Likkutei Amarim Chapter 36 · 5781

00:04 Speaker 1 Can we start? Chani, can we start? Good. Today we’ll learn chapter—ah, chapter 36. Last week we said that the three chapters, 35, 36, and 37, discuss the virtue of action, the importance of fulfilling the mitzvos. These three chapters are an introduction to what comes next: the avodah—what kind of avodah—what we do with this. The first part of Tanya spoke more about how to awaken love and fear in order to come to action. But it didn’t discuss the action itself. Here, in these chapters, he begins to discuss the avodah involved in action: how we should fulfill the mitzvos. So there are really two introductions. The first is the three chapters we’re now in the middle of. In the first of them, chapter 35, last week, he explained the virtue of practical mitzvos: they refine the world, the body, and the animal soul. If we want the Divine light to dwell in the world, for the world to be refined and become a vessel, to rise—how did he put it there? To become nullified and rise in the blazing heart of the heavenly fire. I don’t remember the wording. If we want to take something physical and material, to take the animal soul, whose whole concern is this world, and transform it so that it begins to burn with enthusiasm for G-dliness, and for all the physicality of the world to burn with a Divine fire, the way to do it is through fulfilling practical mitzvos. That’s what he discussed last week, and we ended the class with a question: A Jew might come to the Alter Rebbe and say, “Okay, wonderful. So what? Fine, big deal. Very nice, Alter Rebbe; good for you for explaining such a wonderful thing to us. But I’m not into it. Neither you nor what you consider important interests me, though I understand you’re excited about it. It doesn’t speak to me. Leave

03:30 Speaker 1 me alone.” The Alter Rebbe comes along in our chapter and tells every Jew: It’s not just that fulfilling practical mitzvos—thank you. It’s not just that fulfilling practical mitzvos is important, wonderful, or great. It is the purpose of the world’s creation. If we weren’t chassidim, the Alter Rebbe would have to say something like: If you don’t want to sanctify the world, you have no business being here. The entire reason a person in general, and a Jew in particular, exists in this world is to sanctify the physical. If you don’t sanctify the physical—it’s not merely something lofty or important; it’s what the world is about. That’s why the world was created. This is the content of our chapter. The Alter Rebbe explains it gradually; let’s look inside. “Now”—what? Ah. “It is well known that our Sages said that the purpose of the creation of this world is that Hakadosh Boruch Hu desired to have a dwelling in the lower realms.” This saying of our Sages appears in the Midrash in two or three places. And it answers the question from the previous chapter: action isn’t merely important and lofty; it is the purpose of the world’s creation. To understand this more deeply, before we understand what a dwelling is, we need to understand what “lower realms” means. How can we speak of higher and lower in relation to Hakadosh Boruch Hu? Hakadosh Boruch Hu fills the entire world; “the whole earth is full of His glory.” “You are He before the world was created; You are He after the world was created.” There is no change in Him. What do higher and lower mean? Is He present less in the lower worlds? Is He present more in the higher worlds? What does “higher” and “lower” mean? “Now, the categories of above and below do not apply before Him, blessed be He, for He fills all worlds equally.” He isn’t present in one place more than—nor—

05:42 Speaker 1 more or less than in another place. Rather, here is the explanation of what “higher” and “lower” mean: “For before the world was created, He alone, blessed be He, was singular and unique, and filled the entire space in which He created the world.” That’s clear. Before there was a world, He filled everything. And the point is that “even now it is likewise so before Him, blessed be He.” So what does that mean? What does it mean that there is a world, if, after the world was created, He still fills all space equally, just as before He created it? Then how do we see a world? So “even now it is likewise so before Him, blessed be He.” The change—“only the change is for those who receive His vitality and light, blessed be He”: the recipients, the created beings, receive it “through many garments that cover and conceal His light, blessed be He.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu is present everywhere equally. In that respect, there is no difference between before and after the world was created. The only difference is for the created beings. They don’t feel it. From His perspective, there is no difference; for the created beings, there is. They receive the light and vitality of Hakadosh Boruch Hu through many garments that cover and conceal His light, blessed be He. So there are beings from whom the Divine light is concealed by a few garments, by fewer garments, and others from whom it is concealed by more garments, and more and more and more. These perceive Him more, and those perceive Him less. But as far as the Divine light itself is concerned, it is present everywhere equally. What is the proof of this? The Alter Rebbe brings a proof from a verse: “For no man shall see Me and live.” What does the verse mean? A person cannot see Hakadosh Boruch Hu. If he sees Hakadosh Boruch Hu, he won’t be able to live; his existence will be nullified. Why will it be nullified? Because the only reason a created being can feel his own

08:23 Speaker 1 existence is that he doesn’t feel the presence of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Is that point clear? If he felt the—then “no man shall see Me”: a person cannot see Me. Either he lives or he sees Me. If he sees Me, the two are contradictory; they can’t both happen at once. That’s the meaning.

08:41 Speaker 2 His own existence, or he sees—

08:44 Speaker 1 What?

08:44 Speaker 2 He feels that he has an existence, or he sees—

08:46 Speaker 1 Yes, because the moment he feels himself to be an existence, there must be some sort of barrier. If he sees Hakadosh Boruch Hu, then he has no existence. So that’s the meaning of the verse. Our Sages interpreted it more deeply: “And as our Sages explained, even the angels called chayos cannot see,” and so on. In other words, our Sages interpret the verse “No man shall see Me and live” as though the “and” adds something: No man shall see Me, and no living creature can see Me either. It isn’t only that a person can’t see Me and live; living creatures can’t see Me either. Which living creatures does this mean? We’re not talking about, ah, rats and dogs.

09:44 Speaker 2 Non-Jews?

09:45 Speaker 1 Huh?

09:45 Speaker 2 Non-Jews?

09:46 Speaker 1 No. Angels. Even living beings whose entire existence is purely spiritual. They have no body, or their body, too, is something spiritual. Anything called a living being—not just a person—even the very, very loftiest chayos, the highest angels, cannot see Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The “and so on” apparently alludes to a teaching of our Sages about a time when the angels complained to Hakadosh Boruch Hu: “Set Your glory above the heavens,” and so on. Hakadosh Boruch Hu extended His little finger among them and burned them. Once, the angels complained: Why don’t You reveal Yourself? Why only to the Jewish people? Why not to us? So He said: You want that? Please, no problem. Hakadosh Boruch Hu lowered His—His—His little finger to them, His little foot. It is explained that this is Malchus of Atzilus. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave the angels a revelation of Malchus of Atzilus, His little finger, and immediately their existence was nullified. Well, do you understand now? “No man shall see Me and live.” Even a chayah cannot see Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So up to this point, that is the explanation of “lower realms.” “Lower” does not mean that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is not there, but that He is felt less there. Why is He felt less? Because there are more screens. And this is the concept of the descent of the worlds. What is the descent of the worlds? “And their descent from level to level through the many garments that conceal the light and vitality that come from Him, blessed be He, until this actual physical and material world was created.” So there are two ideas here. The descent of vitality is called hishtalshelus in the books of Kabbalah, a term used in many places in Chassidus. It comes from shalsheles, a chain. What is a chain made of? What is a chain made of? Links; it isn’t a rope. Right. How is each ring connected to the one above it? The upper part of the lower ring is inside and above the lower part of the upper ring. That’s how a chain works, right? So why is the descent of the worlds called

12:25 Speaker 1 By that name? Because whenever the Divine light and life-force descends from one level to the next, the lowest part of that world, of that sefirah, becomes the head and crown from which the level beneath it unfolds. It is just like a chain. So that is one thing to pay attention to: the unfolding of the worlds. But the Alter Rebbe adds here that it is not simply an endless unfolding; it continues until a certain point. At some point the chain stops. When does it stop? When this world, the actual physical, material world, is created. This physical, material world is not a product of that unfolding. As the Alter Rebbe says in Igeres Hakodesh, even countless stages of descent could not turn something spiritual into dense matter like dust. Take something spiritual: however far you lower it, contract it, limit it, nothing physical will come out of it. That means that when Hakadosh Boruch Hu created this physical, material world, He made something new here. This is no longer just a descent from level to level. It is no longer—this is no longer merely a reduction and concealment of the light. There are two things about this world: it is physical and it is material. It is physical. There is no revelation of G-dliness in it at all. It is not like the higher worlds, where the light is diminished and concealed, but something is still there. In the physical world there is no revelation of G-dliness at all. I think we spoke about this once: in a certain sense, if you look at a number line, the difference between zero and one is greater than the difference between one and a million. Did we talk about that once? We didn't. The difference between one and a million is enormous, but it is the same kind of thing; it is a quantitative difference. Here there is a little, there there is a lot. Yes, a lot, but it is still the same kind of thing. The difference between zero and one is the difference between nothing being there and something being there. It is a difference beyond comparison. In essence, the difference is beyond comparison. It is something altogether different. When Hakadosh Boruch Hu

15:11 Speaker 1 created this physical, material world, He made something new here, something completely different from anything in the spiritual worlds. It is not just hidden and concealed: there is no revelation of G-dliness. G-dliness is not present. And not only is it not present; the world even opposes G-dliness.

15:33 Speaker 3 But they also say that it is there, only concealed. So how does that work?

15:40 Speaker 1 It is concealed in the higher worlds too, but the concealment in the higher worlds—there are two differences. First, in the higher worlds, even with the concealment, you can still see something, feel something. Even the kelipos and the sitra achra and Satan, as we discussed, know and feel what their role is. They are nullified to G-dliness; they are only carrying out their role. That is one difference. Here there is nothing at all. There is no one who can say... There are plenty of people who say, “I feel it.” Yes, I had a good friend. He finished studying Torah with me, and today he is the gabbai of a shul in Tivon. Never mind, it is a long story. When I started, started getting closer to Judaism, we learned a little together, a few classes. He was not observant or anything; I was in the army. So one of the first things—three days after he put on a yarmulke, he would go around the guys’ rooms, put his hand on the mezuzah and say, “This one is kosher; this one is invalid.” When he said “invalid,” he was always right. When he said “kosher,” it wasn't. Later his children studied with mine in the Talmud Torah, and a lot of water has flowed down the Jordan since then. Anyway, as for saying that someone sees G-dliness—plenty of people say so, but in this physical world, there is no such possibility of seeing Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Feeling Him—that does not exist here. He is not present here.

17:32 Speaker 4 Who is it that says

17:35 Speaker 1 Through avodah, but through Torah—we will see later in the chapter. The world on its own—

17:39 Speaker 4 There are people who can.

17:42 Speaker 1 Through avodah, through Torah—we will see later, later in this chapter. But the world as it was created—it is called olam because it conceals. That is its nature. A person who was not educated in it, did not grow up with it, never heard about it, never opened a book, and no one spoke to him about it... There was one Avraham. Avraham figured it out on his own. One. There has not been another Avraham since. The world does not shout it. It does not even whisper it as a secret. It simply is not there. Something happened yesterday that illustrates this well. We are talking about the resting of holiness, so I have to tell you. Yesterday... They are talking here about holiness resting on something through mitzvos. Yesterday or the day before, in one of the groups, someone said that the straps of tefillin are not holy; they are accessories of holiness. I did not want to start a discussion in the group. That group is not concerned with this subject, so I spoke to him privately for about half a day. We went back and forth, a message every half hour or so. I asked him, among other things: “Tell me, if the straps are only an accessory to the mitzvah, they are not part of the mitzvah. They serve the mitzvah, but they are not part of it, right? Is that what you are saying?” “Yes, yes.” “Meaning that they have no holiness? If they have no holiness, then let's make them out of plastic. You agree that you cannot make them out of plastic, right? If they are only an accessory to the mitzvah and not part of the mitzvah, then what, according to your approach, is the problem?” I asked him. He said, “No,” and started bringing me proofs and arguments from here and there. In the end I said to him, “Listen, it seems to me that this whole discussion—what you are missing is a little knowledge of the inner dimension of Torah, of the secrets of Torah. I think that if we find

20:14 Speaker 1 time, we can write out a few basic points for you, to understand what holiness is, what it means for holiness to rest on something, and what the difference is between kelipah and holiness. Just a few words so we have a common basis for discussion, instead of talking past each other.” So he wrote me one line, and that ended the discussion: “I don't want to spread myself too thin. Nigleh is enough for me.” “I don't want to spread myself too thin.” That is what is called a lower world. He does not even feel it. He studies Torah, he occupies himself with Torah, with the holiest things there are. That is what he does all day: he learns Gemara, repairs tefillin and writes tefillin. I do not know exactly what he does. He deals with holy things. That is what he does his whole life. And he feels nothing? Nothing, nothing. He is not even headed in that direction. That is this physical world. “And it is the lowest in degree, with none lower than it in terms of the concealment of His blessed light, and doubled and redoubled darkness”—not just doubled, but redoubled. Surely you all know what that means: not only is it dark, but it calls the darkness light, until it is “full of kelipos and sitra achra that actually oppose Hashem, saying, ‘I, and nothing besides me.’” So up to this point, the Rebbe has explained what “the lower realms” means. First, it includes all the worlds and the entire order of descent from level to level. Second, it includes this physical world, where the concealment and hiding are absolute, and where there is also the reality of physical matter. So what does a “dwelling in the lower realms” mean? When our Sages said that Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world to have a dwelling in the lower realms, did He mean the spiritual lower realms, or the lowest realm—this physical world? What would we think? Why is that even a question? At first glance, it is simple. This is how the Rebbe explains it: When a person does something important and something unimportant, something great and something small, he does not do the great thing for the sake of the small thing. He does the

22:42 Speaker 1 The less important thing serves as preparation for the important thing. Right? So since the revelation in the higher worlds is certainly greater, there’s no comparison. It would seem, then, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu created this world for the sake of the higher worlds. That’s what we would have said, right? The Alter Rebbe says it’s the other way around. “The ultimate purpose of the progression of the worlds and their descent from level to level”—all the spiritual worlds—“is not for the sake of the higher worlds.” They are not the purpose of creation, “for in them there is a descent from the light of His blessed countenance.” If the purpose is revelation, they don’t have revelation. They have concealment and hiding. A great deal of concealment or a little concealment, but there is concealment and hiding there. Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not reveal Himself there completely. So what must we say? When our Sages said that Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world to have a dwelling in the lower realms, which lower realms did He create the world for? The ultimate purpose is this lowest world. What does that mean? Where do you see revelation here? Is this called revelation? We just said it’s the opposite of revelation. “For so it arose in His blessed will: that He should have pleasure when the sitra achra is subdued and darkness is transformed into light.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu decided—in His free choice, He decided—that what would give Him pleasure is when a Jew subdues his own sitra achra and transforms darkness into light. So the more sitra achra there is, the more darkness there is, the more of it can be transformed into light and subdued. And that is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted. So the ultimate purpose of creating the world is specifically down here: that the light of Hashem, the blessed Ein Sof, should shine in the place of the darkness and sitra achra of this entire world. And he lists three aspects here: “with greater intensity and greater strength, with the advantage of light emerging from darkness,” compared with its radiance in the higher worlds, it will shine in this world. “With greater intensity” means with less

25:16 Speaker 1 concealment and hiding. “Greater strength” means the light itself will be greater than in the higher wor—meaning there will both be more light here than in the higher worlds and it will be less concealed. Do you understand the differ—the difference? Yes? Those are two separate things: a greater quantity of light and less concealment. There could be a very great light, but it could be very concealed. There could be a small light that is not concealed at all. So both of those, and the third and main thing is that the darkness itself will turn into light. Then a light will shine in this world more than in the higher worlds. So what is the ultimate purpose of the world? A dwelling in the lower realms: that there should be more revelation of G-dliness in this world than in the higher worlds. Listen carefully. This isn’t something we can grasp intellectually. The revelation of G-dliness in the lower Gan Eden—it’s written, and it’s also explained, that there’s no point even trying to imagine what’s there. You can’t. You can’t take it in. The lower Gan Eden, the higher Gan Eden, and higher and higher, and Atzilus, and I don’t know what else is above. And the ultimate purpose is that in this physical, material world, the light of Hashem should shine and be revealed more than in all the higher worlds. How do we bring that about? Through iskafya and ishapcha—subduing and transforming. How do we practice iskafya and ishapcha? That’s what we learned in the previous chapter: by performing practical mitzvos with physical things. Later we’ll see that this applies spiritually as well. In the higher worlds, the light shines through garments and concealments that hide and obscure the light of the blessed Ein Sof, so that those worlds do not lose their exis—their existence. But down here in this world, the light of the Ein Sof will shine without garments and without screens. Well, really, how can that be? In the higher worlds, what did we say? “No man can see Me and live.” Even with the supernal angels, He extended His little finger and they ceased to exist on the spot. So here in this world, Hakadosh

27:48 Speaker 1 Boruch Hu—it won’t be His little finger; He Himself, in His glory, will be revealed here, and the world won’t cease to exist. How can that be? Isn’t that a question? So the answer is at the beginning of the next page. “For this purpose, Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave Israel the Torah.” For this purpose: so that the world could withstand a revelation of G-dliness greater than in the higher worlds and still retain its existence. “For this purpose, Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave Israel the Torah,” which is called strength and power. Strength and power for what? The Torah gives the world the strength and power to withstand the revelation of G-dliness, of G-dliness itself, of the G-dly light that will be revealed, while the world continues to exist. How does the Torah have that power? The Torah is His wisdom and His will. It comes from Him Himself, so it can give strength. “As the Zohar says, Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives the righteous the strength to receive their reward in the time to come,” so that they will not actually lose their existence in the light of Hashem that will be revealed then without any garment. “As it is written, ‘Your Teacher will no longer conceal Himself.’” “Conceal” means to cover Himself with a wing or garment. In the time to come, Hakadosh Boruch Hu will be revealed without a wing or garment. “And your eyes will see your Teacher.” And it is written, “They will see eye to eye.” And it is written, “The sun will no longer be your light by day, for Hashem will be your everlasting light.” We won’t need the—the sun... Good evening.

29:30 Speaker 5 Good evening.

29:33 Speaker 1 Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, by Whose word all things came to be.

29:37 Speaker 5 Amen.

30:12 Speaker 1 So why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu create the world? He created it not for the higher worlds, but for this lowest, physical world. And for what purpose did He create this lower world? So that it would be a dwelling for Him. Those are two things: a dwelling in the lower realms. There must be lower realms, and they must be a dwelling. Hakadosh Boruch Hu could have made a dwelling in the higher realms too. He doesn’t want a dwelling in the higher realms; He wants a dwelling in the lower realms. What does that mean? That in the lower realms, in this lowest world, below which there is no lower, the light of Hashem will be revealed more than it is in the higher worlds. Then His Essence and Being will be revealed. What—how can that be? The Torah gives strength. When a Jew studies Torah, the Torah refines the person, refines the world, and gives the world the strength to retain its existence while the light of Hashem is revealed within it. And not just that the light of Hashem will be revealed within it—which is the matter of “greater intensity and greater strength”—but more than that: the darkness will turn into light. This very world, whose whole nature is to conceal—that’s why it’s called olam, “world”—instead of being a world, it will be, how does it go, what’s the wording? “The sun will no longer be your light by day, for Hashem will be your everlasting light.” Not only will the world not disappear; the world itself will shine. That same physical, material reality, that “world of falsehood,” whose whole nature is... Have you ever heard the term butzina dekardonisa? Hm? Hm?

32:17 Speaker 5 Butzina.

32:20 Speaker 1 I can’t hear you.

32:20 Speaker 5 A pumpkin.

32:22 Speaker 1 A what?

32:22 Speaker 5 A pumpkin.

32:27 Speaker 1 Ah, butzin. Butzin is a squash. “A butzin can be recognized from its stalk”—that’s a saying from the Gemara. Yes. Butzin is a squash in Hebrew. A squash—you can tell even when it’s small that it’s going to grow big, that it’ll be a squash.

32:43 Speaker 5 Isn’t it a pumpkin?

32:44 Speaker 1 Hm?

32:45 Speaker 5 Isn’t it a pumpkin?

32:46 Speaker 1 Pumpkin and squash are the same thing. No, they’re in the same family. The Gemara uses the names interchangeably. I’m not sure. It’s something like that. No.

33:00 Speaker 5 What is that term?

33:02 Speaker 1 No. It’s a term that appears in Kabbalah and is brought quite often in Chassidus. It’s called the source of the gevurot. Somewhere up there in Atik; it doesn’t explain it there. I don’t claim to understand the whole subject at all. The source of the gevurot, from which... from which all matters of darkness begin. So that particular essence, that aspect of G-dliness called butzina dekardonisa, has several names, corresponding to the different things it does. It’s called the measuring line. What? There are also several translations of it, quite a few.

33:46 Speaker 5 I think it’s Aramaic.

33:48 Speaker 1 It’s Aramaic, yes. So it’s called the measuring line, among other things. And one of its translations is “the lamp of darkness.” Butz—butzina means a lamp. Like they call Rashbi “butzina kadisha.” Have you ever heard “butzina kadisha”? They always mention it on Lag BaOmer. All right, so—

34:13 Speaker 5 Maybe you’ve understood it already.

34:16 Speaker 1 There are just many books. “Butzina kadisha” is one of his titles. Butz—butzin means a lamp. So... but there it’s butzina dekardonisa, not butzina kadisha, but “the lamp of darkness.” What is a lamp of darkness? An ordinary lamp spreads light. This is a lamp whose whole purpose is to spread darkness. The light it produces illuminates darkness. It reveals a reality of darkness. It is itself darkness, and everything its light illuminates is darkness. Yes?

34:52 Speaker 5 How does that

34:54 Speaker 1 Absence, concealment. Ah, I understand. There are two explanations in Chassidus—in Kabbalah and in Chassidus, but mainly in Chassidus. In some places it’s explained that darkness is an absence: it’s nothing, the lack of light. And in other places it’s explained that darkness is a reality in its own right. Both explanations are there. Ah, the Rebbe addresses this in Igros Kodesh, where the Rebbe explains... To be honest, it isn’t entirely clear what the Rebbe explains there, and the matter remains open. There’s this explanation and there’s that explanation. There are many questions like that in Chassidus, really many, that aren’t fully explained. Or there’s... another story. A story I’ve been telling a lot lately. About a year ago, there was a good friend of mine whom I ask when I have questions in Chassidus. He’s a knowledgeable man; you can ask him. Usually, when I ask him something, he... In short, I once asked him a question and he got a little tangled up in it. We discussed it for a day, two days, three days. So I said to him, “But look in Sefer HaErchim. It says—Rabbi Yoel Kahn writes—this.” He tells me, “I don’t open Sefer HaErchim.” You, Reb Shmuel, don’t open Sefer HaErchim? Then who will? He really is someone who knows Chassidus, who sits and is deeply immersed in it. There’s the evening Chassidus program, all the evening Chassidus programs around the country, an hour and a half every day. The women here know it; everyone knows what I mean. He’s the one who writes their study material. He really is immersed in it. Hm? He’s immersed in it. So he tells me this, and explains why he doesn’t open Sefer HaErchim. He says, “Sefer HaErchim—may Rabbi Yoel Kahn be well—whenever I look up a concept I want to study, I find nine approaches that fit my understanding, another nine that are the opposite of my understanding, and another nine that I don’t understand at all. What

37:05 Speaker 1 do I gain by looking there?” Well, we really digressed quite a bit. So, we were saying that in the previous chapter the Alter Rebbe explained the importance, the extraordinary quality, of fulfilling practical mitzvos, which sanctify the material world. Through fulfilling practical mitzvos, the animal soul is incorporated into the light of the G-dly soul and consumed in the flame of Hashem, in Hashem’s light. In this chapter, the Alter Rebbe comes to explain what purpose that serves, why it’s necessary. Why do I want my G-dly soul to be incorporated into Hashem’s light? What’s the point? The Alter Rebbe explains that the purpose of the world’s creation is for Hakadosh Boruch Hu to have a dwelling in the lower realms. What are “the lower realms”? They aren’t worlds above; the lowest realm means the lowest realm. There’s no realm lower than this. For this, Hakadosh Boruch Hu... Why create a world like this? What does Hakadosh Boruch Hu get out of it? What does it do for Him to have all this concealment, the sitra achra, kelipos, lies, and politics? Why does Hakadosh Boruch Hu need it? What does it add for Him? What did He find here? The purpose isn’t for the world to stay as it is. The purpose is for this world to become a world filled with light. And there are two aspects to this. First, the concealment will be removed. Second, not only will the concealment be removed, but once it is, a light higher than that of the upper worlds will be revealed here. And more than that, the darkness itself will turn into light. Atzmus uMehus—Hashem’s very Essence—will be revealed here. To this the Alter Rebbe adds on line eight, summing up—line eight on page 57: “It is known that the days of Moshiach, and especially the time when the dead will be resurrected, are the purpose and culmination of the creation of this world, for which it was created from the outset.” That’s why the world was created. Something would have been missing if the Alter Rebbe had put a period after “this world.” “It is known that the days of Moshiach, and especially the time when the dead will be resurrected, are the purpose and culmination of the creation of this

39:31 Speaker 1 world”—that’s what we discussed, right? What do the words “for which it was created from the outset” add? What do they add? The Alter Rebbe is adding a wonderful point here. Once you say, “That’s why the world was created,” it means that the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead aren’t some decoration, some extra. It isn’t that there’s a world, and then a lovely decoration called the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead. “For which it was created from the outset”—that is the whole essence of the world. When I buy an object in a store, or whatever, I can paint it and decorate it, and it will look nicer. No question. But it’s still the same object even without my painting or decorating it. The Alter Rebbe says that the purpose, the very definition and essence of this world, isn’t that Hakadosh Boruch Hu created a world, and now there’s a world in which you can do all sorts of wonderful things and illuminate it, making it a successful world. No. The entire essence of this world is the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead. “For which it was created from the outset.” From the moment the world was created, its entire essence and definition have been the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead. There’s nothing else. Does it look to you like an ordinary world? Does it look to you like concealment? No. Chazal said that the world’s definition and reality, from the moment it was created until this is actually revealed, are one and the same: the days of Moshiach. That is why it was created from the outset. This raises a question. We know that people always talk about reward, receiving reward, right? So wait: if the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead aren’t a reward but the result of the work, and I was put here to work—if they’re the aim and purpose of the work... I’m a manufacturer now, right? I work in a factory that produces G-dliness, and when we finish making the product, we have the world of the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead. So the days of Moshiach aren’t a reward; they’re

42:06 Speaker 1 the work itself, the essence of the work. What about a reward? Doesn’t a person, a worker, deserve a wage? He worked hard. Hm? Of course, in the days of Moshiach there will be great satisfaction, and there’s also Gan Eden. But at the end of the day, when a person finishes the month, he says, “Excuse me, I worked hard. Satisfaction? Thank you very much for the satisfaction, but I need money to live on. What about the money? Where’s my pay?” The Alter Rebbe adds a note that answers this question: “The main receiving of reward will be in the seventh millennium, as stated in Likkutei Torah of the Arizal.” Yes, you’re right. Gan Eden is wonderful. The days of Moshiach are even more wonderful. The resurrection of the dead is even more wonderful. But that isn’t receiving a reward. There will be revelation here, there will be delight here—everything will be here. All true, all well and good. But it isn’t receiving a reward. It’s the result of the work. A wage is when I work at... I don’t know, whatever a person does for a living, and receive money. There’s no intrinsic connection between the money he receives at the end of the month and the work he did. The money may be equivalent in value.

43:40 Speaker 6 Unless you work somewhere that produces—

43:43 Speaker 1 That produces money, right.

43:45 Speaker 6 What did you say?

43:47 Speaker 1 Someone who works at... that one person, the one lone person in Israel who works minting coins—then he really... Right. Unless he gets his salary deposited in the bank rather than in coins. Hm? A reward isn’t the essence of the work, is it? In the seventh millennium, when the main reward is received, Hakadosh Boruch Hu will give something else. Not Gan Eden, not the days of Moshiach, and not even the resurrection of the dead. Something else: His very Essence. Everything else is revelations. A greater revelation, an even greater revelation, an incomparably greater revelation. I don’t know how to put it; I don’t have enough words right now. I don’t know whether there are enough words for it. Endless revelations are still revelation. In the seventh millennium, Hakadosh Boruch Hu will give the reward: His very Essence, here in this physical world, to each and every member of the Jewish people.

45:01 Speaker 7 Won’t there be Gan Eden and all that?

45:06 Speaker 1 Maybe they’ll leave Gan Eden for the wicked non-Jews. How can that be? Can there be such a revelation here in the physical world without the world ceasing to exist? Something like this has already happened before, says the Alter Rebbe. It’s nothing new. He brings proof at the top of page 58. You don’t believe me? I have proof: something of the kind has already happened. When? At the Giving of the Torah. As it is written about the Giving of the Torah: “You were shown to know that Hashem is G-d; there is none besides Him.” It says so explicitly: “You were shown.” You saw it—you were actually shown it with your physical eyes.

46:03 Speaker 7 But even though it all happened, they were there, the generation of knowledge. Each person was on a level where they deserved to see it, to be at the Giving of the Torah. We’re not on that level. So how can we... And the Rebbe says there will be a revelation like that. To tell us such things—it’s not on our level at all.

46:24 Speaker 1 That’s an excellent question, and we’ll address it shortly.

46:32 Speaker 7 Sorry, but they were the ones who had been at the forty-nine gates of impurity. No, that’s true, but they weren’t at the Giving of the Torah then. Yes. I understand what you’re saying about those who reached the mountain, but they were the generation of knowledge by then, so...

46:49 Speaker 1 By the time they reached the Giving of the Torah, they were no longer at the forty-nine gates of impurity.

46:54 Speaker 7 Yes.

46:55 Speaker 1 They had already reached the fiftieth gate.

46:58 Speaker 7 [unclear]. Yes, of understanding. That’s binah. Yes.

47:06 Speaker 1 What are the fifty gates of binah? There are—

47:22 Speaker 7 There are fifty gates of understanding. There are. That’s—

47:35 Speaker 1 What exactly are the gates of binah? A gate is something you go through to enter or leave. Enter or leave binah? Gates?

47:48 Speaker 7 Why does binah have the most gates?

47:50 Speaker 1 Gates to what? From where to where? What’s inside? What’s outside?

47:55 Speaker 7 Chochmah and daas. What are they...

47:59 Speaker 1 So it works like this. In binah—in each of the ten sefiros, each of the ten is... You just mentioned it, so this is an aside to explain a concept in Chassidus. No, it’s not so difficult. Each of the ten sefiros also contains ten. Right? In the binah we’re discussing, there is chochmah within binah, binah within binah, daas, chesed, gevurah—all the middos. Right? Everyone knows the concept discussed so much in Chassidus, which we’ve also talked about here a lot: through contemplation, an emotion is born. Right? How does a person awaken a feeling of love? He contemplates the greatness of Hashem, and a feeling is born in his heart. That’s what we said, right? How exactly does that happen? After all, intellect and emotion—where’s the connection?

48:57 Speaker 8 Binah. A mood.

48:58 Speaker 1 How—no, the narrow passage of the throat. No, no, no. Right. Those are the gates of binah. How does it happen? The intellect, by its nature, wants to attach itself to chochmah. It wants to rise upward, and it is cold and moist. Emotion has no common language with it. So what happens? Within binah itself there are, broadly speaking, three levels. First there is contemplation itself: he contemplates an idea. Right now he’s thinking about the subject. Then there is the stage where he reaches a conclusion about how things should be. At first he’s just thinking, thinking. No, he has no conclusions. He’s not... The conclusions don’t interest him right now. He thinks and reflects on the subject, on understanding it. Afterward, if he wants to—or if it’s required of him—he also looks for the conclusion to draw from it. And if he goes one step further, he can also reach a kind of intellectual excitement. The analogy given for this in Chassidus is “two people holding a tallis.” Everyone knows the... Two people are holding a tallis. One says, “It’s all mine,” and the other says, “It’s all mine.” Each knows that if he lets go of the tallis, the other one wins. So they come to the rabbi like that, holding the tallis. They arrive together and ask the rabbi what... They ask him. And they’re not just asking—there’s action going on. How does the rabbi look at it? How do they look at it? When the rabbi sees them, he says, “Ah, finally, a case like this!” He opens the Gemara, looks into it, studies it. The tallis, right? The rabbi sees only a sugya in the Gemara here. That’s what he sees before him. Each of them, with his own claim, sees the tallis. They’re all saying the same things—the rabbi and they are dealing with the same claims. The rabbi is thinking about the sugya, the issue, and they’re thinking about the tallis. Right? That’s the difference between binah itself and the lower faculties within binah, which are...

51:25 Speaker 1 The intellectual conclusion and the excitement—how it bears on practice. The conclusion and how it bears on practice in its particular details divide into seven middos. There is the intellect itself—chochmah, binah, and daas within binah—and there is the conclusion and so on, which are the seven middos within binah. More specifically, since each of the seven middos includes the other seven, there are forty-nine. When a person contemplates something in every detail, then every particular he understands—how this subject, this sugya, applies as gevurah within chesed or tiferes within netzach, and so on—each such contemplation opens a gate through which an emotion suited to that conclusion can be born. These are called the fifty gates of binah. That makes forty-nine. When one’s understanding and comprehension are complete, with all the details and finer details, the essential light of the intellect reaches the emotions as well. Ah, at age forty this becomes revealed automatically. That point comes down. No, that’s unrelated. All right, how did we get here? We were saying that at Matan Torah, after the Jewish people had refined themselves and gone through all that contemplation—when they reached Matan Torah and reached the fiftieth gate, they were already refined, already a generation of daas. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu could show them. “You were shown, so that you would know that Hashem is G-d,” and they truly saw. The essential point was revealed to them. And this is what it means that they saw it with their own eyes: “As it is written, ‘And all the people saw the sounds’—they saw what is normally heard.” These are things everyone knows. For our Sages explained that they would look east and hear the utterance “I am...” coming from there, and likewise in all four directions, above and below. It says in Tikkunim that there was no place from which He did not speak to them. At Matan Torah there was no place they could look without seeing G-dliness. The world spoke G-dliness. What will be in the future, in the days of Moshiach and the resurrection of the dead, had already happened in a similar way once before: wherever...

53:58 Speaker 1 They looked in the world, what did they see? They saw G-dliness. So that’s something that—if it happened already, it certainly can happen. Hmm?

54:09 Speaker 9 How is that Torah in a cow?

54:14 Speaker 1 We’re getting to it right away, right away. “And this was because of the revelation of His will”—the Rebbe will address both her question and yours in a moment. “And this was because of the revelation of His blessed will in the Ten Commandments, which encompass the entire Torah, which is the innermost aspect of His blessed will and wisdom, where there is no concealment of His countenance at all. As it is written, ‘For in the light of Your countenance You gave us the Torah of life.’” The Torah was given in the light of Hashem’s countenance. When the Torah was given, His very Essence was given, and the Jewish people received it. So this can happen in the future too. And what actually happened? “Therefore they were utterly nullified, as our Sages said: ‘With every utterance, their souls flew out of them.’” What does it mean that their souls flew out of them? They were not vessels capable of receiving the revelation. Their existence was nullified. That’s exactly what happened. Like what happened to the angels when He extended His little finger among them. Hakadosh Boruch Hu was revealed at Matan Torah and... their souls flew out of them; their existence was nullified.

55:23 Speaker 9 That’s not exactly what...

55:25 Speaker 1 That’s exactly what our Sages were talking about.

55:27 Speaker 9 Yes, but it’s not exactly what... It was... it had already happened once before.

55:33 Speaker 1 First of all, there was a revelation. There was a revelation.

55:36 Speaker 9 A vessel for the revelation.

55:37 Speaker 1 But what happened? Since they weren’t vessels for the revelation, their souls flew out of them. What did we say? What gives the vessel for a revelation the strength and power to hold it? The Torah, right? Yes? “But Hakadosh Boruch Hu restored them with the dew with which He will revive the dead, and that is the dew of Torah, which is called ‘strength.’” Yes? As our Sages said, “Whoever engages in Torah, the dew of Torah revives him.” Now look, this is very interesting. At Matan Torah, the Torah was given. What does it mean that the Torah was given? Hakadosh Boruch Hu was revealed—the light of the King’s countenance gives life—and their souls flew out of them. How did He restore their souls? He gave them the Torah. Wait, He gave them the Torah first, didn’t He? What did we say? There was that statement about how Torah can be... What, what, what does it say here? So He gave them the Torah, and because it was such an intense revelation, their souls flew out of them. Then how did He restore their souls? He gave them the Torah. Well, what have we accomplished? That’s not... It’s the most precious gift you have. Good, good. So the point is this: in Torah there are, broadly speaking, two levels. There is Torah as the light of Ein Sof, the will and wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Since it is unlimited in its very nature and essence—at its source it is unlimited—when it is revealed, nothing limited can continue to exist. That is what was given: “I am Hashem your G-d,” the Ten Commandments. But within Torah there is a still higher level, much higher, incomparably higher. That level, the depth of Torah, the source of the source of Torah, is called “strength”; it is called the “dew of Torah.” With regard to the essence of Torah as it is rooted in His very Essence, which is called “strength” and is called... and the level... that is the level of dew. Hakadosh Boruch Hu, just as He is not limited by a vessel, is also not limited to being infinite. In the language of philosophical inquiry, just as He is not limited by finitude, He...

58:03 Speaker 1 Nor is He limited by being unlimited. This may be a very old question. The great Torah sages, the early authorities, asked: Hakadosh Boruch Hu is all-powerful. Can He be riding and not riding—riding a horse and not riding that same horse at the same time? So the answer is no. “All-powerful” means He can do anything that is possible. That is an answer; that is what is written. But in Chassidus, and perhaps even in Kabbalah, it is shown otherwise. There is a level of G-dliness that can contain a thing and its opposite: He can be riding and not riding. Where do we see that in the physical world? It seems obvious to us. Why would we say that He can’t? They hadn’t studied Chassidus. No, but then you could also ask who we are to speak about Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Chassidus brought so many things into the world, within reach of our human understanding—so many things that we received as a gift. Today they seem self-evident to us, though the great Torah sages throughout the generations struggled with them and had no answer. And I’m not only talking about the secrets of the Torah or matters of its inner dimension. I’m talking about the plain meaning of Chumash, too. There are so many sichos in which the Rebbe asks a question about the plain meaning of a verse—Chumash with Rashi—and brings the explanations given by the great commentators through the generations. What this one said, what that one said, what another one said. Sometimes he brings three, four, five, six interpretations. Then he says: No, this one cannot be right for this reason. That one cannot be right because it raises a question. This one fits somewhat, but not with that. By the time you’ve gone through all five or six answers, you’re left with

1:00:16 Speaker 1 nothing in your hands! There are many such sichos on the plain meaning of a verse. And then, from somewhere you would never have thought to look, the Rebbe suddenly brings out something that not only explains the verse but also explains how all the commentators’ interpretations are correct. We didn’t have that in earlier generations. We received it as a gift. So this level of the dew of Torah, the Torah that is called “strength,” is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu will restore. There was a revelation of G-dliness in this world—“You were shown so that you would know”—and Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave them the strength of Torah. Well, then why wait for the days of Moshiach? For the resurrection of the dead? What happened? It already happened once. But afterward, sin caused them and the world to become coarse, until the end of days. Then the physicality of the body and the world will be refined, and they will be able to receive the revelation of Hashem’s light, which will shine upon the Jewish people through the Torah that is called “strength.” What about now? Huh? Wow, wow. All right, we’ll leave some of that for another time. And from the abundance of light shining upon the Jewish people, the darkness of the nations will also be illuminated, as it is written: “Nations shall walk by your light,” and so on. So first of all, the revelation of G-dliness in the future will come through subduing the sitra achra and transforming darkness into light. And through the Torah, it will reach not only the Jewish people: “Nations shall walk by your light.” And it is written: “House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of Hashem.” Who says that? Isaiah the prophet, yes—but who is speaking in the verse? The nations. That is its plain meaning according to Rashi. The nations of the world say to the Jewish people, “House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of Hashem.” In chapter 2 of Isaiah, they see the revelation of G-dliness to the Jewish people, and then they say, “We want it too. Come, we’ll follow you.” And it is written: “The glory of Hashem shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see together,” and so on. Even flesh—all flesh—will see it, not only the Jewish people. And it is written: “To enter the clefts

1:03:00 Speaker 1 of the rocks and the crags of the cliffs, from the dread of Hashem and the splendor of His majesty.” Now, that verse does not actually say that the nations are the ones doing this—entering the clefts of the rocks. But the Rebbe says it is obvious. Our Rebbe says it is obvious: when Hakadosh Boruch Hu is revealed, the Jewish people will not go and hide from Him. They will have no need for clefts in the rocks or crags in the cliffs.

1:03:27 Speaker 10 A prophecy of wrath.

1:03:31 Speaker 1 It isn’t a prophecy of wrath. It’s a prophecy that Hashem’s light will shine on the nations too. Because they won’t be as ready to receive it as the Jewish people, they will need to enter the clefts of the rocks and the crags of the cliffs, from the dread of Hashem and the splendor of His majesty. So this, too, refers to the nations, as it says—hmm?

1:03:51 Speaker 10 They’ll die strange deaths.

1:03:54 Speaker 1 They won’t be as ready to receive it as the Jewish people. What exactly will happen? The world will be refined. It says something about people dying. There’s a sicha of the Rebbe on this: how many people will die, who will die, and why? There’s a prophecy—no, “a fifth shall remain in it,” something like that—that in the future four-fifths of the nations of the world will die. So the Rebbe says: Why would you say that? That cannot be. The Torah is not a Torah of wrath. The Rebbe explains at length that they will not actually die. This is about the nations.

1:04:29 Speaker 10 The Rebbe also said that there won’t be—that it isn’t as though a person has to die for this to happen. As though, in the Geulah—

1:04:38 Speaker 1 Yes.

1:04:39 Speaker 10 Everyone, as it were—

1:04:39 Speaker 1 Yes, yes, yes, yes. There is such a letter, yes.

1:04:43 Speaker 10 The Rebbe says a person needs to—

1:04:45 Speaker 1 As it says, “Reveal the splendor of the glory of Your strength to all the inhabitants of Your world.” That is from the wording of the prayer: in the future, Hashem’s glory will be revealed not only to the Jewish people but also to the nations. All right, so this chapter added to the previous one that observing practical mitzvos not only refines the world and prepares it for the revelation of G-dliness, but more than that: this is the entire purpose of the world’s creation. The world was created in order to prepare it for the revelation of G-dliness. When will that happen? First of all, in the days of Moshiach. When did the days of Moshiach begin? When he was born—when the cow lowed as the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, two thousand years ago. So first of all, the entire purpose of the world’s creation is for the days of Moshiach. The days of Moshiach are now; this is the purpose of the world’s creation. Afterward, when the dead come to life, there will be even more than that. And afterward there will be reward—the reward of the seventh millennium—which is still more than that. So all of this is about why we need to observe the mitzvos. In the next chapter, the Rebbe completes the discussion by explaining that the matter will truly reach its fullness when Moshiach comes and the dead are resurrected. That is the subject of the next chapter.

1:06:15 Speaker 10 Wait a second—in the seventh millennium, isn’t that—

1:06:17 Speaker 1 We’re at the end of the sixth millennium right now. 5760.

1:06:28 Speaker 10 We’ve passed five thousand seven hundred and eighty-two and eighty-three. We’ve passed them. Right, so we’re almost in the seventh, once we finish the sixth. Okay, okay, I understand.