Class One. This מאמר is the third in a המשך that discusses the (one, two, or three) crowns associated with the event of מתן תורה. The question of the number of crowns and who gives them to whom is resolved with the Gemara on the פסוק ברן יחד ככבי בקר ויריעו כל בני אלוקים. All that מלאכים have they get from us, so we gave the three crowns, of which He keeps the One (עצם, מסירת נפש, תפילה) and He returns to us the two that have to do with עבודה and there being a world (תורה ומצוות).
Class Two. We started this class with a lengthy introduction (based on ד”ה נר חנוכה -וישב- תרס”ו). There are two ideas in עצם: 1) טבע העצם and 2) מהות העצם. טבע העצם is the source of רצוי, אש, and מהות העצם is the source of שוב, רוח and how this is the divine כונה. תורה is the ממוצע to modulate between רצוי and שוב because it includes them both. (How מציאות is the deepest ביטול when it is the רצון העליון).
