שמעתי ממורי ביאור סוד א"ב וכו' ואיך שצריך לעשות בכל תבה הכנעה והבדלה והמתקה, ורצה לומר כי דיני ש"כ ופ"ר הרמוזה בתבת אדנ"י דפתיחת תפלת שמונה עשרה, כל הכוונות שיש שם צריך לכוון בכל תבה ודיבור להמתיק הדינין, כי אות א הוא סוד פלא, ונתלבש באות ב' שהוא ב' אלפין, וכן ג' ג' אלפין, עד אות ת' ד' מאות אלפין, וכל מה שנתרחק האות נתרחק מהחיות ונתלבש בקליפות עד מלכות שבמלכות ששם מחשבות רעות וכו', וכאשר יתן לב על גלות השכינה שהיה ניצוץ השכינה מלובש בתוך כיעור הקליפות הזה יחרד חרדה גדולה ואז יתפרדו כל פועלי און, ונעשה ייחוד יראה עם נורא ונתברר ניצוץ הקדוש ונתחבר למעלה אל החיות בסוד (יחזקאל א׳:י״ד) והחיות רצוא ושוב והוא גאולה מהשביה, וזהו הכנעה, כאילו הוא אינו מדבר רק השכינה, והבדלה להפריד הקליפות, והמתקה להעלותן להמתיקן בשרשן וכו' ודפח"ח: (תוי"י בסופו דר"ח ע"ד)
I heard from my Master (the Baal Shem Tov) the inner meaning of the Alphabet, and how one apply to each word the principles of subjugation, separation, and amelioration.3Hamtaka; literally, “Sweetening.” Meaning to say, all the mystical intentions needed [to annul] the 320 and 280 Judgments,4The shach (ש”ך) and par (פ”ר) dinim. alluded to in the first word of the Amidah – Ado-nai – must be applied to each word of prayer, in order to sweeten the judgments. For the letter aleph (אלף) is the mystery of peleh (פלא). It is clothed in the letter beis, which is two alephs, then the letter gimel, whichis three alephs, until the letter tav, which is four hundred alephs.5The Hebrew letter tav has the numerical value of 400. For the further a letter is from the beginning of the alphabet, the further it is from vitality, and the more it becomes clothed in the impure shells, until Malchus of Malchus,6The Baal Shem Tov is drawing a correlation between the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the ten Sefiros. The nature of the Sefiros is holographic, so that each one contains within it aspects of all the rest. (Thus, for instance, we count 49 combinations of Sefiros during the days of Sefiras Ha’Omer, between Passover and Shavuos. The first day of the Omer is Chesed in Chesed, and the last day of the Omer is Malchus in Malchus.) The Baal Shem Tov means that just as there is a downward progression from the highest Sefirah to the last, so there is a degression from first letter of the alphabet to the last; from aleph to tav. On this last level, the letters arise in the mind in the form of negative patterns and thoughts. However, when a person recalls that even there, the Divine Presence is concealed, he can disperse all the bad thoughts, and direct his mind again to G‑d. which is the place of bad thoughts. But when a person remembers that the Divine Presence is in exile [there], and that a spark of the Shechina is clothed in this odious shell, he will feel appalled. Then, “all the workers of iniquity will be dispersed” (Psalms 92:10), and a Unification will be made between “fear” and “awesome.”7This is the union between the Sefiros of Tiferet and Malchus. The spark of holiness will be removed and reunited with the life-force above, in the mystery of “the living creatures ran and returned” (Ezekiel 1:14). This is its redemption from captivity. And this is the meaning of “submission.” It is as though you are not speaking, only the Divine Presence. Whereas “separation” means removing the “shell,” and “amelioration” means uplifting it and sweetening it in its root. Toldos Yaakov Yosef, p. 208d
שמעתי ממורי ביאור סוד א"ב וכו' ואיך שצריך לעשות בכל תבה הכנעה והבדלה והמתקה, ורצה לומר כי דיני ש"כ ופ"ר הרמוזה בתבת אדנ"י דפתיחת תפלת שמונה עשרה, כל הכוונות שיש שם צריך לכוון בכל תבה ודיבור להמתיק הדינין, כי אות א הוא סוד פלא, ונתלבש באות ב' שהוא ב' אלפין, וכן ג' ג' אלפין, עד אות ת' ד' מאות אלפין, וכל מה שנתרחק האות נתרחק מהחיות ונתלבש בקליפות עד מלכות שבמלכות ששם מחשבות רעות וכו', וכאשר יתן לב על גלות השכינה שהיה ניצוץ השכינה מלובש בתוך כיעור הקליפות הזה יחרד חרדה גדולה ואז יתפרדו כל פועלי און, ונעשה ייחוד יראה עם נורא ונתברר ניצוץ הקדוש ונתחבר למעלה אל החיות בסוד (יחזקאל א׳:י״ד) והחיות רצוא ושוב והוא גאולה מהשביה, וזהו הכנעה, כאילו הוא אינו מדבר רק השכינה, והבדלה להפריד הקליפות, והמתקה להעלותן להמתיקן בשרשן וכו' ודפח"ח:
(תוי"י בסופו דר"ח ע"ד)
I heard from my Master (the Baal Shem Tov) the inner meaning of the Alphabet, and how one apply to each word the principles of subjugation, separation, and amelioration.3Hamtaka; literally, “Sweetening.” Meaning to say, all the mystical intentions needed [to annul] the 320 and 280 Judgments,4The shach (ש”ך) and par (פ”ר) dinim. alluded to in the first word of the Amidah – Ado-nai – must be applied to each word of prayer, in order to sweeten the judgments. For the letter aleph (אלף) is the mystery of peleh (פלא). It is clothed in the letter beis, which is two alephs, then the letter gimel, which is three alephs, until the letter tav, which is four hundred alephs.5The Hebrew letter tav has the numerical value of 400. For the further a letter is from the beginning of the alphabet, the further it is from vitality, and the more it becomes clothed in the impure shells, until Malchus of Malchus,6The Baal Shem Tov is drawing a correlation between the letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the ten Sefiros. The nature of the Sefiros is holographic, so that each one contains within it aspects of all the rest. (Thus, for instance, we count 49 combinations of Sefiros during the days of Sefiras Ha’Omer, between Passover and Shavuos. The first day of the Omer is Chesed in Chesed, and the last day of the Omer is Malchus in Malchus.) The Baal Shem Tov means that just as there is a downward progression from the highest Sefirah to the last, so there is a degression from first letter of the alphabet to the last; from aleph to tav. On this last level, the letters arise in the mind in the form of negative patterns and thoughts. However, when a person recalls that even there, the Divine Presence is concealed, he can disperse all the bad thoughts, and direct his mind again to G‑d. which is the place of bad thoughts. But when a person remembers that the Divine Presence is in exile [there], and that a spark of the Shechina is clothed in this odious shell, he will feel appalled. Then, “all the workers of iniquity will be dispersed” (Psalms 92:10), and a Unification will be made between “fear” and “awesome.”7This is the union between the Sefiros of Tiferet and Malchus. The spark of holiness will be removed and reunited with the life-force above, in the mystery of “the living creatures ran and returned” (Ezekiel 1:14). This is its redemption from captivity. And this is the meaning of “submission.” It is as though you are not speaking, only the Divine Presence. Whereas “separation” means removing the “shell,” and “amelioration” means uplifting it and sweetening it in its root.
Toldos Yaakov Yosef, p. 208d