Part I; Likkutei Amarim, Chapter 4
The whole chapterה וְהִנֵּה, שְׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשִׁים אֵלּוּ מֵהַתּוֹרָה וּמִצְוֹתֶיהָ, אַף שֶׁנִּקְרָאִים לְבוּשִׁים לְנֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ וּנְשָׁמָה עִם כָּל זֶה, גָּבְהָה וְגָדְלָה מַעֲלָתָם לְאֵין קֵץ וְסוֹף עַל מַעֲלַת נֶפֶשׁ רוּחַ וּנְשָׁמָה עַצְמָן, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזֹּהַר, דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא וְקוּדְשָׁא־בְּרִיךְ־הוּא כּוּלָּא חַד, פֵּירוּשׁ: דְּאוֹרַיְיתָא, הִיא חָכְמָתוֹ וּרְצוֹנוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא, וְהַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא בִּכְבוֹדוֹ וּבְעַצְמוֹ – כּוּלָּא חַד, כִּי הוּא הַיּוֹדֵעַ וְהוּא הַמַּדָּע וְכוּ׳, כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר לְעֵיל בְּשֵׁם הָרַמְבַּ״ם.
5Now these three “garments,” deriving from the Torah and its commandments, although they are called “garments” of the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah, their quality, nevertheless, is infinitely higher and greater than that of the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah themselves,9 as explained in the Zohar,10 because the Torah and the Holy One, blessed is He, are one. The meaning of this is that the Torah, which is the wisdom and will of the Holy One, blessed is He, and His glorious Essence are one, since He is both the Knower and the Knowledge, and so on, as explained above in the name of Maimonides.
ווְאַף דְּהַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא נִקְרָא ״אֵין סוֹף״, וְלִגְדוּלָּתוֹ אֵין חֵקֶר, וְלֵית מַחֲשָׁבָה תְּפִיסָא בֵיהּ כְּלָל, וְכֵן בִּרְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ, כְּדִכְתִיב: ״אֵין חֵקֶר לִתְבוּנָתוֹ״, וּכְתִיב: ״הַחֵקֶר אֱלוֹהַּ תִּמְצָא״, וּכְתִיב: ״כִּי לֹא מַחְשְׁבוֹתַי מַחְשְׁבוֹתֵיכֶם״.
6And although the Holy One, blessed is He, is called En Sof (“Infinite”), and “His greatness can never be fathomed,”11 and “no thought can apprehend Him at all,”12 and so are also His will and His wisdom, as it is written, “There is no searching of His understanding”13 and “Can you find G–d by searching?”14 and again, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts”15
זהִנֵּה עַל זֶה אָמְרוּ: ״בְּמָקוֹם שֶׁאַתָּה מוֹצֵא גְּדוּלָּתוֹ שֶׁל הַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא, שָׁם אַתָּה מוֹצֵא עַנְוְתָנוּתוֹ״, וְצִמְצֵם הַקָּדוֹשׁ־בָּרוּךְ־הוּא רְצוֹנוֹ וְחָכְמָתוֹ בְּתַרְיַ״ג מִצְוֹת הַתּוֹרָה וּבְהִלְכוֹתֵיהֶן, וּבְצֵרוּפֵי אוֹתִיּוֹת תּוֹרָה־נְבִיאִים־כְּתוּבִים, וּדְרָשׁוֹתֵיהֶן שֶׁבְּאַגָּדוֹת וּמִדְרְשֵׁי חֲכָמֵינוּ־זִכְרוֹנָם־לִבְרָכָה.
7—nevertheless, it is in this connection that it has been said: “Where you find the greatness of the Holy One, blessed is He, there you also find His humility.”16 For the Holy One, blessed is He, has compressed His will and wisdom within the 613 commandments of the Torah and in their laws, as well as within the combination of the letters of the Torah, the books of the Prophets and the Writings, and in the exposition thereof which are to be found in the Aggadot and Midrashim of our Rabbis of blessed memory.
חבִּכְדֵי שֶׁכָּל הַנְּשָׁמָה אוֹ רוּחַ וָנֶפֶשׁ שֶׁבְּגוּף הָאָדָם, תּוּכַל לְהַשִּׂיגָן בְּדַעְתָּהּ, וּלְקַיְּימָן – כָּל מַה שֶּׁאֶפְשָׁר לְקַיֵּים מֵהֶן בְּמַעֲשֶׂה דִּבּוּר וּמַחֲשָׁבָה, וְעַל יְדֵי זֶה תִּתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּכָל עֶשֶׂר בְּחִינוֹתֶיהָ בִּשְׁלֹשָׁה לְבוּשִׁים אֵלּוּ.
8All this in order that each neshamah, or ruach, and nefesh in the human body should be able to comprehend them through its faculty of understanding, and to fulfill them, as far as they can be fulfilled, in act, speech, and thought, thereby clothing itself with all its ten faculties in these three garments.
Kehot Publication Society · CC BY-NC · sefaria.org
Kehot Publication Society · CC BY-NC · sefaria.org