אך מי הוא הגורם לירידת האור והשפע לעולם הזה הגשמי מי׳ ספירות, הנקראים גופא
But what causes the descent to this physical world of the light and abundance from [a source as lofty as] the Ten Sefirot [of the World of Atzilut], which are referred to as the Body?
הוא היחוד הנ״ל
It is the above-mentioned union of the Holy One, blessed be He, and His Shechinah — the infinite degree of radiation permeating the Sefirot and the subsequent worlds — and this union is brought about by the performance of the mitzvot;
שהיא תוספת הארה והשפעה מבחינת אור אין סוף, המאציל העליון ברוך הוא
for it is an additional radiation and effluence from the light of the Ein Sof, the Supreme Emanator [of the Ten Sefirot],
ביתר שאת על ההארה וההשפעה שבתחילת האצילות וההשתלשלות וכו׳
in a measure exceeding the radiation and effluence at the beginning of the emanation in the World of Atzilut and subsequent evolution.
Inasmuch as the additional measure of infinite radiation and effluence far transcends Atzilut — so much so, that in comparison to it the World of Atzilut and our grossly corporeal World of Asiyah are equally distant — it enables the radiation of Atzilut to find its way into this world.
וראשית תוספת ההארה וההשפעה היא לראשית הי׳ ספירות
And the additional radiation and effluence is first bestowed upon [the Sefirah of Chochmah, which is] the first of the Ten Sefirot.
וזה הוא: וכובע ישועה בראשו
This is the meaning of [the above-quoted phrase], “and a helmet of salvation (ישועה) upon his head.”
ישועה הוא מלשון: וישע ה׳ אל הבל ואל מנחתו
For ישועה shares a root with וישע, which is the verb in the phrase,1 “And G‑d turned toward Abel and his gift.”
The word yeshuah thus means “turning toward” and (by extension) “drawing down.”
והוא ירידת האור והשפע דש״ע נהורין שבזוהר הקדוש
This alludes to the drawing down of the light and abundance of the shin-ayin nehorin, the “three-hundred-and-seventy lights” spoken of in the holy Zohar.2
This light is much loftier than the Ten Sefirot of Atzilut: The letter shin, whose numerical value is 300, alludes to the three intellectual faculties of ChaBaD insofar as they exist at the spiritual level termed “hundreds”; the letter ayin, whose numerical value is 70, hints at the seven emotive attributes, each of which incorporates ten elements. This lofty illumination — the “helmet of salvation” — is drawn down upon the “head”, i.e., the beginning, of the Ten Sefirot.
וכמו שכתוב: יאר ה׳ פניו אליך
As it is written,3 “May G‑d make His Face (i.e., His inner being) shine upon you” — upon His people in this lowly world.
יאר פניו אתנו סלה
[It is also written]:4 “May He make His Face (i.e., His inner being) shine with us forever.”
אתנו: הוא על ידי מעשה הצדקה
[That which ensures that this Divine light be] “with us,” is the practice of charitable deeds.
וזה הוא: זורע צדקות מצמיח ישועות
And this is the meaning of the phrase,5 “He who sows tzedakot (‘charities’) brings forth yeshuot ('salvations')”; i.e., the distribution of charity results in the salvation brought about by the light of the above-mentioned shin-ayin nehorin.
* * *
וככה יאר ה׳ פניו אליהם
So6 may G‑d make His Face shine upon you,
צדקתם עומדת לעד
and7 “your tzedakah shall endure forever.”
That which is revealed now as a result of an act of tzedakah is merely the “fruit”; the essence of the reward is revealed only at the Time to Come, at the time of the Revival of the Dead — and until that time it remains concealed. Only then will the light of sovev kol almin truly permeate and clothe itself within this world, as explained below in Epistle 32.
וקרנם תרום בישועת מצמיח קרן ישועה, צמח צדקה מהכובע ישועה הנ״ל
May your horn (i.e., power) be exalted by the salvation (yeshuah) of the One8 “Who causes the horn of salvation to sprout” — by a sprouting of the tzedakah [which G‑d does for His people], from the “helmet of salvation” mentioned above,
כנפש תדרשנו
as9 is the wish of one who seeks Him.
——— ● ———
