🔥Daily Tanya Iggeret HaKodesh Epistle 20 Part 7: The Kav, Sovev Kol Almin, and How the Infinite Creates Finite Worlds

In this section, the Alter Rebbe completes a major theme of the chapter:

How can the infinite Ein Sof create finite, diverse, independent-looking creatures?

His answer combines two ideas:

1. The Kav (the measured Divine illumination that enters creation).
2. The Sovev Kol Almin (the infinite Divine presence that transcends all worlds).

 

1. Creation in BYA Continues the Same Pattern

The Alter Rebbe explains that the worlds of:

• Beriah
• Yetzirah
• Asiyah

are populated through the same process already described above.

The union of Ze’er Anpin and Malchut within these worlds produces:

• Created beings
• Angels
• Souls
• All forms of existence

through the Divine life-force present within them.

 

2. The Source Is Still the Light of Atzilut

Even though BYA are created worlds, their ability to create derives ultimately from Atzilut.

The Alter Rebbe explains that:

• The vessels of Malchut of Atzilut descend.
• The illumination of the Kav accompanies them.
• This light passes through the Parsa (the boundary separating Atzilut from BYA).

As a result, the Divine creative power remains present even within the lower worlds.

 

3. The Kav Extends Through All the Worlds

The Alter Rebbe then traces the Kav all the way from:

Adam Kadmon

through all the worlds until:

Malchut of Asiyah,

the lowest spiritual level before the physical world.

Thus all existence remains connected to the same original Divine illumination.

 

4. Multiple Levels of Illumination

The Alter Rebbe describes a hierarchy:

First Illumination

The Divine light within the soul of the sefirot of BYA.

Illumination of the Illumination

The light within the lower levels of Nefesh and Ruach.

Illumination of the Illumination of the Illumination

The light found within ordinary created beings.

Each stage is more concealed than the previous one.

 

5. Why We Don’t Feel the Divine Source

By the time the life-force reaches ordinary existence,

it is so concealed that creatures experience themselves as:

Independent beings.

The Divine source remains present, but hidden.

This is what allows a created “yesh” to emerge.

 

6. The Infinite Is Everywhere Equally

The Alter Rebbe now balances the discussion.

One might mistakenly think that because life reaches creatures through many levels,

Hashem Himself is somehow distant from them.

He emphatically rejects that idea.

The Ein Sof is:

Equally present everywhere.

This is the meaning of:

“I fill heaven and earth.”

and

“There is no place devoid of Him.”

Even a physical stone exists entirely within Divine presence.

7. Then Why Do We Need the Kav?

This is a crucial distinction.

The Infinite Divine Presence:

Does not enter worlds as their measured life-force.

Rather it exists as:

Sovev Kol Almin

the transcendent Divine reality that equally encompasses all existence.

The actual process of bringing creatures into existence occurs through:

The increasingly contracted revelations of the Kav.

 

8. Sovev Gives the Power to Create

The Alter Rebbe then explains something deeper.

Although the Kav provides the actual life-force,

the power to create existence from nothing ultimately comes from:

The Infinite Light that transcends all worlds.

That transcendent light shines into the vessels of BYA and empowers them with the ability to create.

Without that infinite source,

creation of a true “yesh” would be impossible.

 

9. Why Creation Is Finite

Since creation takes place through:

Kelim (vessels)

the resulting creations possess:

• Diversity
• Multiplicity
• Definition
• Limits

The Infinite source is one,

but it is expressed through vessels and Divine letters, producing countless distinct beings.

 

The Structure of Creation According to This Passage

1. Ein Sof transcends all worlds equally.
2. Sovev Kol Almin provides the infinite creative power.
3. The Kav channels Divine life into the worlds.
4. The Kelim shape that life into finite forms.
5. The Letters produce specific creatures and distinctions.
6. The result is a world filled with diverse finite beings that nevertheless remain completely dependent upon Hashem.

 

Key Takeaway

The Alter Rebbe explains that creation depends on two complementary dimensions of Divine revelation. The Kav provides the measured life-force that descends through the worlds and animates every creature, while the Infinite Light of Sovev Kol Almin provides the actual power of creation itself. Because that power is filtered through the vessels and letters of the sefirot, the result is a finite, diverse world. Yet the Ein Sof remains equally present everywhere, with no place devoid of His presence.