כדכתיב: החכמה תחיה בעליה
as it is written,7 “Wisdom gives life to those who possess it” — the soul, which possesses the faculty of wisdom, receives its life by means of this faculty, as stated above.
ולפעמים ממשיכים פושעי ישראל נשמות גבוהות מאד שהיו בעמקי הקליפות, כמו שכתוב בספר גלגולים
(8At times, the sinners of Israel may even bring down for their childrenvery lofty souls which had been in the depths of the kelipot, as is explained in Sefer Gilgulim.)9
A soul that has fallen captive in the hands of the kelipot remains in this state until the kelipot release it of their own will. Anything in the hold of the kelipot cannot be wrested from them against their will, for the principle that10 “G‑d does not make unjustifiable demands of His creations,” holds true even with regard to kelipot. In the case of a child to be born to sinful parents, the kelipot willingly release the soul, in the hope that such a child will be influenced by its parents, and will become a sinner like them. In this way, the kelipot stand to extract an even greater measure of vitality from the holiness of the soul by means of its eventual sins. However, having such a lofty soul, the child is able to overcome the obstacles imposed by its parents‘ wickedness, and may rise to the level of a tzaddik. In this way, paradoxically, it comes to pass that a tzaddik may be born to wicked parents because of their wickedness.11
Returning to his original point, that every Jew has a soul which stems from the holy Sefirot, and that ultimately each soul is animated by the light of the Ein Sof by way of the soul’s faculty of wisdom (Chochmah), the Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain why it is Chochmah that is the original recipient of the light of the Ein Sof. The explanation is based on a discussion of the nature of the soul’s faculty of wisdom, which now follows: