The reviewer of the discourse mentioned above erred neither in comprehension nor in expression, his quotation being quite correct. The meaning of “Israel arose in thought” is that Jewish souls have pre-eminence over all creatures even in their manner of coming into being. All creatures, angels included, were created during the Six Days of Creation, their manner of creation was through Divine speech. “With ten expressions the world was created;”1 “Birds that may fly”2 refers to the angels.3 Therefore the psalmist says, 4 “By the word of G-d the heavens were made”, and5 “Forever, O L-rd, Your word stands in the heavens,”6 since Divine speech is equivalent to deed. “With the breath of His mouth all their hosts”7 refers to celestial beings, all created through Divine speech.
But souls, though they too were called into being during the Six Days, were created in an entirely different manner. They were created by thought, and thought precedes speech. Thus souls derive from a higher state than speech, by which all other creatures were created. Hence, “Israel arose in thought.” Among sefirot, thought is in the category of wisdom.8 “Arose in thought” indicates inner (or higher) wisdom.
I will repeat a fundamental teaching of the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, and his successors as it was expounded and frequently reiterated:
Maskil l’Eitan ha’Ezrachi (Psalms 89:1).9
Eitan is the essence of the soul as it cleaves to the Essence (of G-d), (Eitan is) a portion of G-d above. “The soul You have placed within me is pure; You created it; You formed it; You breathed it [into me].10 The four [italicized] terms parallel the Four Worlds. The Midrash11 enumerates five gradations of soul: nefesh (soul),12 ruach (spirit), neshama (soul), chaya (living), and yechida (single).
The Zohar13 reckons the first three and the fourth, neshama l’neshama (the soul of the soul), paralleling the four letters of Havayah. Eitan is the strength of the soul as manifested in the power of self-sacrifice. Eitan also means ancient,14 not newly created . . . drawn from G-d’s Essence. “The soul You have placed within me is pure” refers to the source of the soul as it is in the world of Atzilut. Emanation is a separation from the illumination of the Infinite, the Emanator; it is not novel, but a revelation of the previously concealed.15
This is maskil, the source that creates and reveals the idea. Maskil l’Eitan (lit. “to eitan”), the revelation of maskil is only for eitan. And through the power of maskil, eitan arrives at ha’ezrachi,16 the illumination of all powers and senses.
This lesson of the Alter Rebbe was repeated over the course of more than a century, through four generations of our Rebbes. Each of them in his day repeated the above with additional elucidation, elucidation that inspired all those souls living with the knowledge provided by the inner dimension of Torah.17 How many thousands and tens of thousands of chasidim—intellectuals, worshippers, and men of deeds18—found inspiration in these holy words, and stimulation to serve G-d through study, service, and upright deeds with deep feeling and spirit.
Our Sages say,19 “In the Hereafter there is neither food nor drink . . . but souls sit with their crowns on their heads and enjoy the splendor of the Divine Presence.” Chasidus explains20 that splendor refers to the radiance of the Torah and divine service engaged in by these souls in this life. Those holy souls of the chasidim who during their lifetimes labored with body and soul in the study and application of Chasidus, now in the Higher World enjoy the light of their learning and prayer, rising continually in infinite elevations.
