Chabad Rebbes
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Tanya/Iggeres Ha’Teshuvah - The Epistle on Repentance,Chapter 4, Class 4

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All the ten sefirot are included and represented in their source, the Tetragrammaton.

וְכָל הַי' סְפִירוֹת נִכְלָלוֹת וְנִרְמָזוֹת בְּשֵׁם הַוָיָ' בָּרוּךְ־הוּא.

The Alter Rebbe now shows how the various sefirot find expression in the four letters that comprise this Divine Name, Havayah.

The yud, which is a simple point, extending in neither length nor breadth, indicates G‑d’s wisdom, the sefirah of chochmah,

כִּי הַיּוּ"ד, שֶׁהִיא בְּחִינַת נְקוּדָּה לְבַד, מְרַמֶּזֶת לְחָכְמָתוֹ יִתְבָּרֵךְ,

which is the state of concealment and obscurity before it develops into a state of expansion and revelation in comprehension and understanding.

שֶׁהִיא בִּבְחִינַת הֶעְלֵם וְהֶסְתֵּר קוֹדֶם שֶׁבָּאָה לִבְחִינַת הִתְפַּשְּׁטוּת וְגִילּוּי הַהַשָּׂגָה וְהַהֲבָנָה

(29The “thorn” above30 the yud indicates the supreme will, this being the level of keter, which transcends by far the level of chochmah ila’ah, supernal wisdom, as is known.)

(וְהַקּוֹץ שֶׁעַל הַיּוּ"ד רוֹמֵז לִבְחִינַת רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן בָּרוּךְ־הוּא, שֶׁלְּמַעְלָה מַּעְלָה מִמַּדְרֵגַת בְּחִינַת חָכְמָה עִילָּאָה, כַּנּוֹדָע).

When [the seminal “point” of chochmah] is eventually amplified and revealed as something comprehensible to the concealed worlds, i.e., when it descends to the level and sefirah of binah,

וְאַחַר שֶׁבָּאָה לִבְחִינַת הִתְפַּשְּׁטוּת וְגִילּוּי הַהַשָּׂגָה וְהַהֲבָנָה לְעָלְמִין סְתִימִין

it is then contained and represented in the letter hey of the Tetragrammaton. This letter extends in breadth, implying a breadth of explanation and understanding, which is the function of binah.

נִכְלֶלֶת וְנִרְמֶזֶת בְּאוֹת הֵ"א, שֶׁיֵּשׁ לָהּ בְּחִינַת הִתְפַּשְּׁטוּת לָרוֹחַב, הַמּוֹרֶה וּמְרַמֵּז עַל הַרְחָבַת הַבֵּיאוּר וְהַהֲבָנָה,

[The letter hey] also extends in length to indicate extension and flow downward into the concealed worlds.

וְגַם לָאוֹרֶךְ, הַמּוֹרֶה עַל בְּחִינַת הַהַמְשָׁכָה וְהַהַשְׁפָּעָה מִלְמַעְלָה לְמַטָּה לְעָלְמִין סְתִימִין.

The hidden worlds are nourished from the level of binah so that they may have an understanding of G‑dliness.

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FOOTNOTES

29. Parentheses are in the original text.

30. Note by the Rebbe: “The Alter Rebbe stresses ‘above,’ for the ‘thorn’ that projects beneath the yudhas a different significance.”