God wanted a home. Not in the highest heavens where angels sing without ceasing. Not in the dazzling worlds of pure spirit. God wanted a home in the lowest, darkest, most difficult place in all of existence: right here.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi builds this teaching on a famous statement from Midrash Tanchuma (Nasso 16): the purpose of creation is that God desired a dirah b'tachtonim (דירה בתחתונים), a dwelling place in the lower worlds. But the Tanya immediately challenges this. God fills all worlds equally. For God, there is no "upper" or "lower." So what does this mean?
The answer lies in the concept of hishtalshelut (השתלשלות), the cascading descent of divine light through ever-thicker veils of concealment. Each world receives God's life-force through more layers of cosmic "garments" until you reach this physical world, the very bottom, a place of such doubled and redoubled darkness that evil can actually declare, "I am, and there is nothing else besides me" (Isaiah 47:8).
This is exactly the point. The higher worlds did not need the descent. For them, it was a step down from God's light. The entire chain of worlds exists for this world. Because when darkness itself is transformed into light, when the place that seemed furthest from God reveals His presence, the resulting illumination is infinitely greater than anything the higher worlds experience. Light that emerges from darkness blazes with an intensity that light which was never challenged simply cannot match.
This is why God gave the Torah to physical human beings in a material world. The Torah is the tool that lets finite creatures transform darkness into light, making this lowest world into the place where God's infinite light shines brightest of all.
It is a well-known Rabbinic statement that the purpose of the creation of this world is that the Holy One, blessed is He, desired to have an abode in the lower worlds.1 Midrash Tanchuma, Nasso 16. But surely with Him the distinction of “upper” and “lower” has no validity, for He pervades all worlds equally. The explanation of the matter, however, is as follows: Before the world was created, He was One Alone, one and Unique, ruling all space in which He created the universe. It is still the same now insofar as He is concerned. For the change relates only to those who receive His life-force and light, blessed be He, which they receive through many “garments” which conceal and obscure His light, blessed be He, as is written, “For no man shall see Me and live,”2 Exodus 33:20. and, as our Rabbis, of blessed memory, have explained it, that even angels, who are called Chayot,3 An interpretation of the word וחי. cannot see Him….4 Sif-rei, end of Parashat Behaalotcha; Bamidbar Rabbah, end of Parashat Nasso. This is the concept of the hishtalshelut (downward gradation) of the worlds and their descent, degree by degree, through a multitude of “garments” which screen the light and life that emanate from Him, until there was created this material and gross world, the lowest in degree, than which there is none lower in the aspect of concealment of His light, blessed be He; [a world of] doubled and redoubled darkness, so much so that it is full of kelipot and the sitra achara which actually oppose G–d, saying: “I am, and there is nothing else besides me.”5 Isaiah 47:8, 10; Zephaniah 2:15. Clearly, the purpose of the hishtalshelut of the worlds and their descent, degree by degree, is not for the sake of the higher worlds, because for them this is a descent from the light of His Countenance, blessed be He. But the ultimate purpose [of creation] is this lowest world, for such was His will, blessed be He, that He shall have satisfaction when the sitra achara is subdued and the darkness is turned to light, so that the Divine light of the En Sof, blessed is He, shall shine forth in the place of the darkness and sitra achara throughout this world, all the more strongly and intensely, with the excellence of light emerging from darkness, than its effulgence in the higher worlds, where it shines through “garments” and in concealment of the Countenance, which screen and conceal the light of the En Sof, blessed is He, in order that they should not dissolve out of existence. For this purpose, the Holy One, blessed is He, gave to Israel the Torah which is called “might” and “strength,”6 Shir Hashirim Rabbah 2:10; Zohar II:58a; III:269a; cf. Zevachim 116a. as the Rabbis, of blessed memory, have said7 Sanhedrin 100b. that the Almighty puts strength into the righteous in order that they may receive their reward in the hereafter, without being nullified in their very existence, in the Divine light that will be revealed to them in the hereafter without any cloak, as is written, “Your teacher shall no longer be concealed from you [literally: He will not conceal Himself from you with robe and garment]…but your eyes shall see your Teacher.”8 Isaiah 30:20. It is also written, “For they shall see eye to eye…”9 Isaiah 52:8. and “You shall no longer have the sun for light by day…for the Lord shall be to you for an everlasting light….”10 Isaiah 60:19-20. It is well known that the Messianic Era, and especially the time of the Resurrection of the Dead, is the fulfillment and culmination of the creation of the world, for which purpose it was originally created. NOTE: The receiving of the reward is essentially in the seventh millennium, as is stated in Likkutei Torah of the Arizal.11 See above, ch. 2, note 9. Something of this revelation has already been experienced on earth, at the time of the Giving of the Torah, as is written, “You have been shown to know that the L–rd is G–d; there is none else aside from Him”12 Deuteronomy 4:35.—“have been shown” verily with physical vision, as is written, “And all the people saw the thunderings”13 Literally: “voices.” Exodus 20:15.—“they saw what is [normally] heard.”14 Mechilta, on the verse. And the Rabbis, of blessed memory, explained, “They looked eastward and heard the speech issuing forth: ‘I am,’ etc., and so [turning] toward the four points of the compass, and upward and downward,” as is also explained in the Tikkunim that “There was no place from which He did not speak to them….” This was so because of the revelation of His will, blessed be He, in the Decalogue constituting the epitome of the whole Torah,15 Rashi, Exodus 24:12; Zohar II:90b. which is His innermost will, blessed be He, and His wisdom, wherein there is no concealment of the Countenance at all, as is written, “For by the light of Your Countenance You gave us the Torah of life.”16 Liturgy, Amidah Prayer. Therefore they [the Israelites at Sinai] repeatedly expired out of existence, as the Rabbis have taught17 Shabbat 88b. that at each [Divine] utterance their souls took flight…but the Holy One, blessed is He, restored it to them with the dew with which He will revive the dead. This is the dew of the Torah which is called “might,” as the Rabbis have said, “Everyone who occupies himself with the Torah is revived by the dew of the Torah….”18 Ketuvot 111b. Later, however, the sin [of the Golden Calf] caused both them and the world to become gross again—until the end of days, when the dross of the body and of the world will be purified, and they will be able to apprehend the revealed Divine light which will shine forth to Israel by means of the Torah, called “might.” And, as a result of the overflow of the illumination on Israel, the darkness of the gentiles will also be lit up, as is written, “And the nations shall walk by your light…,”19 Isaiah 60:3. and, “House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the L–rd,”20 Isaiah 2:5. again, “And the glory of the L–rd will be revealed, and together all flesh will see…,”21 Isaiah 40:5. and, “To go into the holes of the rocks, and into the clefts of the boulders, for fear of the L–rd and for the glory of His majesty.”22 Isaiah 2:21. And as we pray, “Reveal Yourself in the majesty of Your glorious might over all the inhabitants of Your terrestrial world….”23 Liturgy, Amidah, High Holidays.
