In the previous section we examined the nature of «shefa», a flow of influence in which something is in fact lacking from the source. Now let us clarify the distinction between shefa and «or», light.
«Or», light, is the term for energy that descends in such a way that nothing whatsoever is missing from the source. Take it literally: a lamp is burning and giving off light. The entire surroundings benefit from its light, and nothing at all has been subtracted from the source of that light. For this reason there is also no «occupation» on the part of the lamp. It is not busy illuminating; it simply exists, and it is a source of radiance. If there is a room around it, the room receives from it; if there is nothing around it, nothing receives. There is no activity here, because the lamp does not have to detach anything from itself in order to give. It exists, and the influence descends of itself.
The term «or» is therefore used when we wish to say that a certain energy descends from a higher source to a lower recipient, and the manner of descent is such that nothing is lacking in the higher, and the higher does not become preoccupied or abandon its own state in order to bring something down to the lower. The higher is a source of vitality and energy, and whoever wishes to receive draws from it. That is what we call light.
Accordingly, when the Alter Rebbe described at the end of the previous page how the life force descends from the second stage to the third, from the brain to all the limbs, he chose the words "כדמיון האור המתפשט ומאיר מהשמש לחדרי חדרים", «like the light that spreads and shines from the sun into the innermost chambers». The brain is a source that contains within itself the entire great measure of vitality, and nothing is subtracted from it when it illuminates the rest of the limbs. Each limb receives its portion, and the vitality remains in the brain. The brain gives of itself, but by way of light, not by way of shefa. That is the emphasis in the relationship between the second stage and the third.
But the relationship between the first stage, the essence of the soul, and the stages that follow it cannot even be described as a relationship of light. The first stage is so separate and so abstracted from being a source for particulars that one cannot say that they receive from it, or that it shines upon them. It is not called by the name light at all; it is literally the essence of the soul itself.
These three stages each have a name in the language of the maamarim of chassidus, and they are drawn in the diagram according to those names:
Nekudah, a point: the highest stage, abstracted from any particulars. A point in which there is as yet no extension at all, neither in length nor in width.
Kav, a line: the intermediate stage, which is already a source from which the particulars will be drawn, like a line extending downward.
Shetach, an area: the third stage, in which the whole surface is already present, all the particulars in their entirety.
And exactly as we explained in the analogy of the soul and the body, so it is in the nimshal. The first stage in the nimshal is the Essence of the Creator, the essence of the light, which cannot even be called a «source». Certainly He is the source of everything, but He is so utterly abstracted, for when we call something a «source» for another, it means that it already has some relation to it and there is a ratio between them, and He is above everything.
And since He is above everything, where is He found? On the contrary: where is He not found? Here lies the beginning of the answer to the question we asked: how is it that on the one hand we say that the Holy One is found everywhere, and on the other hand we say that there is a specific place in which there is hashra'as haShechinah, the resting of the Divine Presence? When we say that He is found everywhere, that refers to the first stage. The resting of the Shechinah, however, is the second stage, which parallels the brain in the analogy.
In the Alter Rebbe's words: "וככה ממש על דרך משל אין סוף ברוך הוא ממלא כל עלמין להחיותם", «and so, by way of analogy, the blessed Ein Sof fills all worlds in order to give them life», all the worlds, from the very highest to the very lowest. For Him the high is not high and the low is not low, because the entire concept of higher and lower does not exist in relation to the first stage, exactly as we saw in the analogy of the soul and the body: relative to the essence of the soul there is no difference between the toenail on the foot and the brain in the head; all of them stand in perfect equality.
And when it says «all the worlds», an immense multitude of particulars is included in that, except that none of those particulars are of any consequence here or relevant at all, since He is present in all of them in precisely the same way: "ובכל עולם יש ברואים לאין קץ ותכלית, רבוא רבבות מיני מדרגות מלאכים ונשמות וכו'", «and in every world there are creatures without end or limit, myriads upon myriads of kinds of levels of angels and souls, and so on». A multitude in quantity and a multitude in quality, in every category and in every manner, both in the spiritual worlds where there are angels and serafim, and in the physical world in which we find ourselves. "וכן ריבוי העולמות אין לו קץ וגבול וגבוה על גבוה כו'", «and likewise the multitude of worlds has no end or limit, one higher than another, and so on». The sheer number of worlds is without limit, and their levels, one above the other, are likewise without limit, a multitude in which there is no grasping at all of what quantity we are speaking.
And although this is an immense multitude, relative to the Essence of the Creator there is no difference whatsoever between a grain of sand in the lowest world, the physical and coarse world, and the loftiest soul or angel or seraf, abstracted from every limitation. Higher and lower are equal before Him.
A hint of this is found in the verse in Tehillim that we say in Hallel, in which King David stresses the difference between the Jewish people and the nations of the world: "רם על כל גויים ה' על השמים כבודו", «The Lord is high above all nations, His glory is above the heavens». The nations of the world believe in the existence of the Creator, but as they conceive of Him He has a place: His glory is above the heavens, He is found in heavenly places and in lofty places, while low and material places have nothing to do with Him. And King David continues: "מי כה' אלוקינו המגביהי לשבת, המשפילי לראות בשמים ובארץ", «Who is like the Lord our God, who is enthroned on high, who lowers Himself to look upon the heavens and the earth». We know who God is: He is so exalted that for Him it is the very same lowering and the very same tzimtzum, whether in the heavens or on the earth. A heavenly thing is no closer to Him, and an earthly thing is no further from Him. Such distinctions belong only after the tzimtzum, in the second and third stages; relative to the first stage, higher and lower are equal in one measure.
In the words of the chapter: "והנה מהותו ועצמותו של אין סוף ברוך הוא שוה בעליונים ותחתונים", «and the essence and being of the blessed Ein Sof is the same in the upper worlds and the lower». He is present in every place in precisely the same manner, both in the aspect of revelation and in the aspect of concealment. And the variations, whether the quantitative ones or the qualitative ones, the multitude of worlds and their levels one above the other, as well as the variations within each and every world, exist only in relation to the third stage. In relation to the first stage there is no difference at all, "כמשל הנשמה הנ"ל", «like the analogy of the soul mentioned above», as we learned in the first half of the chapter: the essence of the soul is present in every part of the body, from head to foot, equally.
And he brings a proof from the Tikkunei Zohar: "וכמו שכתוב בתיקונים דאיהו סתימו דכל סתימין", «as it is written in the Tikkunim, that He is the Concealed of all concealed». When we speak of His essence and being, He is hidden and concealed even from the hidden and most exalted worlds themselves. "פירוש: דאפילו בעלמין סתימין דלעילא", «meaning, that even in the hidden worlds above», even in the most concealed and highest worlds, "הוא סתום ונעלם בתוכם כמו שהוא סתום ונעלם בתחתונים", «He is hidden and concealed within them just as He is hidden and concealed in the lower worlds». They are no closer to Him, and the lower is no further from Him. And the reason: "כי לית מחשבה תפיסא ביה כלל", «for no thought grasps Him at all». There is no thought that can grasp or apprehend His essence and being, "אפילו בעולמות עליונים", «even in the upper worlds», and the creatures of the upper worlds are included in this as well. Therefore, "ונמצא כמו שמצוי שם, כך נמצא בתחתונים ממש", «and just as He is found there, so is He literally found in the lower worlds».
In summary: in this section we clarified the distinction between «shefa» and «or»: in the influence of light nothing is lacking in the source and there is no activity involved. We saw that the descent of the life force from the brain to the limbs is by way of light, whereas the relationship between the essence of the soul and the stages that follow it is not called light at all. We learned the names of the three stages, nekudah, kav and shetach (point, line and area), and we moved on to the nimshal: the first stage, His very Essence, which cannot even be called a «source», which fills all worlds, which is equal in the upper and lower worlds and is grasped by no thought. This is the beginning of the answer to the question of how the Holy One is present everywhere and yet there is a particular place of hashra'as haShechinah.
In the next section we will take up the second stage of the nimshal, the aspect of the resting of the Shechinah, which parallels the brain in the analogy.