Yichud Ila'ah (יחוד עילאה) — The Higher Unity

Core definition

Yichud ila'ah — the "higher unity" (יחודא עילאה) — is the unity of the Divine from the perspective of the essence of the Ohr Ein Sof: "all before Him is as nothing" (כולא קמי' כלא חשיב) — there is no existence at all besides Him [31670/maamar_006 :: §249]. It is the knowledge from Above (דעת עליון): from this perspective, Above is yesh (the true something) and below is ayin (nothing); the knowledge of the giver, the true knowledge [58838/maamar_062 :: summary]. It stands paired with yichuda tata'ah, the lower unity, in which below is yesh and Above is ayin as ungraspable — the knowledge of the receiver [58838/maamar_062 :: summary].

How the Rebbeim develop it

"In Our image" and "after Our likeness." Man's superiority over the other kingdoms lies in "let us make man in Our image (b'tzalmeinu), after Our likeness (kidmuseinu)": "in Our image" is the level of yichuda ila'ah, "after Our likeness" is yichuda tata'ah [58838/maamar_062 :: §3]. Tzelem — the "image" — is essential form: the drawing of essential light, an essential bitul; demus — the "likeness" — is mere radiance, a non-essential bitul, "likeness" only, since truthfully the world is not yesh [58838/maamar_062 :: summary]. Accordingly, man's entire superiority is in the bitul of yichuda ila'ah, for the bitul of hoda'ah (yichuda tata'ah) exists in all created beings [58838/maamar_062 :: §85–86].

Chochmah is yichuda ila'ah. The sefirah of Chochmah is called yichuda ila'ah, for Chochmah is koach mah ("what") — the faculty of bitul, where the Ohr Ein Sof rests [58838/maamar_062 :: §27–28].

The two contemplations: Pesukei d'Zimra and the Shema. The practical home of the two unities is davening. Yichuda tata'ah is from the perspective of the ziv and ha'arah of Divinity that became a source for the worlds: the worlds exist as yesh, nullified to the Divine ayin — this is the contemplation of Pesukei d'Zimra (lower da'as) [31670/maamar_006 :: §247, §250]. Yichuda ila'ah is as relative to the essence of Ohr Ein Sof: no existence at all — this is the contemplation of the Shema (higher da'as), leading to "v'ahavta es Havayah" [31670/maamar_006 :: §249–250]. The Shema's six words are the "six supernal days" of yichuda ila'ah; the six words of "Baruch shem kevod malchuso" are the "six lower days" of yichuda tata'ah; each six has its seventh — the two Shabbosos: erev Shabbos as the nullification of yichuda tata'ah, the Shabbos day as that of yichuda ila'ah [31676/maamar_030 :: §53–57, §358–366]. Shemoneh Esrei goes still further: silent deveikus in bitul in existence itself [31670/maamar_006 :: §338].

The supernal root: Sovev and Memale. From the aspect of Sovev (the encompassing light) is drawn bitul b'metzius — which is yichuda ila'ah; from the aspect of Memale (the filling light) is drawn bitul ha'yesh — which is yichuda tata'ah [31695/maamar_014 :: §707–710, summary]. In the Shema, "Havayah" is the language of bringing-into-being, and "Havayah is one" is the yichud ila'ah drawn from it; "Baruch shem" is the yichud tata'ah [31695/maamar_014 :: §719–724]. Malchus, whose root-thought is "I shall rule," holds both: its Kesser (distance, Sovev) births the yesh, its nine sefiros (closeness, Memale) give life [31695/maamar_014 :: summary].

Where it applies. Yichuda ila'ah is specifically in Atzilus — "ihu v'chayohi chad, ihu v'garmohi chad" — while the bitul of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah is yichuda tata'ah alone [31670/maamar_006 :: §285–286]. The Shema, though said in Beriah, is "the ohr of Atzilus in Beriah" — hence in the bitul of yichuda ila'ah, though expressed in love and excitement rather than in total bitul in existence [31670/maamar_006 :: §291–297].

The mitzvah of the Shema. The mitzvah is to contemplate this unity until the feeling itself becomes bitul b'metzius — no foreign desires, only yearning for His essence — overturning even the animal soul into single-hearted desire, "with all your heart, with your two inclinations" [31695/maamar_014 :: summary].

Key distinctions

Related concepts

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