For a chasid, each of the responses in congregational
prayer -- such as Amen [to blessings], or Amen, yehei shmei
rabba... [to Kaddish] or Baruch hu uvaruch shemo [after G-d's
Name in a blessing], is a matter of cosmic consequence. A chasid should be (and
is indeed) sensitive to the meaning of the words keil melech ne'eman --
"G-d, faithful King," which are the soul of the word Amen. In the same
way, a chasid should (and indeed does) feel and identify with the inner meaning
of the words, Baruch hu uvaruch shemo -- "Blessed be He and blessed be
His Name."
To explain: The level of Divinity (the Or Ein Sof,
G-d's infinite light) which is signified in this phrase by hu is the same
as the transcendent level of Divinity (lifnei hatzimtzum) signified by
hu in another phrase, atah hu Havayah l'vadecha (lit., "You are He
Who is G-d alone"). When in the first half of the former phrase (baruch hu)
we use the root beirach to signify "drawing down" and speak of drawing
Divinity down to this world, we are speaking of the same transcendent level of
Divinity signified by the first half of the latter phrase, atah hu, which
addresses the very essence of the Luminary Himself. And in the second half of
the former phrase (u'varuch sh'mo), the Name referred to is the
Four-Letter Name that signifies Divinity in the pristine state that precedes the
tzimtzum.
Moreover, while meditating on the above insights into
baruch hu u'varuch sh'mo, a chasid grasps that ultimately, the drawing
down of the levels of Divinity signified by the terms hu and sh'mo
surpasses the aloof and ethereal state denoted by the phrase atah hu
Havayah l'vadecha, in which the levels of Divinity known as hu and
havayah are alone, so to speak, and do not relate downward to the
created universe.
Chasidut should be studied with intense involvement; it should be taken to heart.
Chasidut should be studied with intense
involvement; it should be taken to heart. Those
who study Chasidut with themselves in mind and with deep concentration
understand the difference between the first tzimtzum of the light of
G-d's infinity and the subsequent tzimtzumim that transpire within the
chainlike downward progression of spiritual worlds. Whereas the latter
tzimtzumim reflect a process of diminution
the first tzimtzum represents a complete withdrawal
The light that radiates after the first tzimtzum is not merely
qualitatively inferior to the light that had previously diffused, but utterly
different in kind. After each of the other tzimtzumim, by contrast, the
nature of the light remains the same, except that it is diminished both
quantitatively and qualitatively. These terms are all fully explained in
Chasidut [and Kabbalah].
G-d's intent in bringing about the first tzimtzum
is that the souls of Israel, by serving G-d through Torah and mitzvos,
should ultimately draw down the transcendent Or Ein Sof that radiates in
the pristine state preceding the tzimtzum, and infuse it into the
attenuated state of revelation that exists after the tzimtzum. This mode
of divine service reflects the above-discussed superiority of the
downward-oriented level of Divinity represented by the phrase, baruch hu
u'varuch sh'mo, over the separate and transcendent level of Divinity
represented by the phrase, atah hu Havayah l'vadecha. For the latter
phrase represents the Or Ein Sof before the tzimtzum as it exists
in its own territory, undiffused. The former phrase, by contrast, represents the
downward extension of this very same level of light (i.e., the Ein Sof-light
in its unmuted state before the tzimtzum, as alluded to by hu and
havayah) into the lower state of being that follows after the
tzimtzum.
All this is accomplished by the divine service of the
Jewish people, who steadfastly recite the response, baruch hu u'varuch sh'mo,
with devout concentration.
[Condensed from Likkutei Dibburim V (English
translator: Uri Kaploun), section 56.]
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