In the previous section we worked through the Alter Rebbe's wording regarding the effect that performing a mitzvah has upon the nefesh habahamis, the animal soul.
The answer to the question we raised:
Since the animal soul is affected in one way or another while the mitzvah is being performed, either on a deep level, where it is «מסכימים ומתרצים» (in agreement and willing), or on a lower level, «בעל כורחם» (against its will), in the mode of אתכפיא (the animal soul being subdued), there is nothing standing in the way of the Shechinah resting upon a person at the moment he performs the mitzvah.
And so the Alter Rebbe concludes that a person «ממשיך הארה לכללות נפש החיונית שבכל הגוף», he draws down an illumination to the vitalizing soul as a whole, throughout the entire body. Even if the mitzvah took only an instant and was done with one hand alone: a person puts his hand in his pocket, takes out a coin and drops it in the tzedakah box. How much energy did he actually invest? The hand, and the vitality in it, were active for half a second, two seconds, five seconds. And nevertheless, in the moment of that act a divine Shechinah rests upon his vitalizing soul, because at that moment it is a partner in an act that is the will of the Creator. And since the Shechinah rests for one moment upon the hand performing the mitzvah, he thereby draws an illumination to the vitalizing soul as a whole, throughout the body: his entire body receives, at that moment, a general illumination as a result of what happened in that one particular limb.
This is the reason it is brought that when one sees a person learning Torah one must stand up before him, because the Shechinah rests upon him. And it is likewise brought that one must stand before a person performing a mitzvah, since at the moment of the mitzvah the Shechinah rests upon the one performing it, and upon the physical body as well, in the mode of makif, encompassing him from above, from his head to his feet.
A summary of the levels we have learned so far:
There is a resting of the Shechinah that remains only on the level of the divine soul, and there is a resting that acts upon the animal soul as well; there is a resting that affects only thought and speech, and there is a resting that reaches the dimension of action, the garment of deed:
While learning Torah: the resting of the Shechinah is on the level of the divine soul and in the garments of thought and speech alone.
While performing a mitzvah in deed: the resting of the Shechinah extends also to the vitalizing and animal soul, to the body, and to the dimension of action.
And what about a Jew who is not doing anything at all? Does no Shechinah rest upon him whatsoever?
After all, the yenuka in the Zohar says: «לא יהך בר נש בגלויי רישא ארבע אמות», a person should not walk four amos bareheaded. «מאי טעמא?» Why not? «דשכינתא שריא על רישא», because the Shechinah rests upon his head. It emerges that the Shechinah rests upon a person's head at all times. So why did we say that the resting of the Shechinah happens specifically when one performs a mitzvah?
Two modes in the resting of the Shechinah: pnimi and makif
Here the Alter Rebbe explains that there are levels and gradations in this, and he wants to establish that there is a resting of the Shechinah in a pnimi (inner, internalized) manner and a resting in a makif (encompassing) manner. While learning Torah and performing a mitzvah the resting is pnimi, and when a person performs a mitzvah with his hand both modes are present together: upon the hand the Shechinah rests in a pnimi manner, since it is the limb actually performing the mitzvah, while upon the body as a whole during the mitzvah it rests in a makif manner. And even one who is doing nothing at all has a resting of the Shechinah upon him, but in a manner that is makif to an even greater degree.
And this is the precision in the Zohar's wording, «דשכינתא שריא על רישא», the Shechinah rests «upon» his head: «upon» precisely, in a makif manner and not in a pnimi manner. Were he performing a mitzvah, the resting would be pnimi; since he is not performing anything, the resting remains in the category of «upon».
A further proof that the Shechinah rests upon a Jew in a makif manner as well, only that this is an additional level: «כל בי עשרה שכינתא שריא», wherever ten Jews are together the Shechinah rests, even if they are not occupied with anything holy but with ordinary conversation.
And the same is true even of a gathering of scoffers. In Tanya, in Iggeres HaKodesh siman 23, the Alter Rebbe speaks very sharply about ten who sit and engage in talk of mockery, and his words there are: «ואם נעשה מושב לצים בעשרה דשכינתא שריא עליו, אין לך עלבונא וקלנא דשכינתא גדול מזה, רחמנא ליצלן», and if it becomes a gathering of scoffers among ten, upon whom the Shechinah rests, there is no greater insult and disgrace to the Shechinah than this, Heaven save us. The Shechinah is present, and they are busy with empty talk, and there is no disgrace greater than that.
From all of the above it emerges that there are different levels in the intensity of this resting of the Shechinah:
Upon every Jew, even when he is doing nothing: one level.
Ten Jews who are doing nothing: a higher level.
A Jew learning Torah, learning Tanya: a resting of the Shechinah upon the divine soul.
A Jew performing a mitzvah: a resting of the Shechinah upon his entire body.
Ten sitting and occupied with Torah, and likewise ten performing a mitzvah: many levels higher still.
On the face of it, we have here variations in the way the Shechinah appears, in level and in intensity. And a question immediately arises: does the Creator appear in a number of ways and in a number of forms?
If we were to say that all we have here is a matter of revelation and concealment, that the Creator is present in every place and at every moment, only that He is not present in a revealed way, and a person's action reveals Him more or less, then there is no change in Him at all and everything depends on the person. But it is clear that this is not the case: one cannot say that with a Jew and with a non-Jew the matter is identical and the only difference is revelation and concealment, and one cannot say that the hide of an animal from which tefillin were made and another hide are one and the same thing with nothing between them but revelation and concealment. When a person performs a mitzvah he draws down here a light of the Shechinah that seemingly was not here beforehand, and it is not merely that it was here in a concealed state. If so, are we to say that he brings about a change in the Creator?
On this the Alter Rebbe concludes: «והנה כל בחינת המשכת אור השכינה . . של בחינת גילוי אור אין סוף ברוך הוא, אינו נקרא שינוי חס ושלום בו יתברך ולא ריבוי», every form of drawing down the light of the Shechinah, which is the revelation of the Ein Sof light, is not called a change, Heaven forbid, in Him, nor a multiplicity. All the drawings down spoken of in this chapter, upon an individual, upon ten, in Torah and in mitzvos, none of these types of drawing down the light of the Shechinah constitutes, Heaven forbid, a change or a multiplicity in the revelation of the Shechinah.
And why is that? «כדאיתא בסנהדרין», as is brought in the Gemara in Maseches Sanhedrin:
A certain min, a heretic, came to Rabban Gamliel and asked him: «אמריתו כל בי עשרה שכינתא שריא», you say that upon every ten Jews the Shechinah rests, «כמה שכינתא אית לכו?», how many Shechinahs do you have?
Had this been a worthless question, they would not have bothered with him, and the Gemara would not have preserved it for all generations so that we should sit and study a foolish question. Clearly there is substance here worth examining, for as we said, this is not merely a question of revelation and concealment, but seemingly a question of whether something is drawn down or is not drawn down, and from this it would seem to follow, Heaven forbid, that there is multiplicity.
Rabban Gamliel answered him with the analogy of the light of the sun entering many windows. Is the light of the sun present everywhere, even in dark cellars, only that we do not see it? Certainly not: when you raise the shade you bring in the sunlight, and when you lower it the sunlight is not here. And yet, the one who raises the shade brings about no change whatsoever in the sun itself. The sun does not change in the slightest, whether you brought in its light or you did not.
Still, one has to understand how this can be said with regard to the Creator, that He is present or not present. And therefore the Alter Rebbe concludes: «והמשכיל יבין», the thoughtful person will understand. There is a deep matter here that requires understanding. In the Alter Rebbe's Siddur, in the explanations on the prayers, there is a lengthy maamar (on «זכר רב טובך») in which he explains this very point.
And there is an interesting expression that chassidim used to say: «המשכיל יבין, והעובד ירגיש», the one who studies with intellectual depth will understand the matter, but the one who works on himself in avodas Hashem will feel it and connect to it in a far more inner way.
To sum up: in this chapter we did not close a topic but opened one that continues onward, the wondrous importance of the world of action. We learned that the effect of the mitzvah upon the animal soul, whether as «מסכימים ומתרצים» or as «בעל כורחם», is what makes possible the resting of the Shechinah at the moment of the mitzvah, and that performing a mitzvah draws an illumination to the vitalizing soul as a whole throughout the body, and even upon the physical body in the mode of makif. We also saw that in the resting of the Shechinah there is a pnimi mode and a makif mode and various levels of intensity, and that nevertheless none of these drawings down constitutes, Heaven forbid, a change or a multiplicity in the Creator, as in the analogy of the sunlight entering many windows.
The Alter Rebbe says that the whole purpose of the soul's descent into a body is action, and action is not merely important, it is the purpose. For if the purpose lay in the heart and the emotions, the soul would have stayed above, where the feeling is far more wondrous and the comprehension far deeper; in fact the descent below actually constricted the emotional intensity the soul could have reached had it remained above. What, then, is the superiority of action? To draw down the light of the Shechinah upon the body and upon the vitality.
And why does this matter so much? With Hashem's help, in the coming chapters the Alter Rebbe will broaden and deepen the explanation of the importance of action, alluding to the words of the Mishnah on the superiority of one whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom and whose deeds exceed his wisdom.