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Maintaining the Creation
Adapted from Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, Chapter 1
by Levy Wineberg
[It is written,] Know this day and take it
unto your heart that G-d is the [mighty and just] L-rd in the heavens above and
upon the earth below; there is none other.
This requires explanation. For would it occur to you
that there is a god dwelling in the waters beneath the earth, so that it is
necessary to caution so strongly [and negate this thought by stating that one
should] "take it unto your heart," [and come to the realization that this is
indeed not so, that there are no other gods dwelling in heaven or earth?]  | | " For if the creative letters were to depart...all the heavens would become naught..." | | |
It is written: "Forever, O G-d, Your word stands firm
in the heavens" (Psalms 119:89). The Baal Shem Tov, of blessed memory, has
explained [this concept at length, and made it widely known that this means:]
that "Your word" which you uttered, [viz.,] "Let there be a firmament in the
midst of the waters..." (Gen. 1:6), these [very] words and letters [through
which the heavens were created] stand firmly forever within the firmament of
heaven and are forever clothed within all the heavens to give them life, as it
is written, "And the word of our L-rd shall stand firm forever" (Isaiah 40:8),
[and as it is likewise written,] "And His words live and stand firm forever...".
(Liturgy, Morning Prayer)
[Note of the Rebbe re: Your word stands firm in the heavens -
"As mentioned in Likutei Torah, beginning of parashat Acharei
Mot, the germ of this concept is to be found in Midrash Tanchuma on
this verse."]
This refers not only to those creations such as the
heavenly firmament which enjoy a permanent existence, but also to those
creatures which perish as individuals, with only their species continuing to
exist. In all instances, the divine life-force which created a particular
creature must constantly be vested within it, incessantly creating and vivifying
it anew, just as it ceaselessly recreates the heavenly firmament, as shall soon
be explained.
For if the creative letters were to depart even for an
instant, G-d forbid, and return to their source, that source being the degree of
G-dliness from whence they emanate, all the heavens would become naught and
absolute nothingness, and it would be as though they had never existed at all,
exactly as before the utterance, "Let there be a firmament."
Before that Divine utterance the firmament did not
exist at all. Were the letters that constitute the Divine utterance to depart
from the firmament, it would revert to the state of never having existed at all.
The Alter Rebbe now concludes that this is true not
only of the firmament, but of all created beings.
And so it is with all created things, in all the upper
and lower worlds, and even this physical earth and the realm of the completely
inanimate.
Even immobile beings that show no signs of animation
or spirituality, not even the degree of animation observed in the process of
growth in the vegetative world - even this extremely low life-form constantly
harbors within it the divine life-force that brought it into being.
If the letters of the Ten Utterances by which the
earth was created during the Six Days of Creation were to depart from it but for
an instant, G-d forbid, it would revert to naught and absolute nothingness,
exactly as before the Six Days of Creation. | | " This combination of letters is the life-force of the stone..." | | |
This thought was expressed by the Arizal (Etz
Chayim, Portal 50; ch. 2:10), [when he said] that even within [that which
appears to be] utterly inanimate matter, such as stones or earth or water, there
is a soul and spiritual life-force. That is, [i.e, although they evince no
demonstrable form of animation, within them] are [nevertheless] enclothed the
letters of speech from the Ten Utterances which give life and existence to
inanimate matter, enabling it to come into being out of the naught and
nothingness that preceded the Six Days of Creation.
The Ten Utterances usher inanimate matter into a state
of existence, in contrast to its former state of non-being, prior to the Six
Days of Creation. Thus, the letters of the Ten Utterances which cause inanimate
matter to be created are its soul and life-force.
Now, although the word "stone" [in Hebrew, "even",
spelled alef, beit, nun] is not mentioned in the Ten
Utterances recorded in the Torah, how, then, can we say that letters of the Ten
Utterances are enclothed within a stone? Nevertheless, life-force flows to the
stone from the Ten Utterances by means of combinations and substitutions of
their letters, which are transposed in the 231 Gates, either in direct or
reverse order*, as is explained in Sefer Yetzira, so that ultimately the
combination of letters [that forms] the word "stone" descends from the Ten
Utterances, and is derived from them, and this combination of letters is the
life-force of the stone.
Concerning substitutions of letters:
An alef, for example, may take the place of a hei,
since both letters are articulated by the same organ of speech.
And so it is with all created things in the world.
The Holy Tongue, the Hebrew of the Torah, was the
language used in Creation. Thus, all created things are directly affected by
their Hebrew names, as well as by the component letters of their names. In this,
the Holy Tongue is unlike other, arbitrary languages, the meaning of whose words
is the result of mere consensus. | | " Individual creatures cannot receive their life-force directly from the actual Ten Utterances..." | | |
The names [of all creatures] in the Holy Tongue are
the very letters of speech which descend, degree by degree, from the Ten
Utterances recorded in the Torah, by means of substitutions and transpositions
of letters through the 231 Gates, until they reach a particular created thing
and become invested in it, thereby giving it life. [This descent is necessary] because individual
creatures, [unlike the more pervasive beings such as the heavens, earth, sun and
moon,] cannot receive their life-force directly from the actual Ten Utterances
recorded in the Torah, for the life-force issuing directly from them is far
greater than the capacity of the individual creatures; [i.e., it is far too
intense to serve as their life-force.]
They can receive the life-force only when it descends
and is progressively diminished, degree by degree, by means of substitutions and
transpositions of the letters, and by means of gematriot, their numerical
values.
The life-force may be so muted that it reaches a
created being not even through a transposition of letters, but merely through
their numerical equivalent.
[This transpires] until [the life-force] can be
condensed and enclothed, and a particular creature can be brought forth from it.
And the name by which [the creature] is called in the
Holy Tongue is a vessel for the life-force condensed into the letters of that
name which has descended from the Ten Utterances recorded in the Torah, that
have the power and vitality to create a being ex-nihilo and give it life
forever. [Why does it have the power to do so?] For "the Torah and the Holy One,
blessed be He, are one." ( Zohar I, 24a; II, 60a)
Just as G-d has the ability to create ex-nihilo,
so too do the Ten Utterances of the Torah.
Elucidated by Rabbi Yosef Wineberg. Translated from Yiddish by Rabbi Levy Wineberg and Rabbi Sholom B.Wineberg. Edited by Uri Kaploun. Lessons in Tanya is published and copyright by Kehot Publication Society, and is posted in daily portions on Chabad.org.
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