 'there is a love that a father loves his son — which every person can *grasp* (imagine, comprehend).' **"V'hahis'kashrus v'ha'ahavah she'yeish bein ha'ben u'vein ha'av k'she'adayin ha'ben b'mo'ach ha'av kodem ha'holadah — zeh ha'hiskashrus v'ha'ahavah ein anu y'cholim l'hasig achshav"** — 'but the *connection and love between son and father while the son is still in the father's mind before he is born* — *that* connection and love, we cannot grasp at present.' **Why we cannot grasp it now**: **"Ki ein masigin achshav ki im bi'zman u'v'midos — v'ahavah she'b'da'ato u'v'mocho hi l'ma'alah me'ha'zman v'ha'midos, v'eino m'lubash b'shum l'vush"** — 'because we cannot grasp except *through time and through middos* — but this pre-creation love-in-da'as is *above time and above middos*, and is not clothed in any garment.' The yamim-love is grasped because it wears the clothing of middos; the da'as-love has *no clothing at all.* **L'asid lavo — the revelation of the da'as-love**: **"V'le'asid lavo she'yisgaleh *Oraisa d'Atika Setima'a* (the hidden Torah of the Ancient of Days), v'az yiskaiyem ma'amar Chazal (Ta'anis 31a): 'asidim tzaddikim l'haros b'etzba, k'mo she'kasuv (Yeshaya 25:9): 'zeh Hashem kivinu lo''"** — 'and in the future the Hidden Torah of Atik will be revealed, and then the saying of Chazal will be fulfilled: *tzaddikim will point with their finger: zeh Hashem!*' **"Ki az yifshot HKB"H es l'vushav, 'u'mal'ah ha'aretz dei'ah es Hashem ka'mayim la'yam m'chasim' (Yeshaya 11:9)"** — 'because then HKB"H will strip off His garments, and *the earth shall be full of da'as of Hashem as the waters cover the sea.*' At that point the ahavah-she'b'da'as — the pre-creation love — which is **"p'nimiyus ha'Torah, heyno Elokuso ha'shochen b'soch ha'Torah v'ha'middos"** ('the inner-dimension of Torah, i.e., His Godliness dwelling within Torah and the middos') will be revealed directly. **Why now this love is hidden**: **"Ki achshav ha'l'vush ha'zeh hu m'chaseh al Elokuso — heyno al p'nimiyus ha'Torah"** — 'for now this garment [of middos] covers over His Godliness — i.e., over the inner-dimension of Torah.' The very middos that transmit love also *conceal* the deeper love-in-da'as that transcends them. **Yeshaya 11:9**: **"lo yarei'u v'lo yashchisu b'chol har kodshi, ki maleh ha'aretz dei'ah"** — 'they shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of da'as.' **"she'yisgaleh ha'ahavah she'ba'da'as"** — 'that the love-in-da'as will be revealed.' **Zechariah 14:7**: **"v'hayah yom echad — yodea la'Hashem"** — 'and it shall be one day — known to Hashem' — **"she'yisgaleh ha'ahavah ha'nikra *yom*, k'mo she'kasuv 'yomam y'tzaveh Hashem chasdo'"** — 'that the love called *yom* [= the ahavah-she'ba'yamim that was pre-hidden] will be revealed.' **"Heyno ha'Torah ha'p'nimiyus she'haysah tzefunah"** — 'the hidden inner Torah that was concealed.' As Chazal say on *"va'yar Elokim es ha'or ki tov"* (Bereishis 1:4) — **"ki tov l'ganzo"** (Chagigah 12a) — 'its goodness was such that He hid it away, because the world is not worthy to use it.' **Torah=tov=or**: **"V'haTorah nikra *tov*"** — **"'ki lekach tov nasati lachem'"** (Mishlei 4:2; Avodah Zarah 19b). **"V'nikra *or*"** — **"'v'Torah or'"** (Mishlei 6:23). **Tzaddikim tzefunim (hidden tzaddikim) too**: **"v'yeish gam ken tzaddikim she'hen tzefunim u'mistarim, she'ein ha'olam k'dai l'hishtamesh ba'hem"** — 'there are also tzaddikim hidden and concealed, because the world is not worthy to use them.' **"V'tzaddik nikra *tov*"** — **"'imru tzaddik ki tov'"** (Yeshaya 3:10; Chagigah ibid.). **"V'nikra *or*"** — **"'or zarua la'tzaddik'"** (Tehillim 97:11). **"U'k'she'yis'galu ha'tzaddikim ha'tzefunim v'ha'Torah ha'tzefunah — azai yisgaleh shalom rav ba'olam, she'yischabru kol ha'hafachim yachad"** — 'and when the hidden tzaddikim and the hidden Torah are revealed, a great shalom will be revealed in the world, such that *all opposites unite*.' **"'V'gar z'eiv im keves'"** (Yeshaya 11:6) — 'the wolf shall dwell with the lamb.' **Summary — Zechariah's 'yom echad yodea'** = **the ahavah-she'ba'da'as** — **"asher hu lo yom v'lo laylah — heyno she'ha'ahavah ha'zos hi l'ma'alah me'ha'zman v'l'ma'alah me'ha'midos"** — 'which is neither day nor night — because this love is *above time and above middos*.' The eschatological 'one day' is precisely a day *without* the time-and-middos framework through which we currently grasp anything — a direct revelation of the pre-creation love-in-da'as. Intermediate: **§ה. Shnei minei ahavos**: **(1) Ahavah she'ba'yamim** = **b'fo'al**; yoma d'azal im kulhu yomin (Zohar on Teh 42:9 **"yomam y'tzaveh Hashem chasdo"**); b'chol midah yesh ahavaso im Yisrael. **(2) Ahavah she'b'ko'ach** = **kodem ha'b'ri'ah**; Yisrael b'da'as/mo'ach HKB"H. **Mashal**: ahavas av-u'ven *kodem ha'holadah* (b'mo'ach ha'av) — she'ein masigin achshav ki im bi'zman u'v'midos; ahavah b'da'as=**l'ma'alah me'zman u'midos, eino m'lubash.** **L'asid lavo**: **Oraisa d'Atika Setima'a** tisgaleh; Chazal Ta'an 31a **"asidim tzaddikim l'haros b'etzba, 'zeh Hashem kivinu lo'"** (Yesh 25:9). Az **yifshot HKB"H l'vushav**; **"u'mal'ah ha'aretz dei'ah"** (Yesh 11:9). **Ahavah-she'ba'da'as=p'nimiyus ha'Torah** — Elokuso ha'shochen b'soch haTorah v'ha'midos. Achshav l'vush midos=m'chaseh al p'nimiyus. Yesh 11:9 **"lo yarei'u v'lo yashchisu... ki maleh ha'aretz dei'ah"** = yisgaleh ahavah-she'ba'da'as. Zech 14:7 **"v'hayah yom echad yodea la'Hashem"** = yisgaleh ahavah ha'nikra *yom* = Torah p'nimiyus she'haysah tzefunah (Chag 12a **"ki tov l'ganzo"** al Ber 1:4). Torah=**tov** (Mish 4:2; A"Z 19b)=**or** (Mish 6:23). Tzaddikim tzefunim=**tov** (Yesh 3:10)=**or** (Teh 97:11). **U'k'she'yis'galu** → **shalom rav**; **"v'gar z'eiv im keves"** (Yesh 11:6). Yom echad yodea=**ahavah-she'ba'da'as** — **"asher hu lo yom v'lo laylah"** (l'ma'alah me'zman u'midos).

Beginner: Section 5 introduces one of the most profound distinctions in Torah 33: the two types of love between G-d and Israel. The first love is the "love in the days" — the actual, revealed love (ahavah be-fo'al). This is G-d's chesed flowing through each day and middah, as described above: "Daytime G-d commands His chesed" — in every attribute, in every moment, Hashem's love for Israel is actively present. This love is graspable by us now, like a child who experiences the warmth of his father's daily care. The second love is entirely different: the "love in potential" (ahavah be-koach) — the love in da'at (G-d's knowledge/thought). This is the love that existed between G-d and Israel before creation, when Israel was still within G-d's da'at and thought. Rabbeinu gives a powerful parable: a father's daily love for his son after birth is something the son can feel and grasp. But the father's deep inner resolve to love — the decision he made before the child was even conceived — the child cannot comprehend at all while still in the womb. That pre-birth love is deeper, more essential, and entirely beyond the child's capacity to grasp. In the future — with the coming of Mashiach — the hidden Torah (oraita de-Atika stima'a, the Torah of the Ancient Hidden One) will be revealed. The tzaddikim will point with their fingers and say: "This is our G-d; we hoped for Him" (Isaiah 25:9; Ta'anit 31a). At that time, the pre-creation love — above time and attributes — will be revealed. Intermediate: §5: Two loves: (1) Ahavah be-fo'al — actual, revealed love in every day/middah ("yomam yetzaveh Hashem chasdo"). (2) Ahavah be-koach — hidden love in da'at: G-d's pre-creation bond with Israel (parable: father's resolve to love before the child's birth). In the future the hidden love is revealed — "oraita de-Atika stima'a" comes; tzaddikim point: "hinneh Eloheinu zeh" (Yesh' 25:9; Ta'anit 31a).

Beginner: When will the hidden love in da'at — the love above time — finally be fully revealed? In the future era of redemption. G-d will "strip His garments" — remove the outer layers (the middot/attributes) that currently clothe and conceal His inner divinity. Then: "The earth shall be full of the knowledge (da'at) of G-d, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11:9). The love in da'at — the innermost essence of the Torah (its divine soul) — will emerge from behind its coverings and become visible. Right now, the Torah and the middot serve as garments that simultaneously reveal G-d (making it possible to relate to Him) and conceal Him (hiding the infinite depth within). When those garments become transparent, the divine light within them shines out directly. This is the or ha-ganuz — the "hidden light" — the same primordial light of the first day of creation that G-d hid away for the tzaddikim in the future (Genesis 1:4; "And G-d saw the light that it was good" — Sages: "to hide it" — Chagigah 12a). The Torah is called tov (good), and the hidden Torah is this good light. Peace (shalom) will increase at that time: "They will neither harm nor destroy in all My holy mountain" (Isaiah 11:9) — for when G-d's inner unity is perceived everywhere, all conflict dissolves. The era of Mashiach is the era when da'at becomes universal. Zechariah (14:9) describes that day: "And it will be a single day, known to G-d" — the love called "day" will be revealed as a singular, undivided reality, neither day nor night — above all categories of time and attribute. Intermediate: §5 cont.: Future revelation — G-d strips His garments; "male ha-aretz da'at Hashem" (Yesh' 11:9). The inner Torah = or ha-ganuz = "or ki tov" hidden from the first day (Ber' 1:4; Chagigah 12a). Peace increases: "lo yarevu ve-lo yash'chitu" (Yesh' 11:9). "Yom echad hu yivada la-Hashem" (Zekh' 14:9) = the love above time/middot revealed.

Beginner: A subtle but crucial point: even within the present structure of middot and days, there is already a relative, partial version of the da'at-love available — because each middah functions as "da'at" relative to the level below it. The Midrash states (brought in Tosafot, Yevamot 103b): "What wisdom made into a crown for its head, humility made into a heel for its lowest point" — the very bottom of one spiritual level is the very top of the next level down. So the lowest dimension of Olam Yetzirah (the World of Formation) is the "da'at" for the World of Asiyah (Action) below it. The practical implication: a tzaddik whose love with G-d operates through his own middot and days — that love is itself already the "love in da'at" for someone at a lower spiritual level than himself. The tzaddik's revealed love functions as the hidden love for those below him in spiritual standing. This is the basis of the Talmudic teaching (Moed Katan 17a, on Malachi 2:7): "For the lips of the kohen guard da'at, and they shall seek Torah from his mouth. If the rav resembles a malakh of Hashem Tzva'ot (an angel of G-d) — meaning: he subdues his yetzer — then seek Torah from his mouth." The tzaddik-as-angel is the one whose personal middot are already the da'at for those learning from him. Intermediate: Each middah is "da'at" relative to the level below it (Midrash Rabbah Shir ha-Shirim; Tosafot Yevamot 103b — "mah she-asatah chokhmah ateret le-roshah"). Lowest level of Yetzirah = da'at for Asiyah. A tzaddik's revealed love (in middot/days) is the hidden love (in da'at) for those below him. Basis of Mo'ed Katan 17a / Mal' 2:7: the kohen/tzaddik who subdues his yetzer becomes da'at for Israel.

Beginner: How does every ordinary person — not just a tzaddik — access some of this love in da'at, even now, within his daily experience? The key: tying the lev (heart) to da'at — connecting one's emotional dimension to one's awareness of G-d. "The All-Merciful desires the heart" (Sanhedrin 106b). And: "As long as he directs his heart to Heaven" (Berakhot 5a). The heart is the root of all the middot and emotions. When the heart is consciously connected to da'at — the knowledge that G-d fills everything, that "the earth is full of His glory" — and when a person subdues his heart to this awareness rather than letting the yetzer ha-ra run his emotional life, then his middot begin to receive illumination from the love that is in da'at. The hidden love — the pre-creation love — begins to shine into his actual experience. The tzaddikim and the Torah that had seemed hidden and inaccessible now begin to reveal themselves to his perception. Importantly, even the most basic da'at is sufficient as an anchor: every single Jew knows at some level that there is a G-d (Bereishit Rabbah, Parshas Noach 34). Even the wicked have this general awareness. By anchoring the heart to even this minimal da'at — by subduing one's impulses and aligning one's emotions with the awareness of G-d's omnipresence — one begins the process of drawing the hidden love into one's actual days. Intermediate: §6-7: Tying lev to da'at = the practical path. "Rachmana liba ba'i" (Sanhedrin 106b); "u-vilvad she-yekhavven libo la-shamayim" (Berakhot 5a). Lev = root of all middot. Connecting lev to da'at (even minimal: every Jew knows there is G-d — Bereshit Rabbah, Noach 34) + subduing yetzer → middot receive love from da'at. The hidden tzaddikim and Torah begin to reveal themselves.

Beginner: Now the verse is fully decoded: "Who is the man who desires life, loves days to see good?" (Psalms 34:13). "Who desires (chafetz) life" — chafetz refers to the heart, since desire and longing (cheishek) live in the heart. "Life (chayim)" refers to da'at — awareness/knowledge of G-d — as the verse says: "The fountain of life is the wisdom of its possessor" (Proverbs 16:22). So the first phrase means: the person who connects his heart's desire to da'at. "Loves days" — once the heart is tied to da'at, it draws the love from da'at downward into the days and middot — the actual, revealed days of one's life become suffused with divine love. "To see good" — this person then perceives the or ha-ganuz, the hidden primordial light: the Torah of the future revelation (Torah ha-genuzah) and the tzaddikim ha-genuzim — the hidden tzaddikim whose inner worlds shimmer with the love that is in da'at, even when they are concealed from ordinary sight. Reb Noson's closing editorial: "I heard in his name [Rabbeinu's] that this Torah contains all the kavanos (mystical intentions) of the lulav. I did not merit to hear the full explanation, but I researched and found a little: the main purpose of the lulav kavanos is to draw all the chasadim downward to illuminate Malkhut (Divine Kingship). The shakings are performed to draw illumination from the root of the chasadim in da'at down to the chasadim spread through the body — adding great light to them from their source in da'at. See the Pri Etz Chaim, Gate of the Lulav." The lulav's six-directional shaking is thus the physical embodiment of this entire Torah: drawing the hidden love of da'at into every direction of revealed life. Intermediate: Peirush: chafetz = lev; chayim = da'at ("mekor chayim sekhl be-alav" — Mishlei 16:22); "ohev yamim" = draws love from da'at into the middot/days; "lir'ot tov" = sees the or ha-ganuz = hidden Torah and tzaddikim. R"N editorial: this Torah = all kavanos of lulav — drawing chasadim from da'at in six directions down to Malkhut (Pri Etz Chaim, Sha'ar ha-Lulav).