Chapter eighteen of the Tanya reveals the deepest source of every Jew's connection to God: an inherited love that predates individual experience.
The Tanya has just argued that even a person with limited understanding and no mystical aptitude can serve God fully. But how? The answer: the ahavah mesuteret (אהבה מסותרת), the hidden love, is not something each person must generate on their own. It is a spiritual inheritance from the Patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The Patriarchs were the "chariot" of God. Rabbi Schneur Zalman explains: just as a chariot has no will of its own and is entirely subordinate to its rider, the Patriarchs were so perfectly nullified before God's will that their every thought, word, and deed was a direct expression of the divine. This level of total surrender to God became embedded in the spiritual DNA of their descendants—the nefesh (the vital soul), ruach, and neshamah (the higher soul) of every Jewish soul.
Even the most disconnected Jew carries this inheritance. The Tanya says that even the "most worthless of the worthless" receives, at the moment of conception, at minimum a nefesh d'nefesh of malchut d'Asiyah—the lowest possible grade of holiness in the lowest of the four spiritual worlds. But because the sefirot (the divine emanations) are interconnected, even this lowest grade contains within it a spark of chochmah d'Atzilut—the highest wisdom of the highest world—which is itself illuminated by the light of the Ein Sof (אין סוף), the Infinite.
The implication is staggering. No matter how far a Jew has fallen, no matter how thick the layers of concealment, the light of the Infinite is inside them. Not metaphorically. Not potentially. Actually. Right now. The hidden love is the Infinite's own light, buried so deep that the person carrying it may never feel it consciously. But it is there, and it is indestructible, because it comes not from personal merit but from the covenant with the Patriarchs.
To explain more adequately and more precisely the word “very” in the verse, “For this thing is very near to you….”1 Deuteronomy 30:14. It should be recognized with certainty that even the person whose understanding in the knowledge of G–d is limited, and who has no heart to comprehend the greatness of the En Sof, blessed is He, to produce therefrom awe and love [of G–d] even in his mind and understanding alone2 I.e., without emotional sway.—however, it is a “very near thing” for him to observe and practice all the commandments of the Torah and the “study of the Torah which counterbalances them all,” in his very mouth and heart, from the depths of his heart, in true sincerity, with fear and love; namely, the hidden love in the heart of all Jews which is an inheritance to us from our Patriarchs. However, we must, first of all, preface a clear and precise explanation of the origin and essence of this love, how it became our inheritance, and how awe is also incorporated in it. The explanation is as follows: The Patriarchs were truly the “chariot” of G–d,3 Bereishit Rabbah 47:6; Zohar III:252a; Torah Or 23d ff. This expression signifies absolute self-abnegation and submission to G–d and the Divine will (just as the chariot is totally submitted to the will of the charioteer), thereby becoming a vehicle for Divinity on earth. Cf. below, chs. 23, 29, 34, 37. and therefore they merited [the blessing of] transmitting to their descendants, coming after them forever, a nefesh, ruach, and neshamah from the ten holy sefirot of the four worlds of Atzilut, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah, to each according to his station and according to his works. Even the most worthless of worthless men and the sinners of Israel are thus endowed, at the time of marital union, with, at any rate, a nefesh d’nefesh of malchut d’Asiyah (royalty in world of Action), which is the lowest grade of holiness [in the world] of Asiyah.4 Malchut is the lowest of the ten sefirot in each of the Four Worlds; nefesh is the lowest aspect of the soul. Thus a nefesh of the nefesh of malchut is the lowest order of a soul. Nevertheless, since the latter is of the ten holy sefirot it is compounded of them all, including chochmah d’Asiyah (wisdom of the world of Action), wherein is clothed chochmah d’malchut d’Atzilut (wisdom of royalty in the world of Emanation), incorporating chochmah d’Atzilut (wisdom of the world of Emanation) which is illuminated by the actual light of the En Sof, blessed is He, as is written, “The L–rd has founded the earth with wisdom”5 Proverbs 3:19. and “You have made them all with wisdom.”6 Psalms 104:24. Thus it comes to pass that the En Sof, blessed is He, is garbed, as it were, in the wisdom of the human soul, of whatever sort of a Jew he may be. [In turn,] the soul’s faculty of wisdom, together with the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, that is vested in it, spreads throughout the entire soul, animating it “from head to foot,” so to speak, as is written, “Wisdom gives life to those that have it.”7 Ecclesiastes 7:12. [At times sinners of Israel may even bring down very lofty souls which had been in the depths of the kelipot, as is explained in the Sefer Gilgulim.]8 Book on Transmigration, by R. Chaim Vital. Now, chochmah (wisdom) is the source of intelligence and comprehension, and it is above binah (understanding) which is intellectual understanding and comprehension, whereas chochmah is above them and their source. Note the etymological composition of the word חכמה כ“ח מ“ה—(“the potentiality of what is”), that which is not yet comprehended and understood or grasped intellectually;9 Above, ch. 3. consequently there is vested in it the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, Who can in no way be comprehended by any thought. Hence all Jews, even the women and the illiterate, believe in G–d, since faith is beyond understanding and comprehension,10 Where knowledge ends, faith begins. for “The simple believe every thing, but the prudent man understands….”11 Proverbs 14:15. But with regard to the Holy One, blessed is He, Who is beyond intelligence and knowledge and Who can in no way be comprehended by any thought—all men are like fools in His presence, blessed be He, as is written, “I was a boor and did not understand, like an animal was I with You. Yet I was always with you…,”12 Psalms 73:22. meaning that “because I was a boor and as an animal, I was always with You.”13 Communion with G–d could never be fully attained through intellectual comprehension because G–d is incomprehensible. It is through faith which transcends comprehension that man can feel true closeness with G–d. Therefore even the most worthless of worthless and the transgressors of the Israelites, in the majority of cases, sacrifice their lives for the sanctity of G–d’s Name and suffer harsh torture rather than deny the one G–d, although they be boors and illiterate and ignorant of G–d’s greatness. [For] whatever little knowledge they do possess, they do not delve therein at all, [and so] they do not give up their lives by reason of any knowledge and contemplation of G–d. Rather [do they suffer martyrdom] without any knowledge and reflection, but as if it were absolutely impossible to renounce the one G–d and without any reason or hesitation whatsoever. This is because the one G–d illuminates and animates the entire nefesh, through being clothed in its faculty of chochmah, which is beyond any graspable and understood knowledge or intelligence.
