Ahavah rabbah, the hidden light above creation

במדרש אחות לנו קטנה שאיחה את כל העולם להקב"ה כו'.

In the Midrash: "We have a little sister" (Shir HaShirim 8:8) — this refers to Avraham, who "stitched together" (icha) the whole world to Hashem.

The Midrash reads the word for "sister" as related to "stitching" — Avraham took a fractured world and sewed it back, reuniting all of creation with its Creator.

כי הנה יש אהבת עולם.

For behold, there is a love called ahavas olam (the love of the world).

There is one kind of love for Hashem that arises from contemplating the created world.

ויש אהבה רבה ואברהם קודם המילה הי' בחי' אהבת עולם האהבה אל הקב"ה מצד הבריאה וזה בחי' קטנות כי כל הטבע ומעשה בראשית בחי' קטנות אבל אהבה רבה הוא מלמעלה מן הבריאה וז"ש ואגדלה שמך שהוסיף לו ה' להיות כל האברים ברשותו כמ"ש חז"ל כי האדם עולם קטן וכל האברים הם מול כל העולם.

And there is a love called ahavah rabbah (great love). Avraham, before the milah, was on the level of ahavas olam — love of Hashem from the side of creation — and this is the aspect of katnus (smallness), for all of nature and ma'aseh bereishis (the work of creation) is an aspect of katnus. But ahavah rabbah is from above creation, and this is the meaning of "and I will make your name great" (Bereishis 12:2) — that Hashem added to him so that all his limbs would be under his control, as Chazal said: a person is a "miniature world," and all the limbs correspond to the entire world.

Love drawn from observing the natural world is real but limited ("small"), since nature itself is a realm of constriction. A higher love, ahavah rabbah, comes from beyond creation. By adding a letter to his name, Hashem granted Avraham mastery over all his limbs — and since man is a microcosm whose limbs mirror the whole world, this mastery corresponds to elevating all of creation.

ואותן הה' שאינם ברשותו של האדם בודאי הם השורש של האדם והם למעלה מן הטבע והעולם וכל העולם תלוי בהם לכן כתיב בהבראם בה' בראם וגם באברהם בראם.

And those five [limbs/parts] that are not under a person's control are surely the root of the person; they are above nature and the world, and the entire world depends upon them. Therefore it is written "be-hibaram" (when they were created) (Bereishis 2:4) — "be-Hei beraam" (with the letter Hei He created them), and also "be-Avraham beraam" (with Avraham He created them).

The parts of a person that lie beyond his conscious control are precisely his deepest root, rooted above nature, upon which the whole world hangs. The Sages read "be-hibaram" as both "with the letter Hei" and "with Avraham" — for the Hei added to Avraham's name represents this supernal root through which the world was created.

שזכה אברהם לזו הה' שהיא למעלה מהבריאה.

For Avraham merited this letter Hei, which is above creation.

The Hei added to his name signifies that Avraham attained the supernal level that transcends the created order.

ומקודם תיקן אברהם אע"ה את העולם בבחי' הקטנות.

But first, Avraham Avinu repaired the world on the level of katnus (smallness).

Before reaching that higher level, Avraham had already done the work of fixing the world through ahavas olam, the love drawn from creation.

כל זה שאיחה ותיקן העולם הכל רק הכנה לחול עליו שרש הבריאה.

All of this — that he stitched together and repaired the world — was only a preparation for the root of creation to rest upon him.

His labor of mending the world through the lower love was a hachanah (preparation), readying him to receive the higher root that lies above creation.

שהוא למעלה מהבריאה בחי' אהבה רבה.

Which is above creation — the aspect of ahavah rabbah.

That root resting upon him is the great love, ahavah rabbah, which transcends the created world.

רבה גי' אור.

"Rabbah" has the numerical value of "or" (light).

The word rabbah (in ahavah rabbah) equals in gematria the word for "light," hinting that this great love is itself a hidden light.

רז.

And of "raz" (secret).

It also shares the gematria of "raz," a hidden secret — for this love is a concealed, supernal mystery.

והוא האור הגנוז לצדיקים והוא אהבה בעצם למעלה מהשגת האדם לכן אפילו אותן האברים שאין ברשות האדם מצד הטבע אבל כח הנשמה למעלה מהרגשת הטבע.

And it is the or ha-ganuz (hidden light) stored away for the tzaddikim, and it is love in its very essence, beyond human comprehension. Therefore, even those limbs that are not under a person's control from the side of nature — nevertheless the power of the neshamah is above the perception of nature.

This great love is the primordial hidden light reserved for the tzaddikim, an essential love beyond human grasp. Because of it, even those dimensions of a person that nature places outside his control can be reached, for the neshamah's power operates above the limits of the natural order.

והוא הבחי' המתגלה בשבת קודש מעין עוה"ב מכח הנשמה יתירה בחי' אהבה רבה הנ"ל.

And this is the aspect that is revealed on Shabbos Kodesh — a foretaste of Olam Haba — through the power of the neshamah yeseirah (the additional soul), the aspect of the aforementioned ahavah rabbah.

On Shabbos, through the extra soul, this supernal great love is revealed — a taste of the World to Come, when the hidden light shines.

וזה האור זרוע לצדיק כמ"ש צדיק כתמר יפרח אמרו במדרש מה תמר יש לה תאוה כך צדיקים יש להם תאוה לאביהם שבשמים וזו האהבה היא בעצם הנפש למעלה מהרגשת הגוף:

And this is "light is sown for the tzaddik" (Tehillim 97:11), as it is written, "the tzaddik will flourish like a date palm" (Tehillim 92:13). The Midrash said: just as the date palm has desire, so too the tzaddikim have a desire (longing) for their Father in Heaven. And this love is in the very essence of the soul, above the perception of the body.

The hidden light is "sown" for the tzaddik, who flourishes like the date palm. As the Midrash teaches, the tzaddikim possess an intense yearning for Hashem — a love rooted in the very essence of the nefesh, transcending all bodily sensation.

Summary: There are two loves of Hashem — ahavas olam, the "small" love drawn from contemplating creation, and ahavah rabbah, the "great" love that comes from above creation. Avraham first mended the broken world through the lower love, stitching all of creation back to Hashem, and this served as preparation for the supernal root — symbolized by the letter Hei added to his name — to rest upon him. That great love is the or ha-ganuz, the hidden light reserved for tzaddikim, reaching even the parts of a person beyond natural control through the power of the neshamah. It is revealed on Shabbos through the neshamah yeseirah, a foretaste of Olam Haba, and lives as a deep, essential longing for Hashem in the very core of the soul.