The divine point overflows the body

ובמדרש תנחומא בפסוק ואברהם זקן הה"ד ה' אלקי גדלת מאד מלך כו' טבלא גדולה מצורתו כו' ע"ש.

And in the Midrash Tanchuma, on the passuk "And Avraham was old" (Bereishis 24:1): this is what is written, "Hashem my God, You are very great" (Tehillim 104:1) — a king, a great tablet (tavla) from his image — see there.

The Sefas Emes cites the Midrash that links Avraham's "old age" to a passuk praising Hashem's greatness, comparing the world to a "tablet" bearing the imprint of its Maker.

ויש להבין כי מה שייך לדבר בגדלות השי"ת ב"ה וב"ש שלגדולתו אין חקר ואין השגה בזה להמשיל בו משל זה.

And one must understand: how is it fitting to speak of the greatness of Hashem, blessed and exalted is He, whose greatness is unfathomable and beyond all comprehension, so as to apply such a mashal (parable) to Him?

The difficulty: if Hashem's greatness is utterly beyond grasp, how can any parable — such as a king depicted on a tablet — possibly describe it?

אכן דוד המע"ה השיג בנפשו כי הנקודה האלקית שיש בנפשו הוא גדול מאוד יותר מכפי הכלת כלי הגוף.

However, David, the anointed king, peace be upon him, perceived within his own soul that the divine point (nekudah Elokis) within his nefesh is exceedingly great — far greater than the capacity of the vessel of the body to contain.

Dovid HaMelech grasped Hashem's greatness not by measuring the Infinite directly, but by sensing the divine spark within his own soul, which already overflows what the body can hold.

שקטן מלהכיל חיות הפנימי של נשמת אלקי שנפח בו.

For it is too small to contain the inner vitality of the divine neshamah that He breathed into him.

The physical body is simply too limited a vessel to hold the full inner life-force of the divine soul that Hashem breathed into man.

ומזה הענין יכולין להבין שמלבד שלגדולתו אין חקר רק כל מעשיו שנתן בהם כח אלקותו ית' הם גדולים מאוד כמ"ש מה גדלו מעשיך.

And from this matter one can understand that, apart from the fact that His greatness is unfathomable, all His works — into which He placed the power of His divinity — are themselves exceedingly great, as it is written, "How great are Your works" (Tehillim 92:6).

The point of the parable is not to measure Hashem Himself, but to recognize how immense His creations are, since He invested His own divine power within them.

ויצירת האדם שהוא הטבלא קטנה מחיות הפנימי שבו.

And the formation of man is the "tablet" that is too small for the inner vitality within it.

Man is the "tablet" of the parable: the imprinted image is far greater than the surface meant to bear it, for the inner divine vitality exceeds the body.

וזה ענין נשמה יתירה הבאה בשבת קודש ונק' יתירה כנ"ל שהיא גדולה מכלי המלבוש.

And this is the matter of the neshamah yeseirah (the additional soul) that comes on Shabbos Kodesh, and it is called "extra" (yeseirah), as above, because it is greater than the vessel of the garment.

The Shabbos neshamah yeseirah is called "extra" precisely because it overflows the "garment" of the body — it is too great to be contained, an added measure of divine vitality.

והצדיקים המתדבקין בשורש הנשמה וממשיכין הארות מלמעלה מהטבע. זו נק' זקנה.

And the tzaddikim who cleave to the root of the neshamah and draw down illuminations from above nature — this is called "old age" (ziknah).

True "old age" is not chronological but spiritual: the tzaddik who binds himself to the soul's root and draws down supernatural light has attained ziknah.

וז"ש ואברהם זקן ודרשו חז"ל זקן זה שקנה חכמה דכתיב כולם בחכמה עשית.

And this is the meaning of "And Avraham was old," and Chazal expounded: "zaken" — this is one who has acquired chochmah (wisdom) (zeh shekanah chochmah), as it is written, "You made them all with chochmah" (Tehillim 104:24).

"Avraham was old" means he had acquired wisdom — and since all of creation was made "with chochmah," cleaving to that wisdom connects a person to the inner root of everything Hashem made.

וכשמבטלין כל העשי' להחכמה והדעת וכדכתיב יראת ה' היא חכמה.

And when one nullifies all the doing (asiyah) to the chochmah and daas — and as it is written, "the yiras Hashem (fear of Hashem) is chochmah" (Iyov 28:28).

By subordinating all of one's deeds (bittul) to the divine wisdom within them — and yiras Shomayim is itself that wisdom — a person reaches the inner point of creation.

וכן אמרו על אברהם אע"ה שהקנה להקב"ה שמים וארץ ואז שורה בו ברכה כדכתיב וה' ברך את אברהם בכל.

And likewise they said of Avraham Avinu that he caused the Holy One to "acquire" heaven and earth, and then blessing rests upon him, as it is written, "and Hashem blessed Avraham with everything" (Bereishis 24:1).

Avraham "gave Hashem possession" of heaven and earth — that is, he revealed that everything belongs to Hashem — and because of this bittul, the fullness of berachah came to rest upon him.

והוא כמו בש"ק דכתיב ויברך ע"י שיש בו תוספות נשמה יתירה כנ"ל:

And this is like Shabbos Kodesh, of which it is written, "And He blessed" (Bereishis 2:3) — because there is in it the addition of the neshamah yeseirah, as stated above.

Just as Shabbos receives blessing through the extra soul that overflows the body, so Avraham, by cleaving to the soul's root, became a vessel for blessing "with everything."

Summary: Hashem's unfathomable greatness can be glimpsed through the divine point within the soul, which is too great for the body to contain — like the neshamah yeseirah of Shabbos that overflows its "garment"; the tzaddik who cleaves to the soul's root and nullifies all his deeds to the divine chochmah attains true "old age," and through this bittul, as with Avraham, the fullness of Hashem's blessing comes to rest upon him.