"The L-rd is close [to all who call upon Him...in truth]" - i.e., to those who call upon the essential Being of the Ein Sof by means of the above-described Supernal delights "in the truth" of Torah. This is the meaning of studying Torah Lishmah, for its own sake, - in order to draw down the revelation of the Ein Sof-light in the letters of Torah. This should be one's fundamental intent [in the fulfillment] of the mitzvah of Torah study. It comes through "calling" - reading and studying the Written Torah and the Oral Torah; as the Sages have said: "Whoever reads and studies[181] (the Written Torah and the Oral Torah), the Holy One, blessed be He, reads and studies opposite him." Similarly it is written,[182] "The L-rd is your [protective] shadow" [i.e., just as a shadow follows the movement of an object, so too when a Jew studies, G-d studies opposite him]. It is also written,[183] "The voice is the voice of Yaakov," [and our Sages[184] have explained,] "This refers to the voice of Torah study." The voice of [the individual who reads] the letters of Torah creates an arousal Above, drawing down the Ein Sof-light into the level of Supernal Chochmah of the heavenly Torah, drawing down "the voice of G-d" Who reads and studies the same Scriptural verse and that same law opposite him. This is the enclothing of the Ein Sof-light in the voice of Torah (Above), i.e., the Torah at the level at which it is His delight. And this is the meaning of "who call upon Him" (i.e., His essence) with the truth of Torah. This is Lishmah, for the sake of Torah, for with this reading G-d "reads" and draws Himself into the Torah at the level of the Supernal delights.

This certainly causes peace among the "hosts of Above," which is the union and joining of the yud and hei of Chochmah and Binah, so that they may be called "two friends who never part,"[185] [fusing] the contraction and expansion, concealment and revelation, according to the measure necessary for the hishtalshelus of the worlds. This is the distinctive attribute of truth - [the ability] to contain opposites, and to combine them in due proportion. This is why it is the Torah that fuses concealment and revelation, and does so in the proper measure. This fusion means that the opposites are no longer opposed. Instead, both elements will now shine constantly like "two friends who never part." There is a constant flow from concealment to revelation, i.e., from nothing to something at all times, one prompting the other, like a wellspring that issues forth constantly from concealment to revelation, and expands into a river. This is brought about by the emanation of the Ein Sof-light in the Chochmah of the Written and Oral Torah, which are called Sefer and Sippur,[186] in the level of truth which mediates between Chessed and Gevurah. This is what is meant by the phrase, "who call upon Him in truth," specifically the truth of Torah.

Summary: "Who call upon Him in truth" signifies a call to the essential Being of the Ein Sof through the truth of Torah, by reading and studying [Torah]. Through drawing down this influence, [Chochmah and Binah] are no longer opposites but rather "two friends who never part."

(Here ends the part of the manuscript that was presented for publication.)

   

Notes:

181. (Back to text) A similar concept is found in Tanna devei Eliyahu Rabbah, beginning of ch. 18, cited in Yalkut Shimoni, Eichah, section 1034; see Likkutei Torah, Shir HaShirim [p. 12a], the maamar entitled LeSusasi, end of ch. 2.

182. (Back to text) [Tehillim 121:5.]

183. (Back to text) [Bereishis 27:22.]

184. (Back to text) [Bereishis Rabbah 65:20.]

185. (Back to text) [Zohar III, p. 4a.]

186. (Back to text) [Sefer Yetzirah 1:1; Maamarei Admur HaZaken 5565 (I), p. 507.]