After deeply considering all this, he can truly plead, from the innermost heart, “In Your great mercies, wipe away my sins….”1Psalms 51:3. By then his heart is thoroughly impressed with the pathetic state of the spark of divinity within him, and above, as noted. This plea is to arouse supreme mercies, of the Thirteen Attributes of Compassion,2Cf. Exodus 34:6-7. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, has made this observation: The original verse (Exodus 34:7) quoted here includes the word “v’chataah,” the unintentional sin, as well as the other two, intentional sins. Iggeret Hateshuvah omits this one word. The reason for the omission is that in our text the Thirteen Attributes of Compassion are called forth to “correct all defects,” referring to deliberate sins for which no offering is provided. Supreme mercies alone can avail the sinner. The chataah, unintentional sin, does have the chatat offering and is commuted without calling upon “supreme” mercies. On the other hand, the verse describing the Thirteen Attributes does include chataah because of the following words—“He cleanses, and cleanses not,” meaning that He forgives those who return, but not the recalcitrant, as our text will shortly note. Even for unintentional sins, the verse declares, “return” is required (Likkutei Sichot, vol. 4, p. 1058, note 14). which come from the will of the Supreme One, blessed is He, symbolized in the “thorn” atop the yud, far transcending the flow issuing from the letters of His Name.
Because of their lofty origin these Attributes of Compassion correct all defects, as in the passage, “He bears sin and transgression, and cleanses.”2 With this awakening of mercies following the contrition, there is no further nurture for evil and sitra achara from the life-force emanating from the lower hey, as noted. (The latter hey returns to its proper place, united as before with the yud-hey-vav. This will suffice for the knowing.)
As there is a “restoration” of the hey above, so, too, below in the divine soul within man, no more do “your sins divide.”3Isaiah 59:2. It is said, “He cleanses”—those who come back to Him,4Yoma 86a. to lave and cleanse their souls of the soiled garments, the “extraneous forces” that the Talmud describes as “envelops….”5Sotah 3b. “Whoever commits one transgression in this world, it envelops him and precedes him for the Day of Judgment.” Man’s good works precede him in the World to Come, and his sins envelop him.
After the cleansing spirit passes over and purifies them, then their souls are enabled to return unto G–d Himself, literally, to ascend the greatest heights, to their very source, and cleave to Him with a remarkable unity. This is the original unity, the ultimate in union, that existed before the soul was blown by the breath of His mouth to descend and be incorporated within the body of man. (To illustrate this unity: before one exhales, the breath is united with the person; he and his breath are not separable yet.) This is the perfect return, teshuvah.
This state of unity and this return are called teshuvah ilaah, the superior return, that follows teshuvah tataah, the inferior return. The Zohar, in Raaya Mehemna on Nasso, explains that teshuvah ilaah is being occupied with Torah study in reverence and fear of the Holy One…, for this is ben yud-hey—binah….6As noted earlier, yud or chochmah is the germ of the idea and hey or binah is its amplification and development. In binah there is the beginning of an emotive response to the intellectual comprehension, even before the emotions are actually manifest. This state of “intellectual” love and fear is ben yud-hey, the “offspring” of intellect, the same Hebrew letters as binah. (Here, the superiority of the penitent over the perfectly saintly, as the Zohar states in Chayei Sara, is that “they draw upon themselves with a more intense longing of the heart, and with greater forcefulness, to approach the King….”)7Zohar I:129b; Berachot 34b.
וְהִנֵּה, אַחֲרֵי הַעֲמָקַת הַדַּעַת בְּכָל הַנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל, יוּכַל לְבַקֵּשׁ בֶּאֱמֶת, מֵעוּמְקָא דְלִבָּא ״כְּרוֹב רַחֲמֶיךָ מְחֵה פְשָׁעָי וְגוֹ׳״. כִּי אֲזַי תִּקָּבַע בְּלִבּוֹ בֶּאֱמֶת גּוֹדֶל הָרַחֲמָנוּת עַל בְּחִינַת אֱלֹקוּת שֶׁבְּנַפְשׁוֹ וְשֶׁלְּמַעְלָה, כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל. וּבָזֶה – יְעוֹרֵר רַחֲמִים הָעֶלְיוֹנִים מִי״ג מִדּוֹת הָרַחֲמִים, הַנִּמְשָׁכוֹת מֵרָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן בָּרוּךְ־הוּא, הַנִּרְמָז בְּקוֹצוֹ שֶׁל יוּ״ד, שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה מַּעְלָה מִבְּחִינַת הַהַשְׁפָּעָה הַנִּשְׁפַּעַת מֵאוֹתִיּוֹת שֵׁם הַוָיָ׳.
After deeply considering all this, he can truly plead, from the innermost heart, “In Your great mercies, wipe away my sins….”1Psalms 51:3. By then his heart is thoroughly impressed with the pathetic state of the spark of divinity within him, and above, as noted. This plea is to arouse supreme mercies, of the Thirteen Attributes of Compassion,2Cf. Exodus 34:6-7. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, has made this observation: The original verse (Exodus 34:7) quoted here includes the word “v’chataah,” the unintentional sin, as well as the other two, intentional sins. Iggeret Hateshuvah omits this one word. The reason for the omission is that in our text the Thirteen Attributes of Compassion are called forth to “correct all defects,” referring to deliberate sins for which no offering is provided. Supreme mercies alone can avail the sinner. The chataah, unintentional sin, does have the chatat offering and is commuted without calling upon “supreme” mercies. On the other hand, the verse describing the Thirteen Attributes does include chataah because of the following words—“He cleanses, and cleanses not,” meaning that He forgives those who return, but not the recalcitrant, as our text will shortly note. Even for unintentional sins, the verse declares, “return” is required (Likkutei Sichot, vol. 4, p. 1058, note 14). which come from the will of the Supreme One, blessed is He, symbolized in the “thorn” atop the yud, far transcending the flow issuing from the letters of His Name.
וְלָכֵן הַי״ג מִדּוֹת הָרַחֲמִים מְנַקִּים כָּל הַפְּגָמִים, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב: ״נוֹשֵׂא עָוֹן וָפֶשַׁע וְנַקֵּה״, וְשׁוּב אֵין יְנִיקָה לְהַחִיצוֹנִים וְהַסִּטְרָא אָחֳרָא מֵהַשְׁפָּעַת הֵ״א תַּתָּאָה, כַּנִּזְכָּר לְעֵיל (וּבָזֶה תָּשׁוּב הֵ״א תַּתָּאָה לִמְקוֹמָהּ, לְהִתְיַיחֵד בְּיה״ו, וְדַי לַמֵבִין).
Because of their lofty origin these Attributes of Compassion correct all defects, as in the passage, “He bears sin and transgression, and cleanses.”2 With this awakening of mercies following the contrition, there is no further nurture for evil and sitra achara from the life-force emanating from the lower hey, as noted. (The latter hey returns to its proper place, united as before with the yud-hey-vav. This will suffice for the knowing.)
וְכֵן מַמָּשׁ לְמַטָּה בַּנֶּפֶשׁ הָאֱלֹקִית שֶׁבָּאָדָם, שׁוּב אֵין ״עֲוֹנוֹתֵיכֶם מַבְדִּילִים״, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב ״וְנַקֵּה״ – ״מְנַקֶּה הוּא לַשָּׁבִים״, לִרְחוֹץ וּלְנַקּוֹת נַפְשָׁם מִלְּבוּשִׁים הַצּוֹאִים, הֵם הַחִיצוֹנִים וְסִטְרָא אָחֳרָא, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּגְּמָרָא ״מְלַפַּפְתּוֹ וְכוּ׳״.
As there is a “restoration” of the hey above, so, too, below in the divine soul within man, no more do “your sins divide.”3Isaiah 59:2. It is said, “He cleanses”—those who come back to Him,4Yoma 86a. to lave and cleanse their souls of the soiled garments, the “extraneous forces” that the Talmud describes as “envelops….”5Sotah 3b. “Whoever commits one transgression in this world, it envelops him and precedes him for the Day of Judgment.” Man’s good works precede him in the World to Come, and his sins envelop him.
וּמֵאַחַר שֶׁ״רוּחַ עָבְרָה וַתְּטַהֲרֵם״, אֲזַי תּוּכַל נַפְשָׁם לָשׁוּב עַד הַוָיָ׳ בָּרוּךְ־הוּא מַמָּשׁ, וְלַעֲלוֹת מַעְלָה מַּעְלָה לִמְקוֹרָהּ, וּלְדָבְקָה בּוֹ יִתְבָּרֵךְ בְּיִחוּד נִפְלָא, כְּמוֹ שֶׁהָיְתָה מְיוּחֶדֶת בּוֹ יִתְבָּרֵךְ בְּתַכְלִית הַיִּחוּד, בְּטֶרֶם שֶׁנְּפָחָהּ בְּרוּחַ פִּיו יִתְבָּרֵךְ לֵירֵד לְמַטָּה וּלְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּגוּף הָאָדָם (וּכְמוֹ עַל דֶּרֶךְ מָשָׁל, בְּאָדָם הַנּוֹפֵחַ בְּרוּחַ פִּיו, בְּטֶרֶם שֶׁיּוֹצֵא הָרוּחַ מִפִּיו – הוּא מְיוּחָד בְּנַפְשׁוֹ). וְזוֹ הִיא תְּשׁוּבָה שְׁלֵימָה.
After the cleansing spirit passes over and purifies them, then their souls are enabled to return unto G–d Himself, literally, to ascend the greatest heights, to their very source, and cleave to Him with a remarkable unity. This is the original unity, the ultimate in union, that existed before the soul was blown by the breath of His mouth to descend and be incorporated within the body of man. (To illustrate this unity: before one exhales, the breath is united with the person; he and his breath are not separable yet.) This is the perfect return, teshuvah.
וְהִנֵּה, בְּחִינַת יִחוּד זֶה וּתְשׁוּבָה זוֹ, הִיא בְּחִינַת תְּשׁוּבָה עִילָּאָה שֶׁלְּאַחַר תְּשׁוּבָה תַּתָּאָה, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזּוֹהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ בְּרַעְיָא מְהֵימְנָא פָּרָשַׁת נָשֹׂא, דִּתְשׁוּבָה עִילָּאָה הִיא, דְּיִתְעַסֵּק בְּאוֹרַיְיתָא בִּדְחִילוּ וּרְחִימוּ דְּקוּדְשָׁא־בְּרִיךְ־הוּא וְכוּ׳, דְּאִיהוּ בֶּן י״ה – בִּינָה וְכוּ׳ (וּמַעֲלַת בַּעֲלֵי תְשׁוּבָה עַל צַדִּיקִים גְּמוּרִים בָּזֶה הִיא, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזּוֹהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ פָּרָשַׁת חַיֵּי שָׂרָה, דְּאִינוּן מָשְׁכֵי עֲלַיְיהוּ בִּרְעוּתָא דְלִבָּא יַתִּיר וּבְחֵילָא סַגִּי לְאִתְקָרְבָא לְמַלְכָּא וְכוּ׳):
This state of unity and this return are called teshuvah ilaah, the superior return, that follows teshuvah tataah, the inferior return. The Zohar, in Raaya Mehemna on Nasso, explains that teshuvah ilaah is being occupied with Torah study in reverence and fear of the Holy One…, for this is ben yud-hey—binah….6As noted earlier, yud or chochmah is the germ of the idea and hey or binah is its amplification and development. In binah there is the beginning of an emotive response to the intellectual comprehension, even before the emotions are actually manifest. This state of “intellectual” love and fear is ben yud-hey, the “offspring” of intellect, the same Hebrew letters as binah. (Here, the superiority of the penitent over the perfectly saintly, as the Zohar states in Chayei Sara, is that “they draw upon themselves with a more intense longing of the heart, and with greater forcefulness, to approach the King….”)7Zohar I:129b; Berachot 34b.