Yichud Tataah (יחוד תתאה) — the lower unity

Core definition

Yichud tataah ("the lower unity") is the lower knowledge (da'as tachton) of Elokim's unity, apprehended from below to above: the created being senses himself as a being (yesh) and his Source as a naught (ayin) — "the lower unity is the aspect of the lower knowledge (da'as tachton), from below to above" [19801/maamar_008 :: §1507–1510]. Its counterpart, yichud ila'ah (the upper/supernal unity), is the upper knowledge from above to below: above is the true being, below is naught — "all before Him as nothing" [19801/maamar_008 :: Summary — section 25]. The two are Havayah and Elokim: "Havayah's supervision is the root of the supernal unity... Elokim's supervision is for the created to be being: the nullification of being alone — the lower unity" [19801/maamar_008 :: Summary — section 25].

How the Rebbeim develop it

The lower knowledge. In the lower unity, the created "senses himself as being, the source as naught — a borrowed name, since the Divine naught is unapprehended" [19801/maamar_008 :: Summary — section 25]. The analogy is the soul and its powers: the powers are a yesh relative to the soul's nothingness — "yet know the soul's existence from the powers; so the yesh knows from itself it has a bringing-into-being source: the lower knowledge from nothing to something" — and "both de'os true" [15881/maamar_017 :: Summary — p. קעג]. The nullification of the lower unity is "the yesh's nullification" — as distinct from the upper unity's "all nullified in existence" [15881/maamar_017 :: Summary — p. קעג].

Liturgical embodiment. The two unities live in the Shema's two lines: "the upper unity in the Shema's first verse (all nullified in existence) and the lower unity in 'Baruch Shem'" (the yesh's nullification) [15881/maamar_017 :: Summary — p. קעג]. The Chanukah maamar counts their letters: "the 24 letters of Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuso LeOlam Vaed in the lower unity" against "the 25 letters of the Shema verse in the upper unity" [15881/maamar_017 :: §1972].

Elokim and Malchus. "The supervision of the Name Elokim: Malchus of Atzilut — the lower unity" [19801/maamar_008 :: §1851]. In Atzilut's middos these are kindness and severity: "Havayah from Z'A (mostly kindnesses...), Elokim from Malchus (built from severities)" [19801/maamar_008 :: Summary — section 25]. "The eyes of Havayah are to the righteous": Yosef (the supernal tzaddik, Z'A — giver bonding in receiver) and Binyamin (the lower tzaddik, "the spirit left in the body" — receiver bonding in giver) — "the two unities joined: also in Malchus, the lower unity, the nullification of the supernal unity" [19801/maamar_008 :: Summary — section 25].

Moshe's refusal. Moshe "was not appeased with 'My face shall go' from Malchus ('the body of the moon I do not want; the body of the sun I want')" — miracles beyond nature are possible from Malchus of Atzilut (the naught bringing being into being), "but it is still severity. Moshe asked for supervision and drawing below from the supernal knowledge literally — the supernal unity" [19801/maamar_008 :: Summary — section 25]. The Shemini Atzeres discourse adds why: "from Malchus the sitra achra too receives ('Elokim reigns over the nations'); from the supernal knowledge it cannot" [19801/maamar_008 :: §2421].

The goal: upper light in the lower unity. The Chanukah maamar's chiddush is that the three miracles' 24/25/26 correspond to the lower unity, the upper unity, and the upper Havayah name's revelation — and "the intent's main was the upper knowledge's revelation — that in the lower unity there shall be the upper unity's light and revelation" [15881/maamar_017 :: Summary — p. קפג]. So the lower unity is not discarded but penetrated: the ultimate is "also in the aspect of Malchus — the aspect of the lower unity — there shall be the nullification of the supernal unity" [19801/maamar_008 :: §1741–1747].

Key distinctions

Related concepts

Sources