"The candle of God is the soul of man" (Proverbs 20:27). Chapter nineteen of the Tanya takes this verse and builds from it one of its most luminous teachings: the soul is a flame that constantly seeks to extinguish itself.
Watch a candle flame. It flickers upward, straining away from the wick, reaching toward nothing visible. The flame's nature is to rise, to separate from the wick that gives it form, to merge with the "universal element of fire" in the atmosphere above. If the flame succeeded, it would cease to exist—no more light, no more warmth, nothing. But that is what it wants. It yearns for self-annihilation in its source.
The neshamah (נשמה) is the same, says Rabbi Schneur Zalman. The soul does not want to be in a body. It wants to dissolve back into God, its source—even though doing so would mean losing its individual existence entirely. This yearning is not a conscious decision. It is the soul's nature, deeper than reason, beyond the reach of intellect. The Tanya says this drive comes from the faculty of chochmah (חכמה) within the soul, which is where the light of the Ein Sof (אין סוף) is clothed.
This concept—that holiness is defined by self-nullification—is the Tanya's master principle. Everything holy has this quality: it nullifies its own existence before God. The angels nullify themselves. The sefirot (the divine emanations) nullify themselves. The Hebrew word for holiness, kodesh (קדש), is related to the Aramaic koach mah (כח מה)—literally, "the power of what?"—meaning the power of nothingness, of total humility before the Infinite.
The sitra achara—the "other side"—is the exact opposite. It insists on its own independent existence. It says: "I am, and there is nothing besides me." The Tanya identifies this as the root of all evil: the claim of self-sufficiency, the refusal to acknowledge that everything comes from God and belongs to God. Holiness dissolves the self. Impurity inflates it.
This is why the soul feels restless in the body. It is a flame on a wick, endlessly reaching upward toward a home it remembers but cannot reach.
To elucidate still further, it is necessary to clarify the meaning of the verse, “The candle of G–d is the soul (neshamah) of man.”1 Proverbs 20:27. What it means is that the souls of Jews, who are called “man,”2 Yevamot 61a. are, by way of illustration, like the flame of the candle, whose nature it is always to flicker upward, for the flame of the fire intrinsically seeks to be parted from the wick in order to unite with its source above in the universal element of fire which is in the sublunar sphere, as is explained in Etz Chaim. And although it would thereby be extinguished and emit no light at all below, and even above, in its source, its light would be nullified, nevertheless this is what it seeks in accordance with its nature. In like manner does the neshamah of man, including the quality of ruach and nefesh, naturally desire and yearn to separate itself and depart from the body in order to unite with its origin and source in G–d, the Fountainhead of life, blessed is He, though thereby it would become null and void, completely losing its entity therein, with nothing remaining of its former essence and being.3 This passage does not mean extinction of the soul, only its cessation as a distinct entity. Nevertheless, this is its will and desire by its nature. “Nature” is an applied term for anything that is not in the realm of reason and comprehension. In our case, too, the inference is that this will and desire of the soul are not within the realm of reason, knowledge, and intelligence that can be grasped and understood but beyond graspable and comprehensible knowledge and intelligence, for this nature stems from the faculty of chochmah found in the soul, wherein abides the light of the En Sof, blessed is He. Now this is a general principle in the whole realm of holiness—it [holiness] is only that which is derived from chochmah called קודש העליון (“supreme holiness”), whose existence is nullified in the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, which is clothed in it, so that it is not a thing apart, as is explained above; therefore it is called koach mah [power of humility and abnegation]. This stands in direct contrast to the so-called kelipah and sitra achara, wherefrom are derived the souls of the gentiles who work for themselves alone, demanding, “Give, give!”4 Proverbs 30:15. and “Feed me!”5 Genesis 25:30. in order to become independent beings and entities, as mentioned above, in direct contrast to the category of chochmah. Therefore they are called “dead,”6 Berachot 18b. for “Wisdom (chochmah) gives life,”7 Ecclesiastes 7:12. and it is also written, “They die, without wisdom.”8 Job 4:21. So are the wicked and transgressors of Israel before they face the test to sanctify G–d’s name. For the faculty of chochmah which is in the divine soul, with the spark of G–dliness from the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, that is clothed in it, is, as it were, in exile in their body, within the animal soul coming from the kelipah, in the left part of the heart, which reigns and holds sway over their body, in accordance with the esoteric doctrine of the exile of the Shechinah, as mentioned earlier.9 Ch. 17. For this reason, this love of the divine soul, whose desire and wish is to unite with G–d, the Fountainhead of life, blessed is He, is called “hidden love,” for it is hidden and veiled, in the case of the transgressors of Israel, in the sackcloth of the kelipah, whence there enters into them a spirit of folly to sin, as the Rabbis have said, “A person does not sin unless the spirit of folly has entered into him.”10 Sotah 3a. However, this exile of the faculty of chochmah refers only to that aspect of it which is diffused throughout the nefesh and animates it. Yet the root and core of this faculty of the divine soul remains in the brain and does not clothe itself in the sackcloth of the kelipah in the left part of the heart, in veritable exile, but it is, as it were, dormant in the case of the wicked, not exercising its influence in them so long as their knowledge and understanding are preoccupied with mundane pleasures. Nevertheless, when they are confronted with a test in a matter of faith, which transcends knowledge, touching the very soul and the faculty of chochmah within it, at such time it is aroused from its sleep and it exerts its influence by virtue of the Divine force that is clothed in it, as is written, “And the L–rd awoke like one who had been asleep.”11 Psalms 78:65. [On such occasion the sinner is inspired] to withstand the test of faith in G–d, without any reasoning, knowledge, or intelligence that may be comprehended by him, and to prevail over the kelipah and temptations of this world, whether permitted or prohibited, to which he had been accustomed—even to despise them, and to choose G–d as his portion and lot, yielding to Him his soul [to suffer martyrdom] in order to sanctify His Name. For, even though the kelipot had prevailed over him all his life and he was impotent against them, as the Rabbis have said that “the wicked are under the control of their heart,”12 Bereishit Rabbah 34:11. yet when he faces a test challenging his faith in the One G–d, [a faith] which has its roots in the uppermost heights of holiness, namely, the faculty of chochmah of the divine soul, in which is clothed the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, then all the kelipot are made null and void, and they vanish, as though they had never been in the presence of the L–rd. So it is written, “All the nations are as nothing before Him…,”13 Isaiah 40:17. and “Indeed your enemies, O L–rd, indeed your enemies shall perish; [all evildoers] shall be scattered,”14 Psalms 92:10. and, again, “As wax melts before fire, [let the wicked] perish,”15 Psalms 68:3. and “The mountains will melt like wax.”16 Psalms 97:5. The force of the Divine light of the En Sof, blessed is He, that is clothed in the soul’s chochmah is great and powerful enough to banish and repel the sitra achara and the kelipot so that they could not even touch its garments, namely, the thought, speech, and act of faith in the One G–d. In other words, [it enables one] to withstand a test of self-sacrifice to the extent of even refusing to do some single act that is contrary to the faith in the One G–d, such as, for example, to bow to an idol, even without acknowledging it in his heart at all or to utter any false notion, Heaven forbid, regarding the unity of G–d, be it merely by way of rendering lip service only, while his heart remains perfect in the belief in G–d. This is called “fear that is contained in love,” the natural love of the divine soul that is found in all Jews, the intrinsic desire and will of which is to be attached to its origin and source in the light of the En Sof, blessed is He. For by virtue of this love and this desire, it instinctively recoils in fear and dread from touching even the fringe of the impurity of idolatry, Heaven forbid, which denies the faith in one G–d, even where such contact involves only its outer garments, namely, speech and act, without any faith whatsoever in the heart.
