Book of Formation - Sefer Yetzirah

Chapter I

Mishnah 4, part 2

Mishnah * I.4.2.  (continued)  And if your heart hastens, return to the Place.

Companion

Mishnah I.4.2.  [I.8]  And if your heart hastens - If your desire for G-dliness reaches an extreme degree of ecstasy,

return to the Place - return to your place in the world.  "You live [with earthly purpose] regardless of your will" (Chapters of the Fathers, 4:22).

the Place - The wording in Tanya, Chapter 50, p. 140, is "return to the One."  This does not indicate that Grand Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, author of Tanya, is citing a different version of this phrase in the Book of Formation.  In Tanya, he is explaining the lesson of return to the Place.  Being with the One G-d is to fulfill His desire for us to implement His will in our bodies in ordinary life – in the place that He has chosen for us.

* Definitions and Pronunciation