Likkutei Amarim Chapter 14 · 5785

00:01 Speaker 1 Today we’re learning chapter 14. We said last week, and spoke about this a little, that Tanya is a book about avodah—the avodah of beinonim. The Alter Rebbe calls us beinonim and explains how to serve Hashem. For an ordinary person, someone who isn’t anything exceptional, neither a tzaddik nor a rasha—how does that person serve Hashem? As a necessary introduction, he first has to explain what the level of a beinoni actually is. What does a beinoni look like? What should a person be, and what should they aspire to? That’s what he explained in the first twelve chapters. The main point was that the difference between a beinoni, a tzaddik, and a rasha is a person’s spiritual level. It doesn’t depend on whether he does many mitzvos or few mitzvos, or how many aveiros he commits. Those are technical matters. The difference between them is their spiritual level. What does “spiritual level” mean? The Alter Rebbe explained at length, over many chapters, that every person has an inner self—the heart and its feelings, the mind, their inner essence—and an outer self: thought, speech, and action, which are called the garments of the soul. He explained that a tzaddik is someone who not only doesn’t actually stumble in aveiros, but also has no place for evil inside his heart. He belongs entirely to Hashem, both outwardly and inwardly. A rasha is just the opposite. Not only does he have desires for worldly things in his heart; he also stumbles in action, speech, and thought—in the garments. Both outwardly and inwardly, he is not good. And a beinoni is half and half. What does “half and half” mean? In his outer self—thought, speech, and action—he is like a tzaddik, but in his inner self he is like a rasha. He has desires for evil. After he

02:07 Speaker 1 finished explaining what a beinoni is, so that now we know, he said: Wait. Before we begin showing you the principles of serving Hashem—what to contemplate, how to awaken love for Hashem, and so on—the Alter Rebbe first presents us with three essential foundations. First, accept and internalize three things without which there’s no point in starting. These are three foundations that come even before serving Hashem. That’s chapters 13, 14, and 15. In the first of them, chapter 13, he explained that there are many levels among beinonim: the level of a beinoni, a lower level. He explained that—three, broadly speaking, three levels. Why? What follows from the fact that there are many levels among beinonim? The highest level of a beinoni is one where he is like a tzaddik. He looks so much like a tzaddik that he can’t tell; he himself can’t know whether he is a beinoni or a tzaddik. The highest level of a beinoni is so similar to a tzaddik outwardly that it’s impossible to distinguish between them. A person can’t tell for himself. Why? Let’s say one more thing about that. A beinoni at his highest level really does have love for Hashem. Why does he really have love for Hashem? Because he contemplates Hashem’s greatness; he contemplates Hashem’s greatness and is moved by it. He learns Torah all day. All day he is occupied with holy matters, and he doesn’t give himself a moment off. So he constantly feels love for Hashem. Not just outwardly—he feels love for Hashem in his heart all the time, too. So why isn’t he—why is he called a beinoni? Why isn’t he called a tzaddik? Because the truth is that the evil dwelling in his heart remains there. It hasn’t moved. It remains exactly as it was, completely untouched. The fact that the person doesn’t—

04:15 Speaker 1 The reason that beinoni at a high level doesn’t feel all kinds of desires arising isn’t that he has no desires. It’s that he is constantly learning, constantly contemplating, constantly thinking, all day and all night. So the evil within him, his desires, have no chance to break out.

04:33 Speaker 2 You have to stay occupied all the time.

04:35 Speaker 1 Yes. So that’s a beinoni at a very, very high level. And what does that mean? What follows from it? That a person mustn’t think to himself, “I’m already a tzaddik.” A person always has to say... However far he rises in serving Hashem—even to the point where he genuinely feels, I don’t know if we’ll ever get there, but where he genuinely feels love and awe and a fiery passion, and he is truly immersed entirely in G-dliness—even then, he mustn’t tell himself that he has already reached the level of a tzaddik. Why? If he really is at the level of a tzaddik, fine, all is well. But if not, that thought will cause him to let up for a moment. And if he lets up for even one moment, the evil is still there and will awaken that very second. It hasn’t gone anywhere. So that’s chapter 13. After learning chapter 13, a person immediately feels a kind of discouragement. So what? I’ll never be a tzaddik, never? And I always have to watch myself, all the time? That’s also very hard. How can you reach such a level? That’s why we have the second foundation, in chapter 14, our chapter, which says: It’s not so terrible. Despite everything we said in chapter 13, he begins chapter 14: “Now, the quality of the beinoni is within reach of every person, and every person should strive for it.” Despite everything we discussed earlier, being a beinoni is something within everyone’s reach.

06:23 Speaker 2 Meaning most people are beinonim?

06:24 Speaker 1 No, everyone.

06:25 Speaker 2 Everyone? Even tzaddikim?

06:28 Speaker 1 No.

06:29 Speaker 2 Then it isn’t everyone.

06:30 Speaker 1 Right.

06:32 Speaker 2 Most people.

06:33 Speaker 1 Being a beinoni is within reach of... We said this; we discussed it at length. A beinoni is someone who not only doesn’t actually commit aveiros—who never commits an aveirah, not in action, not in speech, and not even in thought. It’s not just that. Committing aveiros is unthinkable to him. When an improper thought occurs to him, he’s alarmed at himself. I imagine it’s happened to everyone here more than once: some thought about something wrong crosses your mind, and you’re like, “How could I think such a thing?” That’s the response of a beinoni. It’s interesting how he begins the chapter. Until now he spoke about the level of a beinoni. Chapter 14 begins, “Now, the quality of the beinoni...” What’s the difference between a level and a quality?

07:25 Speaker 2 A level is something constant, and a quality is for every person.

07:29 Speaker 1 Right, broadly speaking, yes. When a person rises to a new level, he was at one height before, and now he’s at another. That’s it; he’s moved up a level. But with the quality of a beinoni, he is constantly working to be a beinoni. He is constantly making an effort, constantly working hard at it. It isn’t something firmly established in his soul. So, truly reaching the level of a beinoni—that really is hard. But serving Hashem with the quality of a beinoni is within every person’s reach; it’s relevant to everyone. “Every person should strive for it”: every person can be a beinoni at any time and at any moment. Why? Because a beinoni does not find evil repulsive. Finding evil repulsive is a matter of the heart, and not every moment is the same. During davening, when he truly contemplates Hashem’s greatness and thinks about Hakadosh Boruch Hu, evil really is repulsive to him. Why? Do you remember how we spoke about the connection between love—between love of holiness and hatred of evil?

08:48 Speaker 3 It could also be more, more, more repulsive to you.

08:50 Speaker 1 Hmm?

08:51 Speaker 3 The more we hate and find repulsive what gets in our way, what holds us back.

08:54 Speaker 1 Yes. Hatred or revulsion is the opposite of pleasure and love. When a person enjoys something, he loves doing it—not because he understands that he ought to do it. He loves it; that is his pleasure. So when something gets in the way, it upsets him. He doesn’t want it. And the more pleasure he takes in something, the more he hates and is repelled by whatever interferes with it. We said that a tzaddik is someone who loves Hakadosh Boruch Hu in his heart, deep down. He truly loves Him. His pleasure is in G-dliness, genuinely. And because his pleasure is in G-dliness, he hates evil. With us—even I might hate evil, hate sins. Why do I hate sins? Because I love Hakadosh Boruch Hu? With me, it’s something else. I understand that sins are not good, right? If I refrain from sins or do mitzvos, it isn’t because I love Hakadosh Boruch Hu; it’s because I understand that it’s the right thing to do. But does that understanding penetrate my feelings? No. A tzaddik is someone whose love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu is so strong on an emotional level that if you show him worldly pleasures—say, delicious food on the table—he finds it repulsive. He feels that it distances him from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so he can’t even look at it. That goes for all worldly desires. A beinoni, generally speaking, is not on that level. Why does a beinoni hate evil? Not because he loves Hashem, but because he understands intellectually that he ought to love one thing and hate the other. During davening, at that opportune time, the G-dly light shines,

10:58 Speaker 1 and he is stirred to love Hashem. So during davening he really does love Hashem, and he really does hate evil. But once davening is over, he goes back to the way he was before. That is why it says that a beinoni does not truly abhor evil: abhorring evil is a matter of the heart, and a beinoni is not the same at all times. During davening, yes; afterward, no. So what is the level of the beinoni that is within everyone’s reach? “Turn away from evil and do good”—meaning in actual practice. What does “in actual practice” mean? In action, speech and thought. In these, every person has the choice, ability and freedom to act, speak and think even in a way that goes against the desires of his heart—the very opposite of what his heart wants. A person might have the ability to do something but not the permission. Or he might have permission—he’s allowed to—but be incapable of doing it; he doesn’t have the ability, and so on. So what is the difference between a person’s essential nature and the things he does? You can command a person regarding an action: Do this! Do that, and don’t do this. You can command him. You can command a person regarding speech: Say this. Don’t say that; you may and should say this. You can. You can command him regarding thought.

12:36 Speaker 4 To yourself, yes. To yourself.

12:38 Speaker 1 There are many mitzvos in which Hakadosh Boruch Hu commands us about thought—things we must think about and things we must not think about. Yes. But can you command someone to understand? Can you tell a person, “Understand”?

12:49 Speaker 4 Try.

12:50 Speaker 1 Huh?

12:51 Speaker 4 Try.

12:52 Speaker 1 You can explain it to him until he understands. You can’t command him to understand. Right? He can contemplate how good something is.

13:03 Speaker 4 You can try.

13:21 Speaker 1 Just as you can’t command someone to understand, you can’t command him to love or hate. You can tell him, “Think about how good this is until love awakens in you.” So you can command thought, but you can’t directly command a feeling. Why? Why can you command thought, speech and action, but not intellect and emotion? What’s the difference? Because intellect and emotion are the person himself. Can you command a goat to turn into a frog?

14:00 Speaker 4 No.

14:00 Speaker 1 You can’t. Why? It’s a goat. You can’t. That’s what it is. Right? A person’s intellect and emotions are the person himself. They are his essential nature. He can’t change that essential nature—or at least it is very difficult.

14:13 Speaker 4 But a goat—even if it tries to behave like a frog, or a frog tries to behave like a goat, that won’t change what it is.

14:20 Speaker 1 Right, right. The analogy isn’t perfect. It’s my analogy, all right? It doesn’t have to fit in every detail. It’s just meant to illustrate the point.

14:29 Speaker 4 Yes. No, it illustrated it beautifully.

14:31 Speaker 1 I said it’s very difficult, but with a person it is possible. A goat is still a goat, but all right—the point is clear. So this means that when it comes to action, speech and thought, the beinoni can do it. What is a beinoni? Every person, every one of us, can tell himself at any moment to do, say and think what I know I should, what I understand I should—not what my heart wants. My heart wants to join an enjoyable conversation going on here, and I’m having such a good time taking part that it’s hard to stop myself. But if I want to, I can. There’s delicious food on the table, and I really want to eat it. I’m strongly drawn to it, but if I want to, I can stop myself. Right? Why? Because these are actions. Action, speech and thought can be commanded. Who can give that command? A person can even command himself. And that is called a beinoni. A beinoni is someone who controls what he does. He doesn’t control his heart; he doesn’t control what he understands. He controls his actions, and “actions” here includes thought. “In these”—again, line six—“in these,” meaning these things, “every person has the choice, ability and freedom to act, speak and think even in a way that goes against the desires of his heart—the very opposite of what his heart wants. For even when the heart craves and desires some physical pleasure, whether permissible or, G-d forbid, forbidden,” a person can overcome it at any given moment and turn his mind away from it completely. How does he do that? It’s very hard. Sometimes the heart pulls us very, very strongly. So what is the trick? How can a beinoni who wants to conduct himself on the level of a beinoni keep himself in check all the time? By saying to his heart: “I do not want to be a rasha even for

16:48 Speaker 1 one hour.” Why? Because “I do not want to be separated and cut off, G-d forbid, from the One Hashem in any way, as it is written, ‘Your iniquities separate…’” There is a verse; I know the Torah. It says, “Your iniquities separate between Hashem and you.” I don’t want to be separated. I know that every sin I commit, even the smallest, separates me from Hashem. I don’t want that. “Rather, I want my nefesh, ruach and neshamah to cleave to Him.” How? “By clothing them in His three garments.” What are these garments? Hashem’s three garments. We learned in chapter 4 that they are action, speech and thought in connection with Hashem, His Torah and His mitzvos. We learned there, in chapter 4, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has three garments: mitzvos that depend on action, where you have to do something; mitzvos that depend on speech, such as speaking words of Torah and davening; and mitzvos that depend on thought—things you have to think about and contemplate, connected with “You shall love Hashem your G-d.” There are other mitzvos too, what are called duties of the heart. These mitzvos are the garments of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Hakadosh Boruch Hu clothes Himself in these mitzvos, which are His garments. And if I clothe myself in those same garments, then Hakadosh Boruch Hu and I are wearing the same garment together—we enter the same garment together. So we are united and connected. Why does he mention “my nefesh, ruach and neshamah” here?

18:36 Speaker 5 Things that depend on the person.

18:39 Speaker 1 Yes, but it works on three levels. Nefesh is the lowest level, the power of the soul that is invested in action. Ruach is the higher power that is invested in speech, and neshamah is what is invested in thought. So if I invest every part of my soul—nefesh, ruach, and neshamah—in mitzvos of thought, speech, and action, then all of me is together, united with Hakadosh Boruch Hu through that garment. And how can I get there? It’s hard to keep a hold on myself all the time, to keep telling myself, “Now I need to…” It’s very hard. True, says the Alter Rebbe, but there’s a way: through the hidden love for Hashem in my heart, if I awaken it. If I awaken the hidden love within me, that love is strong enough for me to control myself at every moment. But who says I even have a hidden love? I don’t feel it. What does the Alter Rebbe say? I have a wonderful solution. You want to be on the level of a beinoni? Then keep a hold on yourself all the time. How do you do that? It’s very hard. You have a hidden love; awaken it. Well, but who says I even have one? I don’t feel it. So he says this love is hidden; it is within me, just as it is in the heart of the Jewish people as a whole. Since the Torah says that all Jews are called “those who love Your name,” and I too am part of the Jewish people, I too love His name. Ah, I don’t feel it because it’s hidden. You don’t feel something hidden. What’s the proof that everyone has it? Every single person has a hidden love. What’s the proof? The Alter Rebbe says, “Here, I have proof for you: even the lowliest of the low.” What does “the lowliest of the low” mean?

20:57 Speaker 6 [unclear]

20:59 Speaker 1 Exactly. Even those who are on a low level, who don’t keep mitzvos. They say… So there are people like that, and we see it throughout the generations, including our own generation, time and again. We see that when a Jew faces a test of faith, when he’s told, “Either you convert or we’ll kill you,” Jews will often choose to die al kiddush Hashem rather than convert. And very often these are people who really are among the lowliest of the low, who don’t keep mitzvos at all. It’s hard to grasp. If someone hasn’t kept mitzvos his whole life, and now they tell him, “Worship an idol, become a Christian,” or whatever, “and only then will we let you go, let you live”—all right, why should he care? He doesn’t keep mitzvos anyway. Why should it matter to him? But no. He gives up his life. Where does that come from?

22:25 Speaker 6 From the hidden love.

22:26 Speaker 1 That proves that everyone has a hidden love, even someone who doesn’t know it himself.

22:31 Speaker 6 Right, he’s a Jew.

22:34 Speaker 1 So everyone can tell himself—everyone can tell himself at any moment: if even the lowliest of the low can give up his life, and even he has a hidden love, then surely I am no less than he is. Surely I have it too. And if I have a hidden love, I can hold myself back and not commit sins. Incidentally, this itself needs explaining. I’ll just say a word about it, though it’s not so important; the Rebbe mentions it. How does this solution work? The Alter Rebbe said there’s a solution here, a way to keep mitzvos: awaken your hidden love. Just like that—you’ll never sin again. It sounds almost like hocus-pocus. First of all, how do I awaken it? And second, why should it work? The Alter Rebbe then discusses this at length, from chapter 18 through chapter 25—eight chapters explaining how to awaken this love and why it works. But after all that discussion, the central explanation is actually short and simple, and he gives it here in a couple of words. This hidden love is the love of the essence of the soul. It’s so strong that it can affect a person even when he doesn’t feel it. It’s enough for him to remember that he has it—to remind himself that he has it. In other words, simply put, if a person is about to commit a sin—he’s going about his day, and an opportunity comes up, and he feels a desire to do something forbidden—if at that moment he just reminds himself that he has a soul, that’s all. He reminds himself that he has a love for Hashem. That’s enough to hold him back from committing the sin.

24:53 Speaker 1 Because this love is so strong that even when I don’t feel it, it still affects me. That’s the central explanation of…

25:00 Speaker 7 If so, why do we actually do it?

25:03 Speaker 1 That’s exactly the question.

25:06 Speaker 7 But it isn’t really that simple.

25:07 Speaker 1 That’s exactly the question the Rebbe asks here, on line eighteen. If everyone has a hidden love and it’s so easy to awaken it, why does even the lowliest of the low commit sins? He has a hidden love too. To that he answers: Why, then, does he commit sins? “A spirit of folly enters him, and he imagines that through this sin he remains a Jew.” What do the words “Your sins separate” mean? What does it mean for a person to become separated from Hakadosh Boruch Hu? Let’s ask the question from the other direction. What does it mean to be a Jew? To have a soul, right? Yes. And the soul, as we learned earlier, is connected above to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, to the Shechinah. Right? It’s like a rope, a thread connecting the Shechinah to my body. What does separation mean? It’s cut.

26:18 Speaker 7 Severed.

26:19 Speaker 1 If that thread is cut, then he no longer has that soul here. So can you still call him a Jew?

26:29 Speaker 7 He has a soul.

26:31 Speaker 1 A person who commits a sin ceases to be a Jew while he is committing it. That’s what the Alter Rebbe is saying here. He imagines that if he commits a sin, he remains a Jew. The truth is that when a Jew commits a sin, at that moment he ceases to be a Jew.

26:49 Speaker 7 So then what is he?

26:51 Speaker 8 Then there’s a problem with [unclear].

26:52 Speaker 1 A non-Jew.

26:53 Speaker 7 But he still has a soul within him. If he is redeemed…

26:56 Speaker 1 Not at that moment.

26:57 Speaker 7 But he has a soul.

26:58 Speaker 1 Not at that moment.

26:59 Speaker 7 He doesn’t have a soul?

27:00 Speaker 1 It leaves. I don’t know.

27:02 Speaker 8 But if, at that very moment, he can also do teshuvah, then it doesn’t…

27:05 Speaker 7 [unclear]

27:07 Speaker 1 That’s how the Alter Rebbe explains it at length in Igeres Hateshuvah.

27:11 Speaker 7 But—

27:11 Speaker 1 The thing is—and there is a qualification—if it’s a sin that does not carry kareis, a sin that doesn’t sever the soul completely, then after he stops committing the sin, he reconnects. Only one particular strand was torn. But while he’s committing the sin, he is…

27:34 Speaker 7 Disconnected.

27:35 Speaker 1 Disconnected. He’s no longer in his state as a Jew.

27:38 Speaker 8 All right, so it’s either yes or no.

27:40 Speaker 7 Then who committed the sin? A non-Jew committed the sin.

27:43 Speaker 8 A non-Jew committed the sin because he isn’t [unclear].

27:44 Speaker 7 A Jew doesn’t [unclear] there. If it isn’t the body—even the body is a Jewish body, I mean…

27:49 Speaker 8 I’m the one committing the sin. I commit a sin, and at that moment I have no soul. So when I eventually go up to Heaven…

27:56 Speaker 1 So what?

27:56 Speaker 8 So when I’m done, when I’ve finished my role here, I go up to Heaven.

27:59 Speaker 7 I wasn’t here…

28:00 Speaker 8 I don’t need atonement, because at that moment I didn’t have a soul.

28:03 Speaker 1 So what they say is—wait a moment. First of all, I need to look at it there again more carefully, but in general, the soul departs from the body. It remains above it, encompassing it, but it isn’t inside. He is separated from G-dliness, separated. Afterward it reconnects, because this is only temporary, and so on. What sort of punishment there is, and so on—those are matters of rectification. They belong to Igeres Hateshuvah, not here. What he emphasizes here is that he wants to explain how even the lowliest of the low can stumble despite having a hidden love. First of all, he tells himself fairy tales; he tells himself lies. What lies? He tells himself that even when he commits a sin, he remains a Jew. The Rebbe says that isn’t true. If you understand that while you’re committing a sin you’re separated from your Jewishness, you won’t commit it. And even if you know it’s only for a moment, you still won’t. Why? Do you know anyone who would agree to have his finger cut off for just a moment and then reattached? Just his little finger. Would a person agree to that?

29:24 Speaker 8 Certainly not.

29:25 Speaker 1 Certainly not. The difference is that we feel our fingers, while we feel our souls a little less. But it’s the same thing. So if a person knows—

29:35 Speaker 8 So it’s spiritual, because who…

29:36 Speaker 1 Yes.

29:36 Speaker 8 Knows [unclear].

29:37 Speaker 1 Exactly. So a person can say, “I don’t want to be like that utterly unworthy person. I’ll remind myself, when I’m about to— I’ll remind myself what’s happening, and then I won’t commit the sin.” Now there’s something else we need to understand. After all, how can that utterly unworthy person come to sin? We explained that he forgets this detail: that it separates him from his Jewishness. Now, what part of him forgets it? His intellect. The spirit of folly puts, how do you say, a blindfold over the eyes of his intellect, and he doesn’t see it. But he has a hidden love. The spirit of folly cannot conceal the hidden love. It can conceal the intellect, what a person understands, but it cannot conceal the essence of the soul, the hidden love within him. That’s exactly the point. Why does he give up his life? Because there, the spirit of folly cannot conceal it. What is he told? What happens when a person is put up against the wall and told, “Either you convert,” and so on? Why does the hidden love suddenly awaken then? Because here he can’t deceive himself and say, “If I do this, I’ll still be Jewish.” He can’t say that; they’re telling him, “You won’t be Jewish.” So once he can’t deceive himself, the hidden love is there.

31:11 Speaker 8 Why? If he isn’t Jewish, he doesn’t have a hidden love either.

31:13 Speaker 1 The spirit of folly can conceal only the intellect, not the essence of the soul, not the hidden love. And even the utterly unworthy person has a hidden love. Why doesn’t it awaken? All right, he’s forgotten, because he has a spirit of folly; there’s a covering over his eyes and he can’t see. But why doesn’t his hidden love awaken? So the explanation is that he forgets the hidden love in his heart. As we said, ordinarily the hidden love is hidden; you don’t feel it. For it to have an effect on him, he has to awaken it. He has to remind himself that it exists. But I don’t want to be a fool like him and deny the truth. I don’t want to be like that utterly unworthy person, so I will awaken the hidden love. I’ll remind myself that every sin separates me from my Jewishness, and therefore I can refrain from sin at every moment. That is the level of the beinoni. He continues: “This is not the case with a matter entrusted to the heart—namely, that evil should actually be repulsive to the heart and hated with an absolute hatred, or even with a hatred that is not absolute. This cannot be truly genuine except through a great and powerful love for Hashem, a love of delights.” This is what he explained in the previous chapters: the degree of hatred for the sitra achra corresponds to the degree of love. The more he loves—so a complete tzaddik, whose love is entirely perfect, hates evil absolutely. And a tzaddik who is not complete, whose love is not perfect, also does not have perfect hatred. But what all tzaddikim, at every level, have in common is that they genuinely hate evil. Absolutely or not absolutely, they genuinely hate evil. A beinoni does not genuinely hate evil. He hates it because he understands, not because he feels it. That’s—

33:13 Speaker 1 That isn’t called genuine? What?

33:16 Speaker 9 Why isn’t it genuine?

33:18 Speaker 1 Because it isn’t him. It isn’t him. His feelings—that’s the “me.” Who am I? I am what I feel, and I feel that evil is something good. What is evil? We said that evil includes all the desires of this world. Not forbidden things—permitted things. I feel that it’s something good, it feels good to me, and I’m drawn to it. I can’t hate it. Whenever people learn Tanya—not just often, always—when they reach these chapters, these subjects, or even earlier, in chapter 6 when we start talking about this, people immediately ask: “Wait, wait, excuse me. What did you say? All the pleasures of this world are evil? They’re kelipos, the sitra achra? Everything I do, what I say, the wisdom I study—it’s all evil, the sitra achra, kelipos, impurity? What happened? My heart is drawn to it. I don’t even understand what’s bad about it.” I don’t understand—that is, I don’t feel what’s bad about it. I can understand that it comes from the kelipos. But I don’t feel it. A tzaddik feels it, and he feels that it’s bad. I don’t feel that it’s good or that it’s bad. And about this our Sages said, “May you see your world in your lifetime.” About what? They say “May you see your world in your lifetime” of a tzaddik who delights in Hashem here in this world. What does “your world” mean?

34:49 Speaker 9 The world.

35:03 Speaker 1 What do tzaddikim do in Gan Eden?

35:06 Speaker 9 The radiance of the Shechinah.

35:07 Speaker 1 Huh?

35:08 Speaker 9 They delight in the radiance of the Shechinah.

35:09 Speaker 1 They delight—whatever that means—they delight in the radiance of the Shechinah. What do tzaddikim do in Gan Eden? They sit and enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah; they delight in G-dliness. They feel good, they’re happy, they’re content, it’s pleasant for them. Yes. If a person merits to delight in the radiance of the Shechinah—to take delight in Hashem, to find it pleasant here in this world—then he already receives a taste of the World to Come in this world. He receives his reward here. A tzaddik is someone who has Gan Eden here, at least a taste of Gan Eden. The whole point of Gan Eden is that a person’s delight will be in G-dliness. A tzaddik is someone who takes delight in G-dliness here. “Not every person merits this, for it is a kind of receiving a reward, as it is written, ‘I give you your priesthood as a service of gift.’” There are several places where priesthood is called—where a love of delights is called priesthood, as explained elsewhere. “And therefore Iyov said, ‘You created tzaddikim,’ and so on.” Where have we heard that saying before?

36:30 Speaker 10 Chapter 1.

36:30 Speaker 1 Chapter 1. What was the question there?

36:33 Speaker 10 If Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so to speak, does not say whether someone will be righteous or wicked, then how can it say “You created”—as though He created the wicked?

36:39 Speaker 1 If Hakadosh Boruch Hu says about a person, even before he is born, “This one will be a tzaddik and that one will be wicked,” where is free choice? Do you remember that question?

36:50 Speaker 10 No, He doesn’t say it. So how can it be written, “You created tzaddikim”?

36:55 Speaker 1 In Iyov, in the Book of Iyov, it says, “You created tzaddikim; You created the wicked.” So the Alter Rebbe discusses tzaddikim and the wicked there in chapter 1—how can it be—

37:05 Speaker 10 It doesn’t say “wicked”—when He takes the drop, He pronounces a decree over the drop.

37:10 Speaker 1 That’s in the Gemara. In the Gemara it says, “But righteous or wicked”—

37:14 Speaker 10 In chapter 1.

37:18 Speaker 1 Iyov said, “You created tzaddikim; You created the wicked,” and so on. So that’s what he asks: “But righteous or wicked, He does not say.” The question, though, is about the verse. The verse says, “You created tzaddikim; You created”—meaning, the verse explicitly says that Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates tzaddikim. Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates tzaddikim. That means that even before someone is born, it is known in advance that he will be a tzaddik. “You created the wicked”—even before someone is born, it is known in advance that he will be wicked. So where is free choice? Serving Hashem, being a beinoni—it’s all predetermined. That was the question. Yes? What’s the answer? We just answered it. What’s the answer? We answered it in these last few lines. How does what we learned here explain the answer to the question from chapter 1? The question is clear. Let’s repeat it. Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “You created tzaddikim; You created the wicked.” That means Hakadosh Boruch Hu created people already knowing in advance whether they would be righteous or wicked. So why do You demand that I serve Hashem? What service of Hashem? It’s all predetermined. How does what we learned here address the question? He says, “And therefore Iyov said.” What does “therefore” mean? What’s the answer? Well?

38:44 Speaker 10 There are people who, by their very nature, can be tzaddikim. And there are people who—

38:48 Speaker 1 Can’t.

38:49 Speaker 10 Whose nature isn’t like that; they can only be a beinoni.

38:52 Speaker 1 Exactly.

38:55 Speaker 10 There are people who are repulsed by the work, and they also have no difficulties with the work. What about the beinoni?

39:00 Speaker 1 Let’s look just two lines up, all right? What do the words “Not every person merits this” mean? It means there are people who do merit to become tzaddikim and others who don’t. What does that mean? Why does one person serve Hashem and toil, remind himself that he has a hidden love, and contemplate G-dliness, and merit to become a tzaddik, while his friend does exactly the same thing and doesn’t merit to become a tzaddik? Why?

39:30 Speaker 10 Because he has the soul of a tzaddik to begin with.

39:32 Speaker 1 There’s such a thing as potential. When Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates tzaddikim, it doesn’t mean He creates a person who will be a tzaddik. He creates a soul with the potential to become a tzaddik if the person works on himself. All right? That’s what “You created tzaddikim” means.

39:54 Speaker 10 Could there be someone here who has that potential and doesn’t know it?

40:02 Speaker 1 There’s a well-known story. I’ll tell it, even though probably half or three-quarters of you here know it. I’ll tell it briefly. The Rebbe tells it in five lines. I can’t tell it quite as briefly as the Rebbe.

40:12 Speaker 10 Five lines from the Rebbe? I don’t understand.

40:13 Speaker 1 In the Rebbe’s first maamar, the first maamar, Basi Legani, 5711—yes, that’s right—the Rebbe tells a story of Ahavas Yisroel about each of the Rebbeim. About the Rebbe Maharash, the Rebbe tells a story: Once, he traveled far from his city, even abroad, to France, and took a room in a hotel. The Rebbe Maharash took the most expensive room on the most expensive floor and went in. A few hours later, the Rebbe Maharash entered the gambling room, where all the roulette tables were, and looked around for a while. He approached a table where several gamblers were sitting, a little drunk, and watched them play for some time, seeing how the game worked. Then he approached one of them, who was drinking wine, and said to him, “Be a Jew.” He waited a few seconds and said, “Non-kosher wine dulls the mind and heart. Be a Jew,” and went out. Afterward, he was very shaken. It’s a long story. He was so deeply moved that the Rebbe Maharash lost his... he was beside himself. A few hours passed—I no longer remember how long—and that Jew came looking for the person who had spoken to him. He went in to the Rebbe Maharash and stayed there all night. He spent many hours there and came out a baal teshuvah. There’s a family of Chabad chassidim in France who can trace their descent to him. On one occasion, the Rebbe Maharash said that a soul so lofty had not come into the world for several generations. So a Jew can have the soul of a tzaddik, and it can find itself deep in the kelipos.

42:12 Speaker 10 All right, Asa also had a very lofty soul.

42:15 Speaker 1 What?

42:16 Speaker 10 Asa also had a very lofty soul.

42:18 Speaker 1 All right, I didn’t say otherwise.

42:21 Speaker 10 The source isn’t so...

42:23 Speaker 1 The story is told to emphasize this. Yes, there is such a thing as someone whom Hakadosh Boruch Hu created a tzaddik—He gave him the soul of a tzaddik. He didn’t work on himself. Or because of external circumstances; I don’t know what the reason was.

42:36 Speaker 10 The company he kept.

42:37 Speaker 1 In any case, the Alter Rebbe asks two questions there. Let’s remind ourselves: “You created tzaddikim; You created resha’im,” and “whether one will be a tzaddik or a rasha, He does not say.” So what has he explained here? What does “You created tzaddikim” mean, and what does “You created resha’im” mean? He hasn’t explained the second one here. He explained what “You created tzaddikim” means. What does “You created resha’im” mean?

43:01 Speaker 10 Someone...

43:02 Speaker 1 For that, you have to wait patiently until chapter 27. We’ll get there gradually too. We need to explain a few more things first, and then we’ll see what “You created resha’im” means as well. In the end, he answers all the questions.

43:16 Speaker 10 I don’t want to...

43:16 Speaker 1 All right.

43:18 Speaker 10 So you got there...

43:20 Speaker 1 So now you have the reference—what’s the problem? Now you just have to look it up. Good. So the Alter Rebbe brings a proof for this explanation, that “You created tzaddikim” means souls with the potential to be tzaddikim. As is known from the Tikkunim—it says in Tikkunei Zohar... There are tikkunim, tikkunim. Do you know the book Tikkunim?

43:42 Speaker 10 On those days...

43:43 Speaker 1 Yes. The Zohar has several sections. One of them is called Tikkunei Zohar. We’ve mentioned it a few times. It’s a book often cited in Chassidus, also a work of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, and it contains seventy tikkunim. The book is divided into seventy chapters. Each chapter is called a tikkun, and each tikkun offers a different interpretation of the word Bereishis, in the first verse of the Torah. The whole of Tikkunei Zohar consists of seventy interpretations of the Torah’s first verse according to Kabbalah. And Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says, “Actually... I could give you another seventy interpretations of every verse in the entire Torah. I’m showing you one verse as an example.”

44:22 Speaker 10 What’s an example?

44:23 Speaker 1 I don’t remember. I once read the first two or three.

44:26 Speaker 10 Seventy?

44:27 Speaker 1 I read it. It’s all interpretations according to Kabbalah.

44:30 Speaker 10 No, but it’s interesting to know what it’s like.

44:33 Speaker 1 Gematria and letters. I don’t understand these things. You can look at it; you can study it. It’s not terribly, terribly difficult.

44:40 Speaker 10 We could study it in class.

44:43 Speaker 1 All right.

44:44 Speaker 10 From age forty onward.

44:45 Speaker 1 So, in the Tikkunim—what does it say? Why does he mention the Tikkunim here? Because the Tikkunim says that Jewish souls have various levels and categories: chassidim, mighty ones. That is, it says there are people whom Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates with the potential to be chassidim: if they work on themselves, they can become chassidim. There are people whom Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates as mighty ones: if they work on themselves, they can overcome their yetzer. There are masters of Torah, whose souls have a greater capacity for Torah study; prophets, who have a stronger potential for spiritual vision and perception; and, among others, tzaddikim, seers, tzaddikim—there are several more categories there. So the Alter Rebbe brings proof from the Zohar that this is indeed the case. “You created tzaddikim” means that there are different kinds of souls, but bringing that potential into practice depends on a person’s own work. And with this we’ll understand... How are we doing for time?

45:38 Speaker 10 Nineteen.

45:39 Speaker 1 This will explain the two parts of the oath: “Be a tzaddik and do not be a rasha.” That’s another question he asked back in chapter 1. It seems puzzling: since a person is made to swear to be a tzaddik, why does he also need to swear not to be a rasha? What we’ve just learned is that the difference between a tzaddik and a rasha is greater than the distance between heaven and earth. If you make someone swear to be a tzaddik, why do you need to make him swear not to be a rasha? You’ve already made him swear to be a tzaddik. Yes?

46:07 Speaker 10 If he doesn’t reach the level of a tzaddik, at least he shouldn’t be a rasha.

46:10 Speaker 1 If he can’t reach the level of a tzaddik, why make him swear to it at all?

46:13 Speaker 10 If he doesn’t succeed.

46:14 Speaker 1 Then what’s the point of making him swear? He is made to swear. Rather, it’s because not everyone merits becoming a tzaddik. Everyone is made to swear, but not everyone can actually attain that level. So he can’t actually attain it. Then... All right, we still need to understand why he is made to swear to it. Just a moment. A person does not have such freedom of choice in this matter—to delight in Hashem, for his delight to be in G-dliness. He can explain to himself that G-dliness is good, but for his innermost delight truly to be in G-dliness rather than in the things of this world—that isn’t within everyone’s reach. It’s difficult. A person does not have such freedom of choice in this matter. He has a choice whether or not to commit transgressions. He has a choice to do mitzvos. But he can’t simply choose what he feels in his heart; he doesn’t control that. It isn’t in his hands. Nor is it so easy for him to truly find evil repulsive. He doesn’t have full freedom of choice in that. Therefore, he is made to swear that, at the very least, he will not be a rasha. In this, every person does have freedom and the ability to rule over the spirit of desire in his heart and subdue his yetzer, so that he will not be a rasha even for one moment throughout his life—both by turning away from evil and by doing good. “There is no good but Torah”—meaning that everyone can compel himself, hold himself to Torah study with kabbolas ol, and Torah study is equal to all the other mitzvos. But if so, the question arises from the other side. If, after all, “I have seen those who have attained the highest level, and they are few”; if Hakadosh Boruch Hu saw that tzaddikim were few and planted them in every generation, then why is everyone made to swear? It doesn’t apply to everyone. Make those who... Either don’t make anyone swear, or make only those who... Why make someone swear when you know in advance that he—

48:02 Speaker 1 Can’t? Because he can do something. Something of the work of tzaddikim—

48:10 Speaker 10 Everyone does something.

48:11 Speaker 1 Something of the work of tzaddikim does apply to us too. What? “Nevertheless,” even though he doesn’t have such freedom of choice in this, “he must also set aside times to seek ways within himself to come to find evil repulsive.” To truly find evil repulsive like a tzaddik—who hates evil because he loves Hakadosh Boruch Hu—that isn’t up to him. But a hatred of evil that comes not from love of Hashem, but from understanding, from contemplation—that is possible for everyone. I can contemplate too. So it’s true that I won’t have a tzaddik’s hatred of evil, but I will have some hatred of evil. There will be something. “And what is the advice? For example, the advice of our Sages, of blessed memory: ‘A woman is a skin full of excrement,’ etc. Similarly, all kinds of delicacies and fine foods—all the pleasures of this world become like a skin full of... And likewise, with all the pleasures of this world, the wise person sees what will become of them: they will eventually rot and become worms and refuse.” How can a person bring himself to hate the pleasures of this world? The Alter Rebbe gives simple advice: Don’t look at a cake as it is, topped with whipped cream. Look at it as it will be after it’s eaten and comes out the other end. That’s how you should look at a cake. If that’s how you think about a cake, you’re less likely to be drawn to it.

49:53 Speaker 10 Good thing I’ve already eaten.

49:54 Speaker 1 Huh?

49:55 Speaker 10 Good thing I’ve already eaten, so as not to spoil the...

50:00 Speaker 1 The Alter Rebbe says: True, our avodah is the avodah of beinonim, but you, too, can bring yourself to hate the pleasures of this world. How? By thinking about what will become of them in the end. “And conversely, to delight and rejoice in Hashem through contemplating the greatness of the Infinite One, blessed be He, to the extent of his ability.” And about rejoicing, he says, “Even though he knows within himself that he will not attain this level in absolute truth.” In other words, a person can truly hate evil—perhaps just a little, but truly. But he cannot truly love Hashem.

50:43 Speaker 10 A moment ago we were told to love His name, as though...

50:46 Speaker 1 From the perspective of the soul, and from the perspective of what? What level? “In absolute truth” means like a tzaddik, for whom that really is his pleasure, his genuine inner pleasure. Why—

50:58 Speaker 10 So, basically, when I really hate all the wickedness, when I hate the hatred...

51:04 Speaker 1 Yes.

51:04 Speaker 10 Because for me, it’s like...

51:07 Speaker 1 Because that’s what we’re like. I don’t know about you, but generally speaking—a beinoni.

51:12 Speaker 10 Kind of disappointing.

51:15 Speaker 1 The— the test, the test—right. Until chapter 27, it will continue to be disappointing. In chapter 27 we’ll see that this is actually a great virtue. It’s the purpose of the creation of the world, but we haven’t gotten there yet. After chapter 27, everything turns around.

51:29 Speaker 10 And that’s especially because we don’t have...

51:33 Speaker 1 That’s what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. Ah, what really is the difference? What’s the difference? Why can we truly hate evil, or at least hate it a little in truth, while we can’t truly love Hashem at all? What’s the reason? Did you hear the question? Hm? The Alter Rebbe’s wording here implies that you can hate evil. Not like a tzaddik, but you can hate it. Contemplate it, and you can get there. But with loving Hashem, you can only imagine that you love Him. Why? It’s very simple. We see evil; we don’t see Hakadosh Boruch Hu. You can’t truly love something you don’t see, don’t feel, that isn’t tangible to you.

52:25 Speaker 10 So we shouldn’t even try to love Him?

52:26 Speaker 1 Hm?

52:26 Speaker 10 So we shouldn’t even try to love Him?

52:28 Speaker 1 He says we do need to.

52:29 Speaker 10 But it’s all just imagination.

52:30 Speaker 1 “Even though he knows within himself that he will not attain this level in absolute truth, but only in his imagination, nevertheless, he must do his part.” And why? It’s just imagination. Why? What good does it do? First of all, you have to fulfill the oath. You are made to swear—which means you are required to do this, even though it’s imagination and I know in advance that it’s imagination. Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants me to imagine it this way. That’s the first thing. Hashem will do what is good in His eyes. Whether I succeed or not is His concern. I have to do my part. What?

53:04 Speaker 10 At least, uh...

53:04 Speaker 1 Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants me to imagine that I’m a tzaddik. He wants me to, uh... What? First of all, Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants it. That’s the first thing. Second, “Furthermore, habit becomes master over everything and becomes second nature.” When he accustoms himself to finding evil repulsive—when he thinks about it not just once, but again and again and again, even though it’s not so pleasant to think about these things—he will genuinely find it a little repulsive. So through habit, yes, a little genuine revulsion can enter him. And when he accustoms himself to making his soul rejoice in Hashem by contemplating Hashem’s greatness, even though it’s only in his imagination, an awakening from below arouses an awakening from Above. Perhaps, after all this, a spirit from Above will be poured upon him, and he will merit a spirit from the soul-root of some tzaddik, which will become invested in him so that he can serve Hashem with genuine joy. What?

54:10 Speaker 10 Has that ever happened? Someone didn’t have it to begin with, and then...

54:14 Speaker 1 First of all, there are several stories. And second, the Rebbe says something—the Rebbe isn’t saying that you’ll become a tzaddik. When the soul of a tzaddik becomes invested in a person through the mystery of gilgul, that doesn’t mean he becomes a tzaddik. He remains a beinoni, just as he was before—at best. But he can genuinely take a little pleasure in Hashem, even though he isn’t a tzaddik. Since the soul of a tzaddik has become invested in him, if he tries very hard and puts a great deal of effort into this, Hakadosh Boruch Hu can give a person—and it does happen—a gift. What gift? To place within him a spirit from some tzaddik. He won’t know about it or feel it, but he will have genuine pleasure in Hashem. Not pleasure like that of a complete tzaddik, or even an incomplete tzaddik, but genuine pleasure.

55:07 Speaker 10 Doesn’t that mean he can start working on himself and truly become a tzaddik?

55:10 Speaker 1 Hm?

55:11 Speaker 10 Doesn’t that mean he can start working on himself and then—

55:14 Speaker 1 He can’t do it through his own strength, because his soul is the type of soul a beinoni has.

55:19 Speaker 10 Even after that soul has become invested in him?

55:21 Speaker 1 After...

55:21 Speaker 10 He can’t do it?

55:23 Speaker 1 Apparently not. I don’t know. As it is written, “Rejoice, tzaddikim, in Hashem.” And then the oath administered to him—“Be a tzaddik”—will truly be fulfilled in him. So the first principle, before—before beginning the service of Hashem, was “See yourself as a rasha.” Throughout chapter 13: see yourself as a rasha. No matter how far you advance in serving Hashem, don’t consider yourself a tzaddik. And the second principle is: don’t think it’s impossible. It is possible. True, you won’t reach the level of a tzaddik, but...

55:58 Speaker 10 Make the effort.

55:59 Speaker 1 But you can reach the level of a beinoni: a state where you don’t commit transgressions and you do fulfill mitzvos—and not only in practice, but in your heart as well. To the point that finding evil a little repulsive, and even loving Hashem a little in truth, is possible for each and every person. What else are we missing? We said there’s one more chapter before we begin serving Hashem, apart from...

56:25 Speaker 10 Uh, levels of intention?

56:26 Speaker 1 The levels were in chapter 13. We said that chapter 13 has three layers of levels.

56:34 Speaker 10 “One who serves G-d,” “one who has not served Him,” “there is no other G-d besides You.”

56:38 Speaker 1 Don’t think this is easy work. Chapter 14. After he said it’s possible—it’s possible for everyone. It’s possible. Whoa, I’m rushing. No, no, no, no. Take a deep breath. It won’t be easy.

56:53 Speaker 10 What a joy for all who wish us well.