Likkutei Amarim Chapter 35 (Part 2) – The Conclusion · 5785

00:01 Speaker 1 It’s the yahrzeit of the Rebbe’s brother, who is buried in Israel.

00:05 Speaker 2 Rabbi Zalman [unclear]’s.

00:06 Speaker 1 A very interesting story.

00:08 Speaker 2 Tomorrow evening, for the elevation of his soul.

00:12 Speaker 1 And for the elevation of my sister’s soul. Yes, today is also the anniversary of her passing.

00:15 Speaker 2 Wow, we talked about that last week, I remember.

00:26 Speaker 1 All right, we stopped in the middle of chapter 35. Let’s review the point. We got as far as the note on page 88, but we haven’t studied it yet. We said we’d stop and leave it for next time—which is now. What is chapter 35 about? The Alter Rebbe begins to answer a question that arises from the first part as a whole. What has been explained there? If you ask a Jew on the street, “Do you serve Hashem?” any observant Jew will say, “Of course.” What is he doing, after all? Of course he serves Hashem. How do you serve Hashem? “I keep mitzvos, study Torah and daven three times a day. I serve Hashem.” Ask him, then, what’s the difference between a rasha, a beinoni and a tzaddik? What do people answer? A tzaddik is someone who keeps lots of mitzvos. A beinoni is someone who slips up a little here and there, and a rasha is someone who’s wicked. That’s how people answer. What is the Alter Rebbe explaining throughout the first part? What is the central point running through the first 34 chapters? That serving Hashem is not about how many mitzvos you fulfill. It isn’t a matter of quantity. Serving Hashem is about quality, not quantity. Whether you’ve fulfilled many mitzvos or few isn’t really the point. Serving Hashem is something inward. It means working with the heart. It means contemplating G-dliness, contemplating Hashem’s greatness and things that awaken love of Hashem, and thereby awakening that love. The more you succeed in awakening love of Hashem, the more refined you become, and the closer you come to the level

02:31 Speaker 1 of a tzaddik—or the further you remain from it. The difference between a tzaddik, a rasha and a beinoni is not how many mitzvos each fulfills. That’s a good point.

02:45 Speaker 2 What, is there a birthday today? No, a birthday.

02:48 Speaker 1 Rashbi’s.

02:49 Speaker 2 Yes, a student of Rashbi.

03:00 Speaker 1 The Alter Rebbe explains throughout the opening chapters... Let me try to keep this short so we can focus. He explains throughout the opening chapters of Tanya that serving Hashem is an inward matter; it’s in the heart. Serving Hashem means succeeding in refining yourself. The whole question is how far you succeed in casting the evil out of your heart and bringing love and awe of Hashem into it. That’s the difference when it comes to a tzaddik. A tzaddik is someone who has cast it out completely. He has no evil at all; he’s managed to get rid of it entirely, and so he loves Hashem to the utmost. A beinoni—a rasha is the opposite. A rasha is someone who hasn’t succeeded. Maybe he didn’t try, or maybe he tried and didn’t succeed. He’s drawn to desires, even to committing aveiros, and he may slip up from time to time. That’s a rasha. A beinoni is someone who—

04:14 Speaker 2 Slips up from time to time?

04:15 Speaker 1 What?

04:16 Speaker 2 Slips up from time to time, or slips up every time?

04:19 Speaker 1 A rasha is someone whose spiritual state is such that he might face a dilemma: “Wait, I know this isn’t kosher. But I’m very hungry, and I have nothing else to eat. I’m in a place where, if I don’t eat—after all, I’m in a hospital right now, and there’s nothing else.” He finds excuses for how to cut corners. So he, too, has a struggle. Usually, even a rasha—even a Jew who is a rasha, meaning that he has the potential to slip up—usually doesn’t. We’re talking about most Jews, about an observant Jew. We’re not talking about someone who... We’re not dealing with fools here. We’re talking about an observant Jew. Usually, a Jew—

05:05 Speaker 2 An observant Jew who slips up is a rasha? Is that what he’s called at that point?

05:09 Speaker 1 Of course. A rasha is a person—we’re discussing serving Hashem, and that discussion is about an observant Jew. We’re not talking about someone who doesn’t... We’re talking about serving Hashem. Someone who doesn’t keep mitzvos isn’t the subject here.

05:24 Speaker 2 Of course.

05:24 Speaker 1 No, that’s not what we’re discussing. We’re talking about a Jew who, for his part, davens, studies Torah and so on. He does everything he should, but his spiritual state is such that, here and there, the concerns and desires of this world—or some kind of pressure, or feeling a little sad or depressed—can cause him to slip up. Afterward he regrets it. He feels bad; he knows he did wrong, and it hurts him. But next time, it could happen again. Generally, though, he’s an observant Jew, kosher, everything is fine. That’s a rasha. A tzaddik, on the other hand, isn’t drawn to anything bad at all. He has refined himself and contemplated G-dliness to such an extent that he has driven the evil out completely. He has no evil, no attraction to it. Why doesn’t he commit aveiros? Because he doesn’t want to. He isn’t drawn to them. They don’t appeal to him. Why would he do them? For a rasha, the things of this world, and even aveiros, are appealing; he might actually commit one. What is a beinoni? A beinoni describes most people—virtually all of us. In his heart, a beinoni hasn’t cast out the evil. He can desire the pleasures of this world; that can happen, and it happens to everyone. It can happen a hundred times a day, or even more. But he won’t actually commit an aveirah. “I’m an observant Jew. I know it’s forbidden.” He might dream about committing aveiros, but he won’t do it in practice. That’s a beinoni—that’s virtually all of us. So the Alter Rebbe explains this point at length throughout Tanya,

07:08 Speaker 1 from chapter 1 through chapter 34. What does it mean to serve Hashem? It isn’t quantitative; it isn’t about how many mitzvos you fulfill, but about the state of your heart. If your heart is as it should be, you’ll love Hashem and have awe of Hashem. You’ll cast out the evil and overcome it, and bring the love of Hashem within you into practice. Then you won’t want to commit aveiros; you’ll do only mitzvos. That’s the whole first part of Tanya.

07:37 Speaker 2 So wait, being afraid to commit an aveirah—that’s a beinoni, then?

07:42 Speaker 1 Yes. It’s explained at length in chapters 27 and 28. This understanding of Tanya should be obvious. It should be basic—what are we even talking about? Anyone asked, “What is Tanya about?” should be able to say: Tanya is about serving Hashem being an inward matter, a matter of the heart, a spiritual matter. It isn’t about how many more or fewer mitzvos you fulfill. That isn’t the point. That’s what serving Hashem is. Now, when a person finishes studying all this at the end of chapter 34, two questions arise—or should arise—two difficult questions. First of all, the Alter Rebbe says that the whole of serving Hashem rests on one verse in the Torah, there at the end of Devarim: “It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will bring it down to us?’ Rather, the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” The Written Torah says explicitly that serving Hashem isn’t something distant; it belongs to everyone. What does the Torah say? That serving Hashem is “in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” A person says, “Wait.” Before studying Tanya, fine: serving Hashem has a part that involves speech, a part that involves action and a part that is “in your heart.” I understand. But after such a lengthy explanation that serving Hashem is entirely a matter of the heart, whether a person fulfills this mitzvah or that one is already a result. It isn’t part of the avodah itself. So why does the verse say “in your mouth” and “to do it”? The verse should have said, “The matter is very close

09:43 Speaker 1 to your heart.” What are “in your mouth” and “to do it” doing there? The verse is talking about serving Hashem. What is serving Hashem? It’s a matter of the heart. So what do “in your mouth” and “to do it”—action—have to do with the verse?

10:00 Speaker 5 Shalom.

10:00 Speaker 1 Here, it’s at the back.

10:01 Speaker 5 Shalom. How nice! Shalom.

10:07 Speaker 1 Good evening.

10:07 Speaker 5 Good evening.

10:09 Speaker 1 Well, right on time. We’re just about to begin.

10:12 Speaker 5 We arrived just in time.

10:13 Speaker 1 We’re just about to begin.

10:14 Speaker 5 Wow, there’s...

10:32 Speaker 1 We’re up to page 88. In a moment we’ll start studying page 88, where there’s an asterisk at the bottom.

10:41 Speaker 5 Here.

10:42 Speaker 1 But right now we’re explaining what we’re about to study there.

10:48 Speaker 5 Yes.

10:59 Speaker 1 So what’s going on—what is the Alter Rebbe explaining here in our chapter? He addresses two questions. First, if serving Hashem is a matter of the heart, of feeling—of intellect and feeling—why does the Torah say, “For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it”? The Torah should have said, “For the matter is very close to your heart.” What are “mouth” and “doing” doing here? The mouth is speech. Serving Hashem is not about speech; it’s about the heart. And why bring mitzvos into it—“to do it”? What does doing have to do with it? Serving Hashem is in the heart. If I have a good heart and I love Hashem, I’ll naturally keep all the mitzvos. That follows on its own. Why does the verse say that serving Hashem involves both the mouth and action? That’s one thing that should bother a person after learning all of Tanya. If he’s learned it, it should bother him. Second, one of the things explained at great length in the first part is what a beinoni is. Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates two kinds of souls. There are souls of tzaddikim and souls of beinonim; that’s what the Gemara says. There are people Hashem created with the potential to become tzaddikim. Not that—there is free choice, yes? But some people Hakadosh Boruch Hu created with the potential to become tzaddikim, and others He created with the potential only to become beinonim. They will never be able to become tzaddikim, except in exceptional cases. The Rebbe discusses that. The Alter Rebbe asks a simple question: If serving Hashem is all about casting the evil out of your heart, what is a beinoni? A beinoni is someone who cannot cast the evil out of his heart. Well, You created everyone, apart

13:01 Speaker 1 from the thirty-six tzaddikim in each generation—all the millions of Jews in every generation—as beinonim. And what do You tell them? “Your task is to cast the evil out of your heart. But I created you in such a way that you can’t do that.”

13:15 Speaker 6 How? To try, or what? How did You create us? I don’t understand.

13:18 Speaker 1 How did You create us? As long as we haven’t learned Tanya and I don’t know what serving Hashem means, I think it’s all about how many mitzvos I’ve kept. If I’ve kept more mitzvos—a lot of mitzvos—I’m a tzaddik; if I’ve kept fewer, I’m a beinoni; and if I’ve committed aveiros, I’m a rasha. If that’s how I see it, fine. There’s no problem; I have no question. But if you explain to me that serving Hashem is a matter of the heart, what does it mean that You created me this way? How can You demand something of me when You created me so that I can’t do it? There’s a principle in the holy Zohar. I’ll say the words in Aramaic: “Lo avid Kudsha Brich Hu…”

14:04 Speaker 6 His mother.

14:06 Speaker 1 No, no, that’s not it. I don’t remember the wording in Aramaic. Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not give a person a task he cannot carry out. Hakadosh Boruch Hu created us. He knows exactly what strengths He gave us, what each person is capable of and what he isn’t. So He gives each person a task suited to his strengths. How could it be that Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the millions upon millions of Jews throughout the generations in such a way that they could not fulfill the main task of their lives? It makes no sense. The Alter Rebbe comes to answer these two questions in chapter 35. First, since the main part of serving Hashem is a matter of the heart, why does the Torah speak about action? And second, if the main part of serving Hashem is the heart, what do You want from me when I can’t transform my heart? That is what he begins to answer in our chapter. What did we already discuss at the beginning of the chapter? What was the main point of the explanation? He brought a parable from the holy Zohar—the Alter Rebbe quotes the Zohar a great deal. He called it the parable of the Yenuka. We won’t go through the whole thing again now. What does the holy Zohar say? It says that a flame cannot take hold unless there is a wick of some kind. There’s no flame without…

15:40 Speaker 6 Smoke.

15:41 Speaker 1 Not without smoke.

15:42 Speaker 6 Sorry.

15:43 Speaker 1 A flame can never exist without a wick. Sorry, sorry. This cup doesn’t need anything to hold it up. Once it was made and came out of the factory, it stands here. It doesn’t need anything to hold it up, right? A flame, if it doesn’t take hold of something—a wick, something—there is no flame. Air.

16:07 Speaker 6 Right.

16:09 Speaker 1 A flame has to take hold of something. That’s what the holy Zohar says. But it goes on to say that even when a flame takes hold of something, the wick of a candle, yes, if there’s no oil there—paraffin, oil, it doesn’t matter—if there’s no substance being drawn up through the wick, then within a second it will be over. There won’t be a flame. A flame needs two things in order to keep burning. First, it has to take hold of something. Second, for it to last, there has to be oil. That’s the parable. What does it represent? He quotes Moshe Rabbeinu. The Zohar also contains sayings and teachings of Moshe Rabbeinu, and he quotes him there: When a person keeps mitzvos, the Shechinah—the light of the Shechinah—rests upon his head. The Yenuka in the Zohar explains: What does Moshe Rabbeinu mean when he says that the light of the Shechinah rests upon his head? It’s like a candle. The person’s body is the wick, and the light that rests upon him when he keeps mitzvos is the flame. But just as, physically, a wick isn’t enough—without oil, the flame can’t keep burning on the wick; it goes out immediately—so the Zohar asks: What is the oil that flows through the wick and keeps the flame burning, so that the Shechinah continues to rest upon the person’s head without interruption? And here comes the surprise. It says that the oil is the mitzvos. When a person performs mitzvos, the mitzvos are the oil that enables Hashem’s light to shine upon his head. That’s what the Yenuka says. So the parable and what it represents are very clear, right? Easy to understand. The Alter Rebbe asks: The mitzvos are the oil? Why the mitzvos? A Jew has a soul, a G-dly soul. Why can’t his soul be the oil that holds the G-dly light? Are the physical things of this world what hold Hashem’s light upon him? On the contrary, we would

18:37 Speaker 1 think that my soul, which is truly a part of G-d above, is within me, and even if I commit aveiros, nothing happens to it; it is always pure. The soul seems like something that could hold the G-dly light and draw it down, keeping Hashem’s light upon a person. The soul is suited to be the oil. Mitzvos? Physical things? Those are what hold Hashem’s light upon a person? What’s going on here? Do you understand the question?

19:08 Speaker 6 Yes.

19:11 Speaker 1 Hmm? What? Oh.

19:19 Speaker 6 No, no, I don’t drink coffee. I don’t want any, thank you.

19:23 Speaker 1 I highly recommend coffee. I run on coffee.

19:35 Speaker 6 Amen.

19:40 Speaker 1 So what did he explain? What is the explanation, really? Why? What are we trying to explain? We asked at the beginning what chapter 35 sets out to explain: Why does the Torah say that serving Hashem also involves action? Seemingly, serving Hashem is a matter of the heart. Why does it involve action too? Based on this parable in the Zohar, he wants to explain the special value of action: the soul, the spiritual side, is not enough to draw Hashem’s light onto a person. Mitzvos are needed too. All right, after saying that, you can see that the Zohar explicitly says that drawing holiness onto a person does not depend on his soul, but on the physical mitzvos he performs. But we need to understand why. What is the actual explanation? Here’s an interesting explanation, one found in many places. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is infinite. Infinite. In Kabbalah, He is often called Ein Sof, blessed be He. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is infinite, the One and Only, the unique One. Everything that has been created, without exception—even physical beings—is certainly limited. Yes? It has weight, size, shape, color, qualities. How do I know that this phone isn’t the phone next to it? Besides having a different shape, one is in this place and the other is in that place. Each is defined by its own boundaries, right? The same is true of spiritual things. Chessed is not Gevurah, Netzach is not Tiferes, and the idea one person understands is not the same idea another person understands. So spiritual things are limited too, as are the higher worlds, and even the angels, and even what is higher and higher and higher still. Everything is limited. The Alter Rebbe says: How can Hashem’s unlimited, infinite light rest upon, enter into, connect and unite with something limited? Can you put infinity inside something finite?

22:15 Speaker 1 Can you join the finite with the infinite?

22:19 Speaker 7 No.

22:19 Speaker 1 If you put the infinite into something limited, it will no longer be limited. It will... you won’t see it; it won’t exist anymore. Right? If you take the limited thing and raise it up, connect it to the infinite, then once again it won’t exist. Right? To connect the boundless infinite—the light of Hashem, the Shechinah—with us, with a person, you need some kind of intermediary. What quality must this intermediary have? On the one hand, it has to be connected to the infinite; on the other hand, it has to be connected to us. What is the defining quality of an intermediary—any intermediary? What is an intermediary between two things? It has a bit of this and a bit of that, so it can connect them. Right? Yes?

23:12 Speaker 7 A funnel. Is it a funnel, or is it...

23:13 Speaker 1 No.

23:17 Speaker 7 An example.

23:18 Speaker 1 A funnel as an intermediary? No, a funnel isn’t an example of an intermediary. Um...

23:24 Speaker 7 Go on, think about it.

23:30 Speaker 1 Say two people are arguing. One understands—Reuven understands the matter one way, and Shimon understands it another way, and they can’t... they aren’t getting anywhere, there’s no connection, they can’t reach an agreement. Right? So they go to a mediator. What does the mediator do? What does the mediator do? First, the mediator listens to each of them separately. He listens and says nothing.

23:56 Speaker 7 First thing, he takes money.

23:57 Speaker 1 First thing, he takes money. You’ll say the money is the intermediary...

24:03 Speaker 7 An intermediary that connects them.

24:04 Speaker 1 Then he listens to the other one, and he tries to understand how he himself, as a mediator, can connect with this one and also connect with that one. “Yes, I understand what you’re saying. Yes, I understand what you’re saying too.” Right? And because he can understand both sides, he can connect them, because he has a bit of this and a bit of that. You could give all kinds of examples. An intermediary means that it has a bit of this and a bit of that, and therefore it can connect them. There are different kinds of connection. There are ways of connecting without an intermediary: one thing can fit inside another, like a ring. Right? There’s also connection through glue. When there’s something in between, the glue actually separates the two things. How does glue connect two things? It sticks to this one and sticks to that one, but it separates them. Right? So glue is called a separating intermediary. And there’s a connection without... But there’s something called a connecting intermediary. For the light of the blessed Ein Sof to rest upon a person’s soul, there has to be a connecting intermediary. What could serve as a connecting intermediary between the Ein Sof and a person, and the worlds? It has to be something that has both this and that. Where do you find something that, on the one hand, is G-dliness, and on the other hand, is part of this world? Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “Yes, that is why I gave you the mitzvos.” What are mitzvos? The mitzvos are His will and wisdom. Right? His will and wisdom are Him. Yes? And what are the mitzvos? Physical things. So because the mitzvos are, on the one hand, His will and wisdom, and on the other hand, physical things, when a person fulfills mitzvos, the light of Hashem can rest upon their soul. That isn’t the main point of the explanation; I explained it that way deliberately

25:59 Speaker 1 because it’s easier to understand. I didn’t want to repeat the explanation from the previous chapter about the depth of the matter, but this is enough to understand it. All right? So that’s what he has explained up to this point. What was the question? The question was: Since serving Hashem is an inner matter, why does the Torah place so much emphasis on “doing it”—on action? What’s the explanation? Only the mitzvos, only action, can connect Hakadosh Boruch Hu with the world. So there’s a question and an answer. All right? Now the Rebbe is going to explain this answer—that the special quality of mitzvos is that only the practical fulfillment of mitzvos in physical things can connect the Ein Sof with the world and reveal Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the world—from here until the end of Tanya. That’s seventeen chapters, something like that. Eighteen chapters. All right? That’s the point we’re now going to explore in depth, because there’s a lot of depth here to understand. First the Rebbe lays out the general idea, and now he begins to explain it. So everything up to here we actually learned in the previous class, and now we come to the note. There’s an asterisk here, followed by smaller print. Let’s read it inside.

27:31 Speaker 7 Now we’re reading.

27:35 Speaker 1 “As I heard from my teacher, of blessed memory.” The Alter Rebbe says he heard this from his teacher, the Maggid of Mezritch. “The meaning and reason for what is written in Eitz Chaim.” Eitz Chaim is the central book of the Arizal’s writings. We’ve spoken about it a few times; perhaps we’ll speak about it again later.

27:57 Speaker 7 They won’t laugh.

28:01 Speaker 1 Eitz Chaim says this: “The light of the blessed Ein Sof does not unite even with the world of Atzilus except by first being clothed in the sefirah of Chochmah.” The Alter Rebbe says: This is written in Eitz Chaim, and I heard an explanation of it from the Maggid, my teacher. What’s the question? Why does this need an explanation? The light of the Ein Sof does not unite even with the world of Atzilus unless it is first clothed in the sefirah of Chochmah. What isn’t clear about that? Do you hear the question?

28:39 Speaker 8 I didn’t hear that you can clothe it in garments, in the garments of Atzilus. Isn’t that mixing things up?

28:49 Speaker 1 Atzilus... Exactly.

28:50 Speaker 8 Right.

28:51 Speaker 1 Atzilus isn’t a world. Atzilus comes from the word meaning “beside Him,” close to Him. It’s... From the world of Beriah onward, created beings begin. The world of Atzilus isn’t created beings; it’s G-dliness. It’s the wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and the understanding of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and the knowledge of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And His... what’s it called? His kindness and might and endurance. The world of Atzilus isn’t created beings; it’s Him Himself. What does it mean when Eitz Chaim writes this? Listen, listen. Even though the world... Sorry, girls, this... I’m sorry. It’s just distracting me. I can’t... It breaks my train of thought.

29:43 Speaker 8 Next time we’ll come with the...

29:45 Speaker 1 Oh, all right.

29:46 Speaker 8 Why? Good news. Good news.

29:52 Speaker 1 Amen, amen. Good news.

29:55 Speaker 8 We’ll go on our own. Sorry. It’s all good.

30:04 Speaker 1 It’s uncomfortable, uncomfortable.

30:08 Speaker 8 No, she didn’t get up because of you.

30:09 Speaker 1 Huh?

30:10 Speaker 8 Don’t worry, she didn’t get up because of you.

30:11 Speaker 1 No, no, not because of me?

30:12 Speaker 8 No. They said they were tired.

30:14 Speaker 9 They’re tired.

30:14 Speaker 8 They’re tired; that’s why they were talking to each other.

30:16 Speaker 9 Exactly, she told me...

30:17 Speaker 8 It’s uncomfortable. All right.

30:20 Speaker 9 [unclear] got up.

30:24 Speaker 8 What can you do? You can’t teach.

30:25 Speaker 1 I just can’t.

30:27 Speaker 8 Well, then what’s the problem?

30:30 Speaker 1 All right, back to our subject. It says this: The Alter Rebbe writes that he heard from the Maggid an explanation of what is written in Eitz Chaim. If the Maggid hadn’t given the explanation, the Alter Rebbe wouldn’t have understood what Eitz Chaim says. What’s so hard to understand? What does Eitz Chaim say? That the light of the blessed Ein Sof rests in the world of Atzilus by being clothed in the sefirah of Chochmah. What isn’t clear about that? That the light, the light of the Ein Sof, rests in Atzilus? Of course it does—where else would it rest? The whole purpose of the world of Atzilus is to reveal G-dliness. What’s unclear about what Eitz Chaim says? Why does he need an explanation from the Maggid? So the point is this: Why does Eitz Chaim say that even in the world of Atzilus, the light of the Ein Sof rests there only by first being clothed in the sefirah of Chochmah? Why is the sefirah of Chochmah necessary? The whole purpose of the entire world of Atzilus is to reveal Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Chochmah reveals the wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so to speak. Yes. Binah reveals His understanding, Chesed reveals His kindness, and so on. Why, if there were no sefirah of Chochmah, would Hakadosh Boruch Hu be unable to be revealed even in the world of Atzilus? What’s the difference between Chochmah and the other sefiros? And why do the other sefiros need Chochmah? Is the question clear? Yes. So the Maggid explains: “This is because the blessed Ein Sof is the true One.” What does “the true One” mean? That He alone exists, and there is nothing besides Him. Any other truth... What is truth? When do we say that something is real?

32:33 Speaker 10 When it happens?

32:36 Speaker 1 When it happens, it’s certainly real.

32:37 Speaker 10 If it has something opposing it.

32:39 Speaker 1 If something has something opposing it, then it could eventually cease to be, right? If something ceases to be, then it isn’t truly real. Even while it exists, it isn’t truly real.

32:59 Speaker 10 The very possibility that it could cease—the very fact that it could cease to be means it isn’t truly real?

33:05 Speaker 1 Truth is something that endures forever. It is the same from beginning to end. If I have an idea and I understand it, and understand it correctly, but later I understand it differently and suddenly it turns out that the idea is wrong, that means it was never right in the first place. Even when I was learning it and thought I understood it, it wasn’t right. There’s a cup here, right? A cup standing on the table, made of some kind of porcelain. Is it something truly real? After all, in another moment it might burn or break. It might get a hole in it; it won’t be what it is now. Right? The very fact that it can get a hole means that even now it has the potential not to be what it is, not to exist. That’s true of all created beings in the world. Why were they created? Hakadosh Boruch Hu brings each one into being from nothing at every moment. So as long as it exists, it exists because Hakadosh Boruch Hu is bringing it into being. But if Hakadosh Boruch Hu were to stop bringing it into being for even one moment, it would no longer exist. It would return to nothing and naught, as it was before it was created. So even while it exists, what is its reality? Its reality isn’t its own. Its reality is that someone is bringing it into being. We’ve often discussed the analogy of a flying stone. Is a flying stone a bird? It remains a stone. The fact that it’s flying now is because someone threw it. It hasn’t changed. Its flight isn’t its reality; it isn’t its truth. It’s flying because someone is now causing it to fly. It remains a stone. Right? So the only One in whom there are no changes whatsoever, and in whom no changes are possible, is the Essence of the Infinite One, blessed be He, Himself. Understood? Clear? Yes. The only One who is absolute, unchanging truth is Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, in His very essence.

35:06 Speaker 1 And anything that is not Hakadosh Boruch Hu—even the middos of Atzilus—what is its nature? Its nature is that it has some sort of definition.

35:19 Speaker 10 What does it have?

35:19 Speaker 1 Some sort of definition.

35:21 Speaker 10 Ah.

35:21 Speaker 1 The definition of the sefirah of Chochmah is to reveal His wisdom. The definition of the sefirah of Binah is to reveal His understanding. So the very fact that Binah is defined by revealing Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s understanding means that it is not there to reveal His chessed. It is therefore limited.

35:38 Speaker 10 Limited.

35:38 Speaker 1 If it is limited, then it is no longer the Essence. It is no longer truth in its truest sense. All right?

35:45 Speaker 10 So a definition is like—

35:47 Speaker 1 The very fact that it has a definition means that it is limited. And if it is limited, it has a beginning and an end, so it is not truth in its truest sense. Is that clear so far? Yes? It’s still not clear what—

36:02 Speaker 10 How can there be levels of Hakadosh Boruch Hu that aren’t truth in its truest sense?

36:05 Speaker 1 Ah. It’s still not clear what the difference is when the Maggid says that this is the level of Chochmah, and so on: that the level of Chochmah is truth in its truest sense, while all the other sefiros, even the sefiros of Atzilus, are truth and are G-dliness and are emanations, but are not truth in its truest sense. That’s what the Maggid explains. And therefore, without the sefirah of Chochmah, the Ein Sof light could not dwell even in Atzilus.

36:40 Speaker 10 Chochmah is where all the—

36:42 Speaker 1 It doesn’t come from Chochmah. First we need to understand why the sefirah of Chochmah is needed. Since all the sefiros—you can’t call this a limitation; it’s G-dliness, yes—but they do have some sort of definition, the Ein Sof cannot dwell there. So what is the sefirah of Chochmah? Why is there a sefirah of Chochmah? Because the whole point of the sefirah of Chochmah is that He alone exists and there is nothing besides Him. Now here a question is raised: Excuse me, but Chochmah is also a sefirah. Doesn’t it have a definition?

37:19 Speaker 10 It isn’t limited.

37:20 Speaker 1 It isn’t limited? It’s one of the sefiros of Atzilus—the first and highest one. Fine, but it too is something, isn’t it? What is the essential difference between it and all the other sefiros? Yes.

37:32 Speaker 10 It’s their source, isn’t it?

37:34 Speaker 1 No, it isn’t the source of anything.

37:35 Speaker 10 The other keilim, though—

37:37 Speaker 1 It brings about a revelation of—after all, just as He made it, He made all the keilim.

37:40 Speaker 10 Bittul.

37:42 Speaker 1 You’re already answering the question, yes.

37:43 Speaker 10 Ah, okay.

37:44 Speaker 1 Yes, yes, yes, yes. That’s the point. To understand the difference, I want to pause for a moment before we continue. Many times over the course of our learning, ever since we started studying six years ago—what? You’re laughing.

38:05 Speaker 10 That’s a lot.

38:06 Speaker 1 Six years, seven years. We’ve mentioned this many times, and we’ll mention it many more times. The Rebbe also frequently brings this saying in the body of a maamar, or even in sichos—not in the footnotes, but in the body of the maamar: “as stated in the note to chapter 35.” What the Alter Rebbe says here in half a line is a foundation—it’s the foundation of foundations. It is one of the most basic foundations for understanding Chassidus in general. That’s why, despite the difficulty, I’m insisting that we unpack what is written here, even though it’s possible to understand the chapter without it. All right? So what’s the difference between the sefirah of Chochmah and the other sefiros? It’s explained by comparing it to the difference between... Chochmah, after all, is called sight. The sages are called “the eyes of the congregation”—they see. “Who is wise? One who sees what will come to be.” Chochmah is connected with sight.

39:15 Speaker 10 “A wise man’s eyes are in his head.”

39:16 Speaker 1 “A wise man’s eyes are in his head.” Everywhere, including in the words of our Sages and even in the verses, Chochmah is associated with sight. Binah, and likewise the other sefiros, are associated with hearing.

39:31 Speaker 10 Binah with hearing?

39:32 Speaker 1 Binah is associated with hearing. Why? When a person... How does a person... Let’s start with physical things, with the physical difference between sight and hearing. Then we’ll see how it applies to the faculties of the mind. When a person hears about something—there’s some object, a physical thing, a house or a tree, it doesn’t matter, something outside himself—how can he come to know it? Either he hears about it or he sees it. Right? These are two faculties of the soul through which a person becomes acquainted with something outside himself. Right? What’s the difference? Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu make both ways? What’s the difference between these two faculties—between knowing something by hearing about it and knowing it by seeing it? When a person hears about something, people describe it to him: “There’s a house like this and that, it’s triangular, with three triangles, an entrance, a yard, a sidewalk and a tree beside it. When you go in, on the left you’ll see a little corner; on the right there’s a mezuzah, and when you enter there are tiles of this and that kind.” They keep describing it to him. He’ll have some sort of picture in his mind. Is that the same as seeing it? When he does see it, will he say, “That’s it”? No: “That’s not how I pictured it.” That’s one difference. The second difference is how deeply it is engraved in his soul. When someone is told about something, even if he listens very closely to the description, he may later forget the details. But when he has seen it, it is engraved in his soul. He saw it. Yes. Why is this connected to spiritual sight and hearing? Hearing is a matter of understanding and comprehension. How does he come to know the thing? How does he understand the idea? It’s explained to him again and again, from one angle and then another, and he grasps one detail, then another detail, then another, until he understands

41:41 Speaker 1 The matter as a whole. Now, if you ask him, he can explain it too, right? But if someone comes along—even someone smarter than he is—and explains the opposite, then he’ll understand it the opposite way, right? But if he sees it with his mind’s eye, it becomes so certain to him that it’s as though he actually saw the intellectual concept. Then even if they prove the opposite to him, he won’t be convinced. It’s not, “Okay, you proved the opposite. Well, what can I do? You’ve backed me into a corner. All I’m saying is…” No: “You’re wrong.” Do you know that feeling? Each of us does. Someone convinces you, convinces you, convinces you. “Okay, fine, I get it, you’re right. You’ve got a strong argument.” You go outside, and I’ll carry on my way. Why will I carry on my way? Because it’s clear to me that you’re wrong. Hey, you’re smarter than I am, and you proved I’m wrong. Fine, but I know it isn’t true. Yes? That’s called intellectual sight. When something becomes established for a person with such force that he has seen it, really seen it, then the reasoning no longer affects him. Yes. That’s the difference between sight and hearing in the powers of the soul, in spiritual terms. One of the differences. Why is it that way? So far we’ve explained what the difference is. Why is there a difference? What is the essential difference that makes something less certain to a person when he uses the power of hearing, but certain to him when he uses the power of sight? What’s the difference? Why? Why is there a difference? The explanation is very interesting. When a person understands something—not when he sees it, but when he understands it—where does that come from? Who is the person, who is the one acting? Who understands? I do. I have an intellect. I used my intellect, and my intellectual faculties grasped the matter until I understood it.

43:41 Speaker 1 Who is the one understanding? I am. I understood the matter, but I am the one who understood it. Right? It’s the same with hearing. Yes. How does he know the matter? I am the one who heard and understood it. Sight is something entirely different. With sight, it’s as though light spreads out from the thing being seen, reaches me, and is received within me.

44:09 Speaker 11 Hearing is a matter of breaking things down.

44:10 Speaker 1 Hearing means that I take in the matter. With sight, the matter is received within me. Hearing will always be limited, because it depends on my faculties.

44:23 Speaker 11 How much can you listen, how much can you—

44:25 Speaker 1 How much do I have in the first place? How great is my soul? What am I capable of? How much… Yes, it depends on me. Understanding.

44:31 Speaker 11 Yes.

44:31 Speaker 1 Sight depends on the thing itself. It doesn’t depend on me. It is the thing that reveals itself. Is the point clear so far? Yes? The Alter Rebbe says it’s the same with G-dliness. The other sefiros, from Binah onward—their purpose is to reveal G-dliness. So it’s true that their whole purpose is to reveal G-dliness, not to reveal something else, but they do have a character of their own: “I reveal. I reveal what is heard. I reveal this. Now I’ll show you what G-dliness is.” There is an “I” here; they have a reality of their own. Right? The sefirah of Chochmah—how does he put it? The level of Chochmah is that He alone is the one true Being. The purpose of the sefirah of Chochmah is not to reveal G-dliness outward, but to receive the very essence of G-dliness. From the perspective of—

45:39 Speaker 11 And that’s just a gloss.

45:40 Speaker 1 Huh?

45:40 Speaker 11 And that’s just a gloss.

45:41 Speaker 1 Wait, we haven’t finished.

45:43 Speaker 11 Oh, yes. This gloss is the heart of the… Yes.

45:50 Speaker 1 But the meaning… First of all, the concision here is wonderful, but everything we’ve said is written here. You see? It’s there in the text. It’s as though the whole long explanation is written here.

46:04 Speaker 11 It says “and so on.”

46:06 Speaker 1 Even without the “and so on.” It’s, it’s, it’s all here. That’s—

46:10 Speaker 11 Do you have to write “and so on”?

46:11 Speaker 1 When you understand the concept, you see: yes, that’s what it says here. No… So the point is clear, right? There’s still something missing.

46:25 Speaker 11 What?

46:29 Speaker 1 What does Eitz Chayim say? That the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, dwells throughout the world of Atzilus by dwelling in the sefirah of Chochmah. What’s the connection? So I understand why it can dwell in the sefirah of Chochmah and cannot dwell in the other sefiros. But how does the fact that the light of Ein Sof dwells in the sefirah of Chochmah help it dwell throughout the world of Atzilus?

46:56 Speaker 11 Because Chochmah presumably influences the other things.

47:01 Speaker 1 If the other things have some defined reality of their own, with their own character and so on and so forth, hearing cannot take in a thing in the way sight does. That’s it; we’re done. This is where it starts and where it ends. We still need to explain the connection: how does the light of Ein Sof dwell throughout the world of Atzilus? How? On what basis? What connection can Chochmah have with the other sefiros? Now the question is the reverse. At first we started with the question: what’s the problem with the light of Ein Sof dwelling in the world of Atzilus? The whole purpose of Atzilus is to reveal the light of Ein Sof. Now the question is exactly the opposite. If the light of Ein Sof can reveal itself only in Chochmah, how can it dwell in the other sefiros at all? The question has turned around.

47:54 Speaker 11 You’ve complicated things for us. Such a big line of reasoning that it…

48:00 Speaker 1 It isn’t connected to the other—Chochmah is incomparably higher, not as a source or a root, or simply as something higher. It’s something else entirely. Chochmah is directed upward, while all the rest are directed downward, outward. How, how, how do they connect?

48:22 Speaker 11 Isn’t there some kind of tzimtzum, a break, some sort of influence—

48:28 Speaker 1 We want them to connect; we don’t want a break.

48:31 Speaker 11 Well, there has to be.

48:32 Speaker 1 The holy Zohar says that “Supernal Abba nests in Atzilus.” There is Hashem’s Name, with four letters: yud, hei, vav, hei. Yud is Chochmah, hei is Binah, vav is the six middos, and hei is Malchus. So yud, hei, vav, hei are Chochmah, Binah, the middos, and Malchus—all ten sefiros.

49:00 Speaker 11 Vav.

49:00 Speaker 1 Chochmah is called yud. Yud is Chochmah.

49:06 Speaker 11 I understand.

49:08 Speaker 1 And in Kabbalah, Chochmah and Binah among the sefiros are called Abba and Imma, because they give rise to the middos, and so on. What does the holy Zohar say? Supernal Abba nests in Atzilus. Imma, Binah, nests in the throne, in the world of Beriah. The vav of Hashem’s Name—the middos—dwells in the world of Yetzirah, and the final hei, Malchus, dwells in the world of Asiyah. In other words, the four levels are situated in Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah respectively. So the highest level, the level of—

49:55 Speaker 11 Chochmah.

49:56 Speaker 1 The yud, Chochmah—what is its place? It is the defining character of the whole world of Atzilus. No, it is the defining character of the whole world of Atzilus. Yud—Abba—nests in Atzilus. Why? How does it nest throughout the world of Atzilus? There’s a king. The analogy given for this is very, very simple, very nice, and easy to grasp. A king has many ministers. One minister is responsible for collecting taxes, another for repairing the roads, a third for wars, another for—I don’t know what. There are many ministers, each with his own task. The king assigns responsibilities; he can’t run the country by himself. Naturally, from time to time the ministers’ interests conflict. The interior minister wants to spend money, and the finance minister wants to hold on to it, and so on. They don’t always agree. They can have quite bitter arguments and even throw things at each other—things that show how each is absorbed in his own job.

50:59 Speaker 11 Our government.

51:00 Speaker 1 Hmm?

51:01 Speaker 11 Our government. Look at our government.

51:04 Speaker 1 If only we had ministers, and if only we had a king. But yes, you know, it’s an analogy. What happens? One day the king calls a meeting and gathers all the ministers. “Gentlemen, a report, please.” They’re all standing there. We’re talking about a real king, whom they all respect, love, and fear. A king, not a prime minister. What happens there? Those same two ministers who were fighting each other two minutes earlier—the king is here—

51:41 Speaker 11 They come together.

51:42 Speaker 1 What makes them come together? The moment they are together with the king in the same place, what does each minister feel? He suddenly feels, “Yes, it’s true, my job is to collect the taxes, but I collect the taxes for the king.” When he’s outside, he has a job and does his work. When he’s near the king, he feels—

52:05 Speaker 11 He’s doing it for the king.

52:05 Speaker 1 He feels, “Yes, I’m doing this for...” And then, naturally, it sinks in. He doesn’t just understand; he also feels that standing next to him is the minister he was arguing with a moment ago, and he knows that the king wants him there too. When they’re outside, each one feels his own importance. When he’s with the king, he feels the king’s presence. That’s how it is in the world of Atzilus. Yes. As long as you have the sefiros without the sefirah of Chochmah, the king isn’t there. Each one can be an entity unto itself, and then the light of Ein Sof won’t be within them. But Chochmah brings the king—the essence of Ein Sof—into the world of Atzilus. So in the world of Atzilus, all the sefiros feel that their whole purpose is not just to reveal, but to reveal the king. That’s why they are nullified, and why they don’t quarrel with one another. And that’s why the world of Atzilus as a whole is a realm of G-dliness, not of created beings. So what did the Rebbe explain here in the note? The Rebbe brought a proof from Etz Chaim, from what the Maggid explained about Etz Chaim: Where can the essence of the light of Ein Sof rest? Only in Chochmah. That was essentially the point of the note, right? What is the vessel in which the essence of Ein Sof rests? Only Chochmah. And what did we say just before the note? That the mitzvos are His wisdom—His will and His wisdom. So if the mitzvos are His will and wisdom, they represent the wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu decreed that if there is an impure animal, a person may not eat it; if there is a kosher animal, he may eat it. But only if he slaughtered it in a particular way. If he slaughtered it with a nicked knife, he may no longer eat it. That is what His wisdom decreed. Yes? Since the mitzvos are His wisdom, and Divine wisdom is the only thing in which the blessed Ein Sof can rest, if a person wants to connect to Hakadosh Boruch Hu—if he wants the light of Hashem, as it says in the passage from the Yenuka at the beginning of the chapter, the light of the Shechinah to rest upon his head—

54:08 Speaker 1 all your cleaving to Hashem won’t help you. Your soul won’t help you. Your love and awe won’t help you. It won’t help even if you’re a complete tzaddik who loves Hashem with a love of delight. None of that will help. The only vessel through which the light of Hashem, the blessed Ein Sof, can rest upon you is the observance of physical mitzvos. Now we can understand why Hakadosh Boruch Hu created us. We begin to understand a little why we can’t simply drive out the yetzer hara. It’s true that serving Hashem means driving out the yetzer hara, but the fact that you haven’t managed to drive it out does not detract at all from the Shechinah resting upon you. On the contrary, those tzaddikim who thought only they could get hold of Hakadosh Boruch Hu have no advantage over your service. So all this is what we were supposed to learn in the previous chapter. Last week. In the previous class. In the previous class. Why am I saying this? Because from here the Rebbe moves on to explain another point. We’ve spoken about this many times: the Alter Rebbe addresses every... Actually, it’s not just in Tanya; it’s very prominent throughout the Alter Rebbe’s maamarim, including Likkutei Torah and other places. As the Alter Rebbe explains something, a question comes up. Before the explanation, there was no question; everything was clear. But because I explained it, now something has become unclear as a result. Fine—let’s stop and explain that too. Right? So after the Rebbe—

56:32 Speaker 1 explained that although serving Hashem is service of the heart, as he explained at length throughout the first chapter, why does the Torah say “to do it”? Because practical mitzvos have a special quality too. We’ve already explained that. Now a question arises.

56:47 Speaker 12 Why not Torah?

56:48 Speaker 1 Hmm? Why not Torah? The Rebbe will explain that later in the chapter. That’s exactly the point he is coming to explain.

56:53 Speaker 12 It’s wisdom. You said wisdom.

56:56 Speaker 1 The question isn’t exactly “why not Torah,” but it’s similar. The verse says, “For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” So what have we explained? The special quality of mitzvos performed through action—“to do it.” Right? So why does the verse say “in your mouth”? We understood “the matter is very close to you, in your heart,” and we understood “to do it.” Where does “in your mouth” come in? There’s a mitzvah performed with the mouth. What mitzvah is that?

57:27 Speaker 12 Torah. Studying Torah.

57:28 Speaker 1 Studying Torah?

57:29 Speaker 12 Prayer, isn’t it?

57:30 Speaker 1 Hmm?

57:30 Speaker 12 Isn’t prayer—

57:32 Speaker 1 No, prayer is service of the heart.

57:39 Speaker 12 Oh.

57:39 Speaker 1 If a person is called up to the Torah, he recites the blessing for the Torah reading. But the Torah is written in Hebrew letters, and what can you do? The person can’t read. He never learned to read. More than that, he doesn’t know Hebrew—not a single word of Hebrew. An American who never learned Hebrew. He’s allowed to be called up to the Torah. He recites the blessing in English, or says “Blessed are You.” He doesn’t understand a word of the blessing, and the letters speak to him about as much as Russian does. He doesn’t understand. He has no idea what’s going on. Has he fulfilled his obligation or not?

58:22 Speaker 12 Yes.

58:22 Speaker 1 Why?

58:24 Speaker 12 I don’t know.

58:25 Speaker 1 Because he said the words. Well, he didn’t say them—the Torah reader did. Fine, that counts as though he said them. He recited the blessing, and it counts for him. Torah study is different. The Alter Rebbe writes in Shulchan Aruch, in the laws of Torah study, that when a person studies Torah without saying the words aloud, he has not fulfilled his obligation. Understanding the Torah is understanding, but to fulfill the mitzvah of studying it, you have to say the words aloud. And so far we’ve spoken only about practical mitzvos. The Alter Rebbe explains: “Now, when a person...” So the question is clear, yes? “When a person engages in Torah study, his soul...” How are we doing for time? Right now?

59:11 Speaker 12 A quarter to what? Almost twenty past.

59:14 Speaker 1 We can finish this very quickly. We’ve already asked the questions, so... Maybe we’ll just read it quickly and finish the chapter. “When a person engages in Torah study, his soul—that is, his G-dly soul—together with only its two inner garments, the faculties of speech and thought, are incorporated into the light of Hashem, the blessed Ein Sof, and united with Him in complete unity. This is the Shechinah resting upon his G-dly soul, as our Sages said: Even when one person sits and engages in Torah study, the Shechinah is with him.” So the Rebbe explains—no, I’m explaining it from a broad perspective, without going into all the details. Here too, we could dwell on every single word. That is, when a person engages in Torah study, the light of Hashem does indeed rest upon his soul, but not upon his body. The light of Hashem rests upon his G-dly soul. As our Sages said, even when one person sits and engages in Torah study, the Shechinah is with him. Why does the light of Hashem rest only upon his G-dly soul? Because what performed the mitzvah of Torah study? His mouth and his G-dly soul. His body did not participate in fulfilling the mitzvah. But if we want the light of the Shechinah to rest upon the person’s body, Torah study is not enough. “But in order to draw the light and radiance of the Shechinah also upon his body and his animal soul, the vital soul actually clothed within his body...” It pains me to stop here, but all right. “He must fulfill practical mitzvos performed by the body itself.” If he doesn’t—if the body doesn’t participate in fulfilling the mitzvah—then the mitzvah and the light of Hashem don’t... how do you put it? The oil doesn’t soak into the wick. When he fulfills mitzvos physically, with his body, “the actual bodily power involved in this action is incorporated into the light of Hashem and His will, and united with Him in complete unity. This is the third garment of the G-dly soul. Then the power of the vital soul actually within his body, which comes from kelipas nogah, is also transformed from evil to good and actually incorporated into holiness, just like the G-dly soul itself.”

1:01:36 Speaker 1 “For it is the vital soul that acts and performs the mitzvah. Without it, the G-dly soul could not act through the body at all, since the G-dly soul is spiritual and the body is physical and material.” What he’s saying is this: When a person fulfills a mitzvah physically, who fulfills the mitzvah? We already—

1:02:03 Speaker 3 His animal soul?

1:02:07 Speaker 1 It says that the G-dly soul has three gar— uh, garments: thought, speech, and action. Right? What is the garment of action of the G-dly soul? Fulfilling mitzvos. The G-dly soul thinks about Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Its speech speaks words of Torah, and its power of action fulfills mitzvos. Okay? Now the G-dly soul very much wants to give tzedakah. How will it do that? How will it carry it out? It will put on its garment of action, and the action of the G-dly soul will now give tzedakah. What will the body say to that? What will the body say when the G-dly soul tells it, “Give tzedakah for me”? The body will say, “Bye-bye. What do you want from me? Leave me alone. You have nothing to do with me.” The G-dly soul has no way to speak to the body; it is G-dly. It doesn’t know what a body is. The body knows nothing about it. It has no link or connection with the body. But as it says earlier in the chapter—we skipped over this—the G-dly soul is enclothed in the animal soul. The animal soul gives life to the body. Its entire purpose is to give life to the body. On the other hand, the animal soul is also a spiritual soul. So because it is spiritual, the G-dly soul can be enclothed in it. And because it gives life to the body, it can move the body. So when the power of action of the G-dly soul is enclothed in the animal soul, the animal soul moves the body.

1:03:46 Speaker 3 Yes.

1:03:46 Speaker 1 It gives tzedakah through the animal soul.

1:03:49 Speaker 3 Yes, so there is a connection between them.

1:03:51 Speaker 1 There is a connection through the animal soul, which is the intermediary that links them. Yes, exactly. What does that accomplish? The animal soul in itself—now a person has fulfilled a mitzvah. Has the G-dly soul changed? Has anything in it changed?

1:04:12 Speaker 3 It was elevated.

1:04:13 Speaker 4 It was always connected to the Holy—

1:04:16 Speaker 1 The animal soul. What does it want? What does it want? Why would Torah and mitzvos interest it?

1:04:22 Speaker 3 To control us.

1:04:23 Speaker 1 It wants control, yes, but no, no, no. What interests it? It wants to enjoy itself, to feel comfortable, to dress nicely, to eat well. That’s what interests it. Now, when the garment of action of the G-dly soul is enclothed in the animal soul and it fulfills a mitzvah, who fulfilled the mitzvah? The animal soul did. It gave tzedakah. Yes, it enjoyed that. The animal soul that gave—it is performing a mitzvah. It enjoys that. Some intellect has now entered into it and compelled it to give tzedakah. It gave. It might be in a way where it says, “Okay, leave me alone. Fine, give tzedakah and let’s move on.” Or it might be that it really has to be forced. There can be many different levels. At that moment, in that particular act, it submitted to the G-dly soul. So that power of the animal soul that actually fulfilled the mitzvah—okay, it actually fulfilled the mitzvah—is truly incorporated into holiness. But this had no effect on the animal soul as a whole. Yes, and the same applies to the limbs of the body: that particular limb, the hand that just gave the tzedakah, is holy. But the rest of the body remains as it was before. That’s what he says here: “And the entire body—although the essence and substance of the animal soul in his heart, namely its bad middos, have not been incorporated into holiness,” only the power that fulfilled the mitzvah was incorporated into holiness, “nevertheless, since they are subdued to holiness and, against their will, answer amen, agree, and consent”—there are three levels. There is an animal soul that has to be forced; there are those that consent, and there are those that even agree. “Through the ascendancy of his G-dly soul in the mind, which rules over the heart. And at this time they are in a state of exile and sleep.” Those, too, are two levels. “Therefore, this does not prevent the Shechinah from resting upon”

1:06:29 Speaker 1 “the person’s body at this time. That is, the power of the vital soul enclothed in the performance of the mitzvah is truly incorporated into the light of Hashem and united with it in complete unity. Through this, the radiance of the Shechinah is drawn upon the vital soul as a whole throughout the body, and also upon the physical body, in an encompassing way, from above his head to his feet.” And with this he explains what the Yenuka says. This is what is meant by “The Shechinah rests upon his head,” specifically. When a person fulfills a mitzvah, the Shechinah rests upon his head. Why upon his head? It should have said that since the mitzvah is nullified to G-dliness, when a person fulfills a mitzvah, the Shechinah, I don’t know, unites with him, becomes enclothed in him. Why does the Shechinah rest upon his head? Because the Shechinah becomes enclothed in and unites with that power of the animal soul that performed the mitzvah. But the rest of the body has not changed. His animal soul—his intellect remains as it was, and his emotions remain as they were. Where is the light of the Shechinah revealed? Upon his head, encompassing him from above. What does “encompassing” mean? There is light here in this room right now. Right? There’s light here. The lamp is on; there’s light here. Now, is this light in the room in an internal way or an encompassing way?

1:07:54 Speaker 3 Yes.

1:07:55 Speaker 1 Hmm? It fills every corner of the room. That’s internal and encompassing—it really fills the entire room. If you could imagine light that casts no shadow, it would fill every corner.

1:08:10 Speaker 3 Internal.

1:08:10 Speaker 1 Huh?

1:08:11 Speaker 3 Encompassing.

1:08:11 Speaker 1 So it really looks internal. Right? That’s what...

1:08:14 Speaker 3 Internal in relation to... I mean, internal in relation to the room.

1:08:17 Speaker 1 In relation to the room, yes. I’m saying no. That’s called encompassing; it isn’t called internal. Internal means it unites with it. If it were internal, even if they turned off the lamp, it would still be... the room would remain lit. The light hasn’t become part of the room; it hasn’t united with it. It’s here, we can see it, but it isn’t part of the room itself. By fulfilling a mitzvah, the light of Hashem shines upon a person. Does the light of Hashem, through the fulfillment of a mitzvah, change the person’s very nature? No. We discussed that earlier. It remains upon his head. “And likewise, what our Sages said: ‘Wherever ten are present, the Shechinah rests.’” Wherever there are ten Jews, the Shechinah rests. Ten Jews are waiting for a bus to arrive at the bus stop, and they don’t observe mitzvos. The Shechinah rests upon their heads. Yes, upon their heads. “Now, every instance of drawing down the light of the Shechinah, which is a revelation of the light of the blessed Ein Sof, is not called a change in Him, G-d forbid, nor a multiplication, as stated in Sanhedrin: A certain heretic said to Rabban Gamliel, ‘You say that wherever ten are present, the Shechinah rests. How many Shechinahs do you have?’ And he answered him with the analogy of sunlight entering through many windows, and so on. One who understands will grasp this.” Ah, excuse me, what are you telling me? There is the light of the Ein Sof as it is revealed in Atzilus, in Chochmah. There is the way it is revealed in the sefiros. There is the way it is revealed internally. There are ways of uniting with it and ways of not uniting with it, ways it is upon the head, ways it is... Excuse me. The light of the Ein Sof is one, singular and unique. How can it have all these different forms and aspects? So he tells him: Listen, it’s like sunlight shining through many windows. There’s a big window, a small window, a window with glass, a window with colored glass. The light is the same light.

1:09:57 Speaker 3 Exactly.

1:09:57 Speaker 1 Right? It shines in different ways. That’s chapter 35. In chapter 35, the Rebbe gave us the opening idea for everything we’ll learn in many, many chapters ahead. The point is that although serving Hashem—the main part of serving Hashem—is a matter of the heart, an inner avodah of awakening love and fear, there is also a wonderful quality in fulfilling practical mitzvos regardless of... even when they are done without love and fear. Why? Because only through fulfilling mitzvos in the physical world does the light of the Shechinah rest within the physical world.

1:10:38 Speaker 3 There’s more here.

1:10:39 Speaker 1 Afterward, we still need to explain what good that does.

1:10:42 Speaker 3 Of course.