Chasidut su I Samuele 2:39

And Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: “Lift up the head of the children of Gershon, them as well, by their fathers’ house [by their families] etc. (Num. 4:21-22). And we must understand what is meant by saying: it presents no problem with respect to mitzvot, since it makes sense to say that the explanation is that Moses should say to Israel; but here, [God’s instruction] is for Moses alone! And furthermore the Torah is eternal and relevant in every time, for otherwise it would be, God forbid, merely stories from past times; and if that were the case why would it be called “Torah” which connotes Instruction and Guidance [hora’at derekh], since it instructs [morah] and teaches us the way of God — but what Instruction and Guidance is here? But it is written, attach to Him (Deut. 11:22), which our Sages of Blessed Memory interpreted: “How is it possible to attach to Blessed God, when He is a Consuming Fire?” and it is written in the Holy Zohar, “A Fire which consumes all the fires in the world” (III:62a); and if so, how is it possible for Flesh and Blood to attach to such a God? Rather, [the verse means] attach to God’s attributes: just as He is merciful, so you should be merciful, etc. (cf. Rashi, loc. cit.). And we must understand: How does this answer his question? While it is true that a person could attach to God’s attributes, in the verse it says, attach to Him! But in truth the answer is that Blessed God gave us the Torah so a person would be able to attach to Blessed God; for how [else] would it be possible for a person who is bounded and limited to attach to Blessed God, who is without limit, since He has no beginning and no end? Therefore Blessed God gave us the Torah and contracted himself (as if it were possible) into our Holy Torah so that in his attaching to the Torah, it happens that he is attached to Blessed God who dwells within the Torah. And this is the statement of our Sages of Blessed Memory, “Attach to God’s attributes,” meaning to the Torah; for the Torah is interpreted through thirteen [methodological] attributes, such as “from one premise to another,” “from a similar phrase,” etc.,1 and these are precisely the thirteen attributes [of God], “merciful and compassionate” etc. So when a person attaches to the Torah he attaches to Blessed God who dwells within the Torah. And so according to this it would be very easy for a person to attach to Blessed God, meaning through his attaching to the letters of the Torah and Prayer which are the Capabilities of the Blessed Creator who dwells within them; but there are Foreign Thoughts which come and confuse him at the time when he is engaged in Torah and Prayer. So what can one do about this? One must ask the advice of the Torah, since the Torah gives us advice about this. For a person must understand the matter of the Foreign Thoughts: are they not Letters which have fallen? For no thought could exist without Letters, and the Foreign Thoughts are also Letters, but they have fallen because of his own actions. And therefore when he comes to attach to Blessed God, they also come so that he can elevate them. But a Foreign Thought does not come, God forbid, to confuse him, and he must elevate them to their Root. And this is what the Torah tells us in pleasant words: Lift up the head, which is to say that your should lift up and elevate א"ת, which are the twenty-two letters from aleph to tav; elevate them to the Head and the First who is the Blessed Creator. For all the words of the Torah and Prayer, they are all combinations of Letters: when you join together vav-yud-dalet-bet-resh it makes the word vayedaber; all the words are all combinations of Letters and one must elevate the Letters to their Roots. And if you do this then the children of Gershon, the Letters which fell and were banished [nitgarshu], they too will rise to their fathers’ house, they being Abraham who was the attribute of Mercy and Love; and the Fear of Isaac, who was the attribute of Reverence; and Israel, in whom I will be glorified (Isaiah 49:3) who was the attribute of Glory. That is, when a person leans and prays with Reverence and Love in order to Glorify his Creator by the Name of His Glorious Sovereignty, then the Letters go up there Above to the Fathers as has been explained. To their families, to their Attachments as in put me, please (1 Sam. 2:36). But how does one do all this? King Solomon, peace be upon him, explained it as Whatever your hand is capable of doing (Ecclesiastes 9:10) which is to say in whatever way you want to do Blessed God’s Will, do it with strength, you must do it with strength; meaning that when you put all your strength and your life-force into the Letters of the Torah and Prayer, through this you will elevate them to their Root, to the Blessed Creator.

And I have already explained the verse, “There is none holy like the Lord, since there is none besides Him” (I Samuel 2:2) – see there. And there it is explained that every physical thing of this world has the four letter name of God sustaining it from nothingness to being, such that it not be nullified in existence – and that is through the holy letters of the four letter name of God and their substitutes. For example, the word, even (stone), has three letters which come out of the four letter name, by way of many substitutions and combinations. Hence it is very physical – as is written in the Tanya (Tanya, Part Two, The Gateway of Unity and Belief 1) about the verse, “Great, etc. and full of power” (Psalms 147:5) – see there. And there is hence also internality and externality in all things – meaning the internality is the letters that make and sustain them from nothingness to being; whereas the externality is that which is seen by the eyes. And that is an illustration of the “holy and blessed” that was referred to.