And this is the meaning of [the verse], "And your commandment is very wide." This refers to the precept of charity, which is a vessel of great volume, in which the radiation from the [infinite] Ein Sof-light may be invested, ([26] as it is written, [47] "His garment is tzedakah").

In the future this [light] will radiate without limit or end, with a gratuitous [Divine] kindness elicited by this arousal from below - [by the kindness and tzedakah initiated by man] - which is called "the path of G-d."

[As mentioned above, even when this Divine revelation is granted in response to an arousal from below it is still considered "gratuitous kindness," for it is granted out of all proportion to man's actions; man's tzedakah is no more than a vessel which enables him to receive the benevolence of this Divine revelation.]

And this is the meaning of the term "very [wide]," signifying limitlessness and endlessness: [tzedakah acts as an infinitely wide vessel for receiving an infinite degree of G-d-liness.]

However, [at the beginning of the verse quoted above, [5] it is written], "To every tichlah (lit., "conclusion") I have seen an end." The word tichlah is related to the term kalot hanefesh, [the intense yearning - to the point of expiry] - of the soul in Gan Eden, for it [i.e., the Divine light that is yearned for in Gan Eden] does have an end and a limit, and undergoes contraction, as mentioned above: [this is the radiation of the finite light called Memaleh Kol Almin.

Likkutei Levi Yitzchak, authored by the father of the Rebbe Shlita, explains how "end", "limit" and "contraction" respectively refer to three kinds of illumination that radiate within Gan Eden. It also explains why the verse chooses to use the word "end" rather than "limit" or "contraction."]

As to the term "to every [kind of] tichlah," [when the verse is alluding only to the yearning of souls in Gan Eden,] this is used because there are numerous levels and rungs of Gan Eden, one higher than the other, to the topmost of levels.

As is written in Likkutei HaShas by R. Isaac Luria, of blessed memory, in explanation of the teaching of our Sages, of blessed memory, [48] "Torah scholars have no rest [in this world nor in the next]," because they are constantly rising from level to level in [their] grasp of the Torah, which has no end... - until after the Resurrection, when they will have rest..., [for that time will be [49] "a day which is entirely Shabbat, and rest."

At that time there will be revealed a radiance from G-d's Essence that utterly transcends levels; elevation from level to level will thus be not only impossible but also unnecessary. At that time mortal souls will finally find repose, as they delight in the radiance of G-d's Essence.

   

Notes:

5. (Back to text) Tehillim 119:96.

26. (Back to text) Parentheses are in the original text.

47. (Back to text) From a piyyut (Machzor for Rosh HaShanah, p. 98; Machzor for Yom Kippur, p. 118).

48. (Back to text) Conclusion of Tractate Berachot.

49. (Back to text) Conclusion of Tractate Tamid.