Daily Tanya Monday 1st Elul Igeres Hakodesh 10: The two Levels of Kindness

🕊 Opening and Prophetic Context

• The words begin with a greeting of peace and a call to awaken the listener to “reproofs of life.”
• A verse is cited: “The kindnesses of the Lord, for we have not ceased…” — with a linguistic question: why not say “for they have not ceased”?

💎 Two Levels of Kindness

• According to the Zohar, there are two kinds of kindness:
  • Kindness of the world – ongoing, sustaining kindness.
  • Supernal kindness – “abundant kindness,” a higher, loftier level.

📜 Torah as Divine Strength

• The Torah is called “oz” (strength), a term linked to gevurah (might).
• The Sages taught: “613 commandments were given to Moses at Sinai from the mouth of the Mighty One.”
• The Torah’s source is in God’s kindness (“right hand”), yet it is expressed through “fire” — a symbol of gevurah.

🔥 The Blend of Kindness and Might in the Commandments

• The Torah’s origin is pure kindness, but to be revealed in the world it must pass through the attribute of gevurah.
• Gevurah constricts the infinite light so it can be contained in physical mitzvot like tzitzit, tefillin, sacrifices, and charity.

🧠 Spiritual Commandments Within Limits

• Even spiritual mitzvot like love and awe of God are bounded and measured.
• Infinite love for God cannot be sustained in the human heart without the soul leaving the body — as happened at the giving of the Torah, when the divine revelation caused “their souls to depart.”

🌟 Conclusion – Drawing Down Divine Light

• By fulfilling the 248 positive commandments, a person draws the Infinite Light upon themselves.
• Each mitzvah serves as a vessel and garment for that light.
• From this light, awe and love of God flow into every mitzvah.