Likkutei Amarim Chapter 37 (Part 3) · 5785

00:00 Speaker 1 Okay, we’re in the middle of chapter 37, near the end, on page 96, where the line ends “to refine the sparks, etc.”

00:11 Speaker 2 Yes.

00:11 Speaker 7 Somewhere in the middle.

00:13 Speaker 2 Yes. Wow, she’s here already. Wow, it’s time already. I didn’t see him.

00:26 Speaker 1 Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, King of the universe.

00:31 Speaker 7 Blessed is G-d, who calls Your prophets.

00:33 Speaker 2 How do you know?

00:35 Speaker 7 Oh, she’s grown already. Tell me about her.

00:41 Speaker 2 What, she’ll be a year old soon, won’t she?

00:42 Speaker 7 Yes.

00:43 Speaker 2 When?

00:44 Speaker 7 Ella Datz[?]

00:44 Speaker 8 Now Malki.

00:46 Speaker 2 Oh.

00:46 Speaker 7 Oh, soon. Wow, would you look at that.

00:50 Speaker 2 Like Chaya Mushka.

00:51 Speaker 7 Chaya Mushka.

00:54 Speaker 2 Yosef Yitzchak’s. That’s why she’s called that.

00:58 Speaker 7 But she’s not eight.

01:00 Speaker 2 No, seven.

01:04 Speaker 1 We’re on page nine—page 96, in the middle of the page, on the line that begins “This will explain.”

01:15 Speaker 2 Oh, so that’s where we are now.

01:21 Speaker 1 So what did we say this chapter is about? We said chapter 37 is the last of the three chapters that explain the virtue of action. At first, the entire first part of Tanya, through the end of chapter 34, discusses serving Hashem in the heart, the inner service of Hashem. For a person not to stumble into transgressions, and to do only mitzvos, he needs a motivation that will drive him to fulfill mitzvos and keep him from transgressing. So he needs to awaken the love and awe within him. That’s the first part of Tanya. Then he began—now we’re in the second part of Tanya, which we’ve just begun studying, and it deals with action. In other words, the Rebbe wants to—no, the Rebbe doesn’t want to explain. The Rebbe explains, and… explains that physical service too, fulfilling mitzvos physically, doing things—which, seemingly, is just an action. Yes, fulfilling a mitzvah with your hands is just a physical action. There’s a dimension of service in that too. And on the contrary, the Rebbe explained that the main point of a person’s service of Hashem lies precisely in doing. As an introduction, there are three chapters—35, 36, and 37—that explain the virtue of action in general. Seemingly, if you ask a person, even one without Torah and mitzvos, “What matters most? What’s more important, the spiritual or the physical?” no sensible person, no normal person, will say that the physical is what matters most. Nobody would say that. Maybe someone, I don’t know, who’s very immersed in physicality and very drawn to it. A normal person would say that the spiritual—what is more elevated? Everyone would say spirituality is more elevated. Nobody has any question about that. So before even beginning to discuss the service of action, the Rebbe explains its virtue. We need to explain that although it’s something physical, an action, yes, it also has

03:28 Speaker 1 a virtue. And what the Rebbe begins to explain in these three chapters is quite the opposite. There’s a saying that recurs quite often in the halachic authorities. It’s mentioned quite often: “The opinion of householders is the opposite of the opinion of halachah.” If you want to know what the halachah is, what should be written in the Shulchan Aruch, think of what seems most logical to you—and the halachah is the opposite. The way Hakadosh Boruch Hu sees the world is the opposite of the way we see it. So although it seems to us that spirituality is the main thing and physicality is merely secondary, the Rebbe explains in these three chapters that, on the contrary, it’s precisely the world’s physicality, precisely the things that seem lowly to us, precisely action, that are the main intent. It was for action, for physicality, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world. Hakadosh Boruch Hu did not create the world for matters of love and awe, or intellect and study. Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world because of action. That’s what He wanted. “He desired to have a dwelling place in the lower realms.” He wanted the lower realms. What is there to want in such a thing? So he explained that Hashem’s Essence can be revealed specifically in the lower realms. As long as we’re talking about higher realms, about spiritual things, Hashem’s Essence cannot be revealed there. There can only be revelations, only a radiance; but Hashem’s Essence—He Himself—can be revealed only in the lower realms. And we’ll now go over the explanation again. He explained why. Continuing with this idea, he begins to discuss the virtue of the mitzvah of tzedakah. Why specifically the mitzvah of tzedakah? What distinguishes the mitzvah of tzedakah from all the other mitzvos? What distinguishes it from all the other mitzvos? What do we use to perform all the mitzvos? Inanimate things, plants, animals. What do we use to perform all the mitzvos? Well?

06:00 Speaker 1 How do you fulfill the mitzvah of sukkah? What is a sukkah made from? Plants. Tefillin? Animals. I don’t know, yes.

06:07 Speaker 9 Plants and animals.

06:08 Speaker 1 Generally, most mitzvos—almost all of them—are performed with things from the plant and animal kingdoms. The mitzvah of tzedakah is one of the few mitzvos performed with something inanimate. And not only is it performed with something inanimate, but it’s a great mitzvah that you can perform all the time. The mitzvah of sukkah is eight days a year, right? The mitzvah of Pesach—you eat matzah seven days a year. Some mitzvos apply only one day a year or one hour a day. Tzedakah is all the time. Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu give us this mitzvah in a way that allows us to give tzedakah all the time? Because it’s the principal mitzvah. So much so that in many places in the words of our Sages, when they simply say “mitzvah,” without specifying which one, they mean tzedakah. “You did a mitzvah today.” Which mitzvah? They don’t need to say. Just “mitzvah,” without anything added, means tzedakah. So that’s what he’s discussing here. That’s our subject now. Page 96, middle of the page, on the right—uh, in the middle: “And this will explain.” “And this will explain why our Sages spoke so very highly of tzedakah”—I’ll go through the end of the chapter quickly. A little briskly. I want to move on to chapter—I want to at least begin chapter 38. “And this will explain why our Sages spoke so very highly of tzedakah and said that it is equivalent to all the mitzvos. And throughout the Jerusalem Talmud it is called simply ‘mitzvah,’ without a qualifying term.” Just “mitzvah” means tzedakah. Why? Because it was customary to use the unqualified word “mitzvah” specifically for tzedakah. Why? “Because tzedakah is the foremost of the practical mitzvos and surpasses them all, for they all”—all the other practical mitzvos—“are only”—sorry. No, not “the other.” All of them, all the mitzvos, their purpose is “to elevate the vital soul to Hashem.” Why the vital soul? Because it is the one that performs them and is clothed in them, “to be included in the Ein Sof light clothed within them,” as he

08:26 Speaker 1 explained earlier at length. Do you remember studying this at length? Yes? Do you remember talking about it last week? Do you remember or not? Come on, there’s no need to be embarrassed.

08:42 Speaker 10 Then go over it again, and you’ll remember.

08:45 Speaker 1 If you don’t remember, you should say so. It’s—it’s… He explained—we studied this in the previous chapter, and in this chapter too, at the beginning of this chapter, that… everything Hakadosh Boruch Hu created, everything that is a created being—what does “created” mean? It was created and is, so to speak, separate from G-dliness. How can something—

09:21 Speaker 10 I was really pampered. [unclear], did we even talk about that?

09:24 Speaker 11 Oh, yes. I tried to send a message saying I wouldn’t come, but my phone wasn’t working. I said, “All right, then I’ll come.” Just as I sent the message, I was also getting out of Orit’s car.

09:36 Speaker 10 Then I said, “All right, never mind.”

09:42 Speaker 1 Everything that is holy—what does “created” mean? Creation means bringing something into being from nothing. Hakadosh Boruch Hu made something new. What is new about it? “There is nothing besides Him,” yet here is something that appears separate from Him. How can it be separate from Him? It is an existence in which G-dliness is not felt. It does not feel that its source is G-dliness, that it comes from G-dliness. That is what “created” means. Right or wrong? You’re not responding today. “Created” means that Hakadosh Boruch Hu concealed Himself—tzimtzum. What is tzimtzum? He concealed Himself so that the thing would appear separate, something in its own right. If Hakadosh Boruch Hu were revealed, it would not be separate; it would be G-dliness. Yes. “Created” means that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is hidden within it, not revealed within it. That is what “created” means. And the place with the greatest concealment, where Hakadosh Boruch Hu is not revealed at all, is this physical world. So how can this physical world, whose whole nature is that G-dliness is not revealed in it, suddenly become a place where G-dliness is revealed? He explained earlier that this happens only through fulfilling a mitzvah. Why specifically through fulfilling a mitzvah? Because what is a mitzvah? It is His will. Nothing conceals Hashem’s will, nothing hides it. It is His will. The Torah is His wisdom; it is He Himself. So in Torah and mitzvos there is no concealment at all. Therefore, when a mitzvah is performed with a physical object, the infinite light within the mitzvah is now revealed in that physical object, and the moment the infinite light is revealed in it, it is elevated. That is what he explained. This is the main point of practical mitzvos and surpasses them all: all the mitzvos serve to elevate the vital soul to Hashem. For it is the vital soul that

12:02 Speaker 1 fulfills them and becomes invested in them—in the mitzvos. The G-dly soul cannot become invested in this world without the animal soul. And only when the vital soul becomes invested in a mitzvah does it, too, become incorporated into Hashem’s will, which is revealed in the mitzvah. So it, too, is elevated.

12:34 Speaker 12 It receives strength.

12:34 Speaker 1 What?

12:36 Speaker 12 It receives strength from the holiness of the mitzvah into which it becomes incorporated.

12:39 Speaker 1 Yes, it becomes incorporated in it. The animal soul is now doing Hashem’s will. So it is not only the physical object that is doing Hashem’s will; the animal soul is doing Hashem’s will too. When the animal soul becomes invested in the mitzvah, that elevates both the physicality of this world and the vital soul itself to holiness. After all, it is the soul that performs the mitzvah. So that was the introduction. We already explained it earlier. Now, what is special about the mitzvah of tzedakah? What we’ve said is true of all mitzvos. All mitzvos are performed by the vital soul, and whenever it performs a mitzvah, it becomes incorporated into holiness. That is true of all mitzvos.

13:24 Speaker 12 Thank you very much. Thank G-d.

13:29 Speaker 1 So it is true of all mitzvos. Here the Alter Rebbe comes to explain and emphasize what is special about the mitzvah of tzedakah: in the mitzvah of tzedakah, the vital soul is elevated to holiness more than in all the other mitzvos. Did you hear that last sentence?

13:50 Speaker 12 No.

13:54 Speaker 1 That was just an aside—for three hours. That’s the main point. Let’s go over it again. What is all this discussion for? We said that the end of the chapter speaks about tzedakah and how it relates to everything explained earlier. Earlier, he explained that fulfilling a practical mitzvah elevates the physicality of the world and the animal soul to holiness. What does he want to say now? That through the mitzvah of tzedakah, the animal soul and the world are elevated to holiness more than through any other mitzvah. Why? Because there is no other mitzvah in which the vital soul becomes so fully invested as it does in the mitzvah of tzedakah. Why does the vital soul become more invested in tzedakah than in any other mitzvah? Well? Shema Yisroel.

14:55 Speaker 12 [unclear] the animal soul, in order to give something it earned.

15:00 Speaker 1 What is most important to a person? People say...

15:07 Speaker 12 Money.

15:08 Speaker 1 Money.

15:08 Speaker 12 Life, one’s soul. What do you say?

15:14 Speaker 1 Nobody needs an explanation of why money is important. There isn’t a single person in the world who needs that explained. Do you know anyone like that? Anyone who needs an explanation of why money is important?

15:35 Speaker 12 I think so.

15:36 Speaker 1 Come on, we can’t do this.

15:38 Speaker 12 That’s precisely the point.

15:44 Speaker 1 Is there such a person, someone who needs an explanation of why money is important?

15:48 Speaker 12 No.

15:48 Speaker 1 There’s no such person, right? Why? Because it’s obvious.

15:53 Speaker 12 It’s important.

15:53 Speaker 1 Why is it obvious? Because to the vital soul, the animal soul, it is obvious that money is important. It needs no explanation; money is its life. Money brings it pleasure, food, happiness, a nice house, a nice car, curtains, dresses, clothes. I don’t know. Money brings the vital soul pleasure. All the pleasure it can get in this world depends on what? Money. So whenever there’s a chance to get money, the G-dly soul lights up.

16:30 Speaker 13 The animal soul.

16:31 Speaker 1 What?

16:32 Speaker 13 The animal soul.

16:32 Speaker 1 The animal soul, sorry. Yes. It sees an opportunity to get money—snap! It lights up. You don’t need to urge it on. Right? And sometimes, even if the way to get it isn’t exactly the most kosher or aboveboard, it’s money. A person often finds all sorts of justifications for himself to bend the rules and cut corners, because he needs to earn money. When our animal soul—what is the animal soul? The animal soul is me. When we say “the animal soul,” the translation into plain language is “me.” Every one of us. When I see money, I throw myself into it, as they say. Each person has to be honest with himself here; this hits home. When the animal soul sees money, it makes an effort. It matters to it; it is completely involved. It puts in thought, feeling, hands, feet and action. It won’t be lazy; it will do what it takes. Right? Now what does it suddenly hear? What does the G-dly soul tell it? “Listen, take the money you earned—”

17:53 Speaker 13 Pass it on to someone else. Give it away.

17:56 Speaker 1 Give it away. The animal soul doesn’t like that. If there is one thing the animal soul hates, it is giving tzedakah. Why? Because money is the most important thing in the world to it. So, says the Alter Rebbe, when a person gives tzedakah—not a lot, just a penny, a coin, any amount at all—the entire animal soul is involved. There is no other mitzvah whose fulfillment elevates so many of the animal soul’s faculties to holiness all at once.

18:42 Speaker 13 Wow.

18:42 Speaker 1 And indeed, in Igeres Hakodesh—later, with Hashem’s help, when we have time and get there—of its thirty-two letters, eighteen deal with the Alter Rebbe urging people to give tzedakah. Each letter gives a different reason. Each of those eighteen letters about tzedakah has a different point, a different good reason to give. But the general idea the Alter Rebbe explains here is this: the whole purpose of observing mitzvos in general is to elevate and refine the vital soul. What does it mean to refine it? To reveal G-dliness within it, to raise it to holiness. And no mitzvah does that as well as tzedakah. All right, now we can read the text: “For with all the mitzvos, only one faculty of the vital soul becomes invested in them, and even that is only while the mitzvah is being performed. But with tzedakah that a person gives from the labor of his hands, the entire strength of his vital soul was invested in his work or other business through which he earned that money. And when he gives it to tzedakah, his entire vital soul ascends to Hashem.” Not just some part of it—the entire soul. “And even one who does not live off the labor of his hands”—there is someone like that who, well, lives on National Insurance.

20:08 Speaker 13 By definition, he can’t manage to live on it.

20:09 Speaker 1 Yes, I don’t know. His wife works, her husband works, and he—he lives without working. Right? He’s—he’s managed to get by in life. Right? So even for someone like that, “nevertheless, since with this money he could have purchased the needs of his vital soul,” he is giving the life of his soul to Hashem. Even someone who doesn’t have to work hard to get the money finds it just as difficult to give tzedakah as someone who does work. It’s no easier. And that is why our Sages said of tzedakah that “great is tzedakah, for it brings the Geulah closer.” Why tzedakah specifically? Every mitzvah a person does sanctifies the world and brings the Geulah closer. Why tzedakah specifically? Tzedakah brings the Geulah closer because with one act of tzedakah, a person elevates a great deal of his vital soul—more of its powers and aspects than he could elevate through several other practical mitzvos. I’ve mentioned this here quite a few times, and I’ll probably mention it quite a few more times: back when David, may he rest in peace, Kratz[?] was alive, I would occasionally ride with him in the car. He had a tzedakah box in the car, and first he would put a coin in it, and only then—the car wouldn’t start without a coin. For years I tried to imitate him and couldn’t manage it. I’d tell myself, “Just give ten agorot.” Let’s say I forgot about a hundred times as often as I remembered. It took years. Years and years and years. Really, a great many years before I managed to get myself to do it: “Yes, I’m giving.” Even now, right, even if I’m just moving the car five meters. No, now I give. It’s hard work, very hard. But what does that mean? One of the things the Alter Rebbe discusses in Igeres Hakodesh is not giving ten thousand shekels to tzedakah once a month. Give thirty times a day. Don’t

22:32 Speaker 1 give—so that in the end—the total of all the—give ten agorot thirty times a day, and by the end of the month it might add up to fifty or a hundred shekels. Don’t give seven hundred shekels at the end of the month. Give a hundred shekels, but give it thirty times a day. And as for what our Sages said, that Torah study is equivalent to all the—I’m not saying you shouldn’t give a lot. You should give a lot.

23:02 Speaker 13 Or divide it up.

23:04 Speaker 1 You can give a lot and also give coins throughout the day. The two have nothing to do with each other. The ten thousand shekels you give at the end of the month—that’s separate. Give another fifty shekels in small coins over time. They’re two separate things. You need to do both.

23:21 Speaker 13 They’re both tzedakah, but you can do both, you’re saying.

23:25 Speaker 1 As for what our Sages said, that Torah study is equivalent to them all, that is understood in light of this. What have we been explaining since the beginning of chapter 35—35, 37, 37—throughout all three chapters? That the main thing is action. What did we think at first? That the main thing was spirituality: learning, understanding, love and awe. No, no, no, no, my friend. Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world for the lower realms, for action. And the more it’s action, and the less it’s thinking, the more it sanctifies and brings the Geulah even closer. Well, then, why do we need to study Torah? Our Sages said Torah study is equivalent to them all. How does that fit with everything we’ve learned? A person, after all, has intellect, emotions and action. Broadly speaking, right? Yes. So Torah is intellect, love and awe are emotions, and mitzvos are action. Right. So what have we been saying until now is the main thing? Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu create the world? For action. And the Alter Rebbe reminds us that our Sages said Torah study, the intellect, is equivalent to them all. How is that? How do they fit together?

24:40 Speaker 14 Tzedakah is equal in weight to all the mitzvos.

24:40 Speaker 1 What? What’s that?

24:42 Speaker 14 Tzedakah is equal in weight to all the mitzvos.

24:48 Speaker 1 Equal in weight. No, it doesn’t say tzedakah is “equal in weight.” Huh? What does it say about tzedakah?

24:58 Speaker 14 No.

24:58 Speaker 1 “Equal in weight to all the mitzvos.” But, but it doesn’t say about Torah study that it is “equal in weight.” It doesn’t say tzedakah is “equivalent to them all.” “Equal in weight,” not “equivalent.” That’s another matter.

25:08 Speaker 14 Action is greater. Study is greater.

25:09 Speaker 1 Yes, there’s something about tefillin too, about the difference in wording. There are several places where the Rebbe discusses the differences between these expressions—“equivalent,” “equal in weight,” or “on behalf of.” Not for now. Here, here, here—the Alter Rebbe explains the matter in its plain sense. After we’ve spoken so much about action being the main thing, how did our Sages say Torah study is equivalent to them all? So here we need to explain Torah study a little. When our Sages said that Torah study is equivalent to them all, it is because Torah study is—well, we’ll explain several aspects of Torah study which make it equivalent to them all. Even though, in general, the world was created for action and action is the main thing, there are several particular things that can be accomplished specifically through Torah study. First of all, Torah study takes place through speech or thought. The soul’s garments, after all, are thought, speech and action. We fulfill mitzvos through action. Action is the lowest garment. How do we study Torah—how do we fulfill that mitzvah? Through thought and speech, the two higher garments. So, first of all, Torah study takes place through speech and thought, which are the inner garments of the vital soul. What does that mean? When a person fulfills a mitzvah through action, he elevates to holiness the power of the vital soul that was invested in performing the mitzvah. Which power? The power of action. What about the vital soul’s powers of thought and speech? Don’t those need to be elevated to holiness? Fulfilling a mitzvah really is the main thing, and it really does elevate the vital soul’s power of action to holiness.

27:10 Speaker 14 Isn’t that automatic? I mean, you’re doing an action.

27:13 Speaker 1 So the Alter Rebbe explained in detail that the power of the vital soul invested in the action is what gets elevated. First of all, then, Torah study elevates the vital soul’s thought and speech to holiness. That’s the first point. More than that: “The very essence of the Chabad faculties from kelipas nogah in the vital soul is also incorporated into actual holiness when one studies Torah with analysis and understanding.” You see, there is Torah study through speech: a person speaks the words and fulfills the mitzvah. If he’s someone who can’t understand and just recites words of Torah, Tehillim or Mishnayos, he fulfills the mitzvah of Torah study. And if he says them in his mind, or looks at the words and says the letters in his mind, he fulfills the mitzvah through thought as well. But that is only a garment of the soul. When a person understands, though—he studies a concept in Torah and understands it, studies a halachah—right? Before, he didn’t know the halachah; now he does. A very simple intellectual matter. Who is the person who has now understood the halachah—the G-dly soul or the animal soul? The animal soul. It has changed in some way. Before, it was an animal soul that—what does it mean that a person understands? If someone asks him tomorrow, he knows it. What does “knows it” mean? This G-dly concept has become part of who he is. So when a person studies a concept in Torah not only through thought and speech, but also with understanding and analysis—he understands it—then not only the garments of the animal soul are incorporated into holiness, but its very essence is too. And not just its essence in general, but its Chabad—its chochmah, binah and daas. Well, then, Torah study is certainly worthwhile, and we can’t do without it. Action won’t elevate that to holiness; only Torah study will, when one studies Torah with analysis and understanding. The Alter Rebbe asks: “And although the beinonim cannot transform the very essence of the emotional faculties—chessed, gevurah, tiferes, and so on—

29:45 Speaker 1 into holiness, that is because evil is stronger in the emotional faculties than in Chabad, since there it draws more vitality from holiness, as is known to those versed in the hidden wisdom.” We’ve already seen in many places that someone born a beinoni cannot become a tzaddik. Hakadosh Boruch Hu created him that way. How does it say—how, uh, at the beginning of Tanya, “You have created the wicked,” uh, “You have created the righteous.” Well...

30:21 Speaker 3 “You have created, You have created the wicked.”

30:21 Speaker 1 “You created the righteous; You created the wicked.” What does “You created the wicked” mean? He explained in chapter 13 what “You created” means. Does Hakadosh Boruch Hu create someone knowing from the outset that he will be wicked? Of course that is not the meaning. “You created the wicked” means You created people who can be wicked. It refers to beinonim. You created someone who could become wicked in practice. So why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu create most souls, most Jews, most people in the world—men and women, throughout all generations—in such a way that they cannot become tzaddikim? Why? Because that is the main avodah. Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants a dwelling place in the lower realms. He does not want a dwelling place in the upper realms. If He wanted a dwelling place in the upper realms, He would not have created people, neither beinonim nor tzaddikim. He has angels above. Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants the dwelling place down here. That is why most people are indeed beinonim who cannot become tzaddikim. And what does it mean that a person cannot become a tzaddik? What does it mean? He has a yetzer hara and cannot drive it away. An ordinary, normal person, unless he receives a particular gift from above. If a person does not receive such a gift—who receives a gift like that? It can happen. The Rebbe did say then that it could happen, perhaps, and so on. Such a thing is possible. Ordinarily, a person is born a beinoni, and that is how he lives his entire life. And what does it mean that he is a beinoni his entire life? That he cannot remove the evil or transform the evil into good. That is what we have been learning all along. Right?

32:16 Speaker 1 Yes or no? Yet here, seemingly, the Rebbe says that through Torah study a person transforms the animal soul into holiness. What have we learned in Tanya until now? That it is impossible for a beinoni to turn himself into a tzaddik. You cannot drive away the evil. That is how you were created; that is your role in the world. Here he says that through Torah study you can transform your Chabad faculties into holiness. What is the difference between what is being discussed here and what is being discussed there? The Alter Rebbe says it is simple: the intellectual faculties of the animal soul can be transformed into holiness. The emotional attributes of the animal soul cannot be transformed into holiness. A person can use his intellect to study Torah and reach, relatively easily, a state in which that is his pleasure, that is what he enjoys, that is what he understands, and that is his life. But to remove from the heart, from the emotions, the attraction to the pleasures of this world—that is something else. Why? Why is it like that? The Rebbe explained it according to Kabbalah. He said one thing here, according to Kabbalah: the kelipos draw more strongly from the emotional attributes than from the intellectual faculties. We can explain this simply. One of the general differences between intellect and emotion is that intellect is objective and emotion is subjective. Right? Emotion is what I want, what is good for me and what is not good for me, yes? Intellect is what is right and what is not right. So because intellect, by its nature and in its general form, is objective, the kelipos have less of a hold there. That is why the kelipos draw more strongly from the emotions. So the Alter Rebbe says: through this. Through... So what is the advantage of Torah study? First of all, Torah study elevates even the thought and speech of the animal soul to holiness, and more than that, it elevates to holiness

34:43 Speaker 1 even the essence of the animal soul. And here he notes: the essence of what? The essence of the intellect, not of the emotions; there, it is not possible. All right? That is, because evil is stronger in the emotional attributes than in the intellectual faculties, since they draw more from holiness, as is known to those versed in the mystical wisdom. So that is one point. The first advantage: our Sages said that although action is the main thing, Torah study is equal to them all. Why? Because Torah study has several advantages. What is the first advantage? Through Torah study, the animal soul is elevated to holiness in a way that action cannot elevate it. And there is yet another advantage to Torah study, one that surpasses them all in the superiority of engaging in Torah study over all the mitzvos, based on what was explained earlier in the name of the Tikkunim. He explained earlier, in the name of the Tikkunim, that the 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King, as with a person here below, by way of analogy. This does not need explaining, right? As with a person here below, there is no comparison whatsoever between the vitality in his 248 limbs and the vitality in his intellectual faculties. In a physical person, where is there more vitality—in the hand or in the intellect? There is no comparison; there is no need to explain that, right? So what did he say? Why is a person called adam? Because “I will resemble the One above.” We are a kind of reflection—or I do not know how to put it; it is not a reflection. It is an analogy for the sefiros above. Just as we have a body and a soul, limbs, intellectual faculties, and an inner life, so too above. What are the limbs, the body, above? The limbs above are the mitzvos. The 248 commandments are the 248 limbs of the King. The mitzvos are the limbs. And what are the intellectual faculties above? That is the Torah. So just as physically there is no comparison between the soul’s radiance in the brain and the soul’s radiance in the limbs, so too above there is no comparison between the radiance of G-dliness in Torah and the radiance of G-dliness in the mitzvos. So it is true that through

37:10 Speaker 1 the mitzvos we sanctify what is below, but where is the G-dly light revealed? In Torah, specifically, far more than in the mitzvos—beyond comparison. This accomplishes more, but here the light is revealed more. Just as the intellect divides into three faculties, Chochmah, Binah, and Daas, so too, by way of analogy—with infinitely many distinctions between them—is the radiance of the blessed Ein Sof light clothed in practical mitzvos compared with the radiance of the Ein Sof light in the Chabad faculties within the wisdom of Torah, each person according to his intellect and understanding. Even though he grasps only physical things and matters: when I study Torah, do I actually understand and feel the G-dly light? I understand someone exchanging a cow for a donkey. I understand what a cow is, what a donkey is, and what exchanging means. Do I feel the G-dly light in that? He says that nevertheless, the Torah is compared to water that descends from a high place to a low place, as explained earlier, and within the laws dealing with physical things is the G-dly light. So now the question comes back from the opposite direction. If Torah study is so lofty that it elevates the inner garments of the animal soul, and also elevates the essence of the animal soul to holiness, and also reveals the G-dly light incomparably more than the mitzvos do, how can you tell me that action is the main thing?

38:39 Speaker 4 And what good is that? I don’t know.

38:41 Speaker 1 So he says: Nevertheless, our Sages said, “Study is not the main thing”—even though Torah study takes precedence over everything. Why? Because of the advantages we mentioned. Yet our Sages said, “Study is not the main thing, but action is.” “And today, to do them,” the verse says. So we are here to act. And we interrupt Torah study to fulfill practical mitzvos that cannot be done by others. If there is a mitzvah that either I do or nobody will do, then close the book and fulfill the mitzvah. Why? Because this is the whole purpose of man, and the purpose of his creation and descent into this world: to make a dwelling place for Him, blessed be He, specifically in the lower realms; to transform darkness into light. “And the glory of Hashem will fill” the physical earth specifically. “And all flesh will see”—all flesh together—that... All this is accomplished through fulfilling mitzvos. But when the mitzvah can be done by others, we do not interrupt Torah study. Because seemingly, if action is the main thing and a person’s whole purpose is to transform the physical into holiness, then so what if I can study Torah now? I can fulfill a mitzvah, and that is the main thing.

39:55 Speaker 4 But mitzvos too... Torah is also a mitzvah.

39:58 Speaker 1 What?

39:58 Speaker 4 Torah is a mitzvah, isn’t it?

40:01 Speaker 1 We are not talking here about Torah study as a mitzvah. We are talking about Torah study as Torah study.

40:08 Speaker 4 If you are reading a book, then you are not studying.

40:11 Speaker 1 I want to do what’s most useful. How do you put it? I want my service to be meaningful. I want to do what’s most important, what’s most needed. I’m devoted to G-dliness; I want to do what matters most, what truly gives Hakadosh Boruch Hu pleasure, what my soul came down into this world to do. I want to do—I’m a Jew, a good Jew. Yes, I want to do what needs to be done. A soldier, a soldier, right? So what was I told? I was told that, yes, Torah study has a very great virtue, but why did my soul come down? To fulfill mitzvos. So now a person makes this calculation: I have a choice before me. I can fulfill a mitzvah or I can study Torah. This is a mitzvah, and that is a mitzvah, yes. But the point of this mitzvah, its virtue, is that it sanctifies the world and so on. That’s why my soul came down. I don’t know, but to fulfill it, yes. To bring holiness into the lower things. It reveals G-dliness. It elevates my vital soul—its inner dimension—to holiness. What should I do? Studying Torah seems better to me. It seems more important.

41:20 Speaker 4 Yes, right.

41:20 Speaker 1 Why—if a mitzvah is the most important thing, then what difference does it make whether there’s Torah study or not? It’s the most important thing. And if Torah study has such a great virtue, then why interrupt it only for a mitzvah that can’t be done by someone else? Even when it can be done by others, I should keep studying Torah. What would I be neglecting? Whichever way you look at it, right? So he says this: “Nevertheless...” On the other hand, when it can be done by others, why do we set aside the mitzvah and not set aside Torah study? “Although the entire Torah is only an explanation of the practical mitzvos, and it gives way before the mitzvos, this is because it, the Torah, is the aspect of Chochmah, Binah and Daas of the blessed Ein Sof. By engaging in it, in Torah, one draws upon oneself the light of the blessed Ein Sof with far greater intensity and an infinitely greater illumination than the illumination and flow drawn down through the ‘commands that are the limbs of the King.’” So, since Torah study draws down a revelation of G-dliness, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants not only for the world to be a dwelling place—He wants to be revealed in the world—and that revelation in the world comes specifically through Torah study, therefore, when the mitzvah can be done by others, you should study Torah. This is what Rav Sheshes meant when he said, “Rejoice, my soul! For you I read Scripture; for you I studied Mishnah.” What makes the soul rejoice? Torah study. Rav Sheshes said, “Rejoice, my soul.” Why should my soul rejoice? Because I’m fulfilling mitzvos now? No. The soul’s joy is “for you I read Scripture; for you I studied Mishnah”—Torah study, as stated elsewhere in Berachos. And this flow and illumination that a person draws down from the light of the blessed Ein Sof, illuminating his own soul and the souls of all Israel—the Shechinah, Knesses Yisroel, the source of all the souls of Israel, as will be explained later—through engaging in Torah,

43:30 Speaker 1 is called “calling.” One “calls” in Torah. Up to this point, the Alter Rebbe has explained that Torah study draws down a G-dly illumination. How is that illumination drawn down? Our Sages described it by saying that one “calls” in Torah. What does “calls” in Torah mean? It should say that a person studies Torah, says words of Torah, speaks Torah. Why “calls” in Torah? What does this word “calls” mean? It means that by engaging in Torah, he calls Hakadosh Boruch Hu to come to him, so to speak, like a person calling his friend to come to him, or like a small child calling his father to come to him, to be together with him and not leave him alone, G-d forbid. Our Sages said—and this is also brought in Chassidus—that the entire Torah consists of the names of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Have you heard that before? Yes. What does it mean that the Torah consists of the names of Hakadosh Boruch Hu? This is what the Alter Rebbe explains here: when a person calls someone by name, what is he calling? His name? He’s calling the person. Yes, the name is a sort of label attached to the person. And when you say the name, the person turns to you. Why is the Torah called His names—all of the Torah? Why is the entire Torah called the names of Hakadosh Boruch Hu? Because the whole Torah is analogous to the name of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. A person says a verse of Torah or studies a subject in Torah. It’s as though he has called Hakadosh Boruch Hu by name, and the Supernal Man responds to him now. This is what our Sages meant: “Hashem is close to all who call Him, to all who call Him in truth.” What does that mean? Is it possible to call Hakadosh Boruch Hu without truth? “Hashem is close to all who call Him, to all who call Him in truth.” What is “in truth”?

46:12 Speaker 5 There is no truth other than Torah.

46:13 Speaker 1 Huh?

46:13 Speaker 5 There is no truth other than Torah.

46:16 Speaker 1 There is no truth other than Torah. So how can you call Hakadosh Boruch Hu in another way—not through Torah? We’ve just explained how you can call Him through Torah: Torah consists of His names. It’s like calling Hakadosh Boruch Hu by name, and He turns to you. So what does it mean for someone to call Hakadosh Boruch Hu not by His names, not through Torah? How else can he call Him?

46:36 Speaker 5 Pat Him on the back.

46:38 Speaker 1 Huh? Pat Him on the back. Go on.

46:43 Speaker 5 Through prayer.

46:44 Speaker 1 Through prayer. “Father, Father!” So what do we think? An ordinary person—again, in the way we think—we need to turn this around, make a switch in our heads. We think: How can I cleave to Hakadosh Boruch Hu? I’ll pray to Him, cry out to Him, “Father, Father!” I’ll feel love and awe and cleave to Him. Then I’ll call Him, I’ll pray to Him, and He’ll turn to me. Right? The Alter Rebbe says: yes, but that isn’t called calling Hakadosh Boruch Hu “in truth.” It is calling Hakadosh Boruch Hu, but not in truth. Calling Hakadosh Boruch Hu in truth is only by calling Him by His name, through Torah. Why? What’s the difference? When a person calls Hakadosh Boruch Hu through his own love and awe...

47:37 Speaker 5 It’s limited.

47:38 Speaker 1 It’s limited. But when you call another person by name, you call to his very essence. You’re not seeking his kindness or his might, or asking him to give you something—some illumination from him, his attention, money. You’re addressing him. And that’s why it says, “Hashem is close to all who call Him, to all who call Him in truth.” Only someone who calls Hakadosh Boruch Hu through Torah—only to that person does Hakadosh Boruch Hu truly turn.

48:11 Speaker 5 That doesn’t matter.

48:12 Speaker 1 Huh?

48:13 Speaker 5 It doesn’t matter whether it’s Torah or not Torah.

48:15 Speaker 1 Well, the point is, of course, that he’s studying Torah in order to call Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That’s called Torah lishmah: studying Torah in order to connect with G-dliness. Not studying Torah in order to understand, or to become a rabbi, or, I don’t know, to have people honor him.

48:37 Speaker 5 That’s what we’re doing now.

48:38 Speaker 1 Yes. So, as they said, “Hashem is close to all who call Him, to all who call Him in truth”—there is no truth other than Torah. That is, one calls Hakadosh Boruch Hu specifically through Torah. This excludes someone who calls Him not through engaging in Torah, but simply cries out, “Father, Father!” As the prophet complains about him. Who is the prophet complaining about? That very Jew who prays and cries out from the depths of his soul, “Father, Father!” The prophet complains about him and says, “There is no one who calls upon Your name.”

49:11 Speaker 5 But it does move something, doesn’t it? I don’t know. The virtue of the simple Jew who calls out, “Father, Father!” That sound, the shofar’s sound, it’s like...

49:20 Speaker 1 But it isn’t “in truth.” It has the virtue of revelation, but not the virtue of the essence. We’ll talk about it more, please G-d; we’ve only just begun. “From this, an understanding person will contemplate how to draw upon himself a great awe while engaging in Torah, as explained above.” As explained—yes, as explained above in chapter 23. There’s, uh...

49:48 Speaker 5 In short, you mean.

49:49 Speaker 1 What?

49:49 Speaker 5 You said we’d continue chapter 37 in short.

49:54 Speaker 1 Yes, it turned out not to be so short, but that’s okay. Wait—before we... We’re about to start the next chapter, but I want to... Hold on a moment with those pages.

50:05 Speaker 5 Just to look from the beginning.

50:07 Speaker 1 What?

50:07 Speaker 5 I have a question, though.

50:08 Speaker 1 There’s an introduction here.

50:10 Speaker 5 Often, when the Rebbe explains whether action is greater or study is greater, the Rebbe says that, ultimately, action is greater because it is the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which is higher than wisdom. But here the Alter Rebbe seems to say that wisdom is higher than the mitzvos.

50:29 Speaker 1 No.

50:32 Speaker 5 The reason he gives for the mitzvos isn’t the usual reason people give.

50:37 Speaker 1 Action is the main thing. Why, nevertheless, did our Sages say that Torah study is also necessary? Because of the virtues of Torah. But that isn’t why the world was created.

50:51 Speaker 5 I wonder how many classes we took over the first book, doing it this way.

50:55 Speaker 1 With the first book, we were very careful to finish each chapter in one class.

51:00 Speaker 5 How did we do that? I wonder. I’m beginning to wonder. With the first book. I need to check.

51:08 Speaker 1 There are recordings from the first book. Let’s read the— I wrote an introduction, and now I just jotted down a few words to get things straight in my head. Chapters 35 through 37 dealt with explaining the virtue of action. The next three chapters, 38 through 40, will explain the great virtue of intention. Chapter 38, which I wanted to at least begin today, will discuss the reality of intention; chapter 39, the nature of intention; and chapter 40, what intention accomplishes. What do I mean by “the reality”? What did our Sages mean when they said that intention is the soul? It says—

51:53 Speaker 5 Prayer without a soul. Prayer without intention is a body without a soul.

51:57 Speaker 1 Right, prayer without intention is like a body without a soul. That means intention is the soul and the action is the body. But we know that in a person, who has a body and a soul, you can’t separate the two. Can you separate body and soul? Then it’s not a person. It’s either an angel or a corpse. You can’t separate body and soul; the body is alive. So what does that mean when it comes to mitzvos? After all, we know, even from our own experience, that you can perform a mitzvah without intention. Yes. And a person can also have intention without performing a mitzvah. So why did our Sages link intention and mitzvos as though they were soul and body, something that goes together? We need to understand what intention actually is. When we call something “intention,” what do we mean? That’s what chapter 38 explains. Then chapter 39 explains the nature of intention. So that’s from the new software.

53:09 Speaker 6 What?

53:12 Speaker 1 Those are additional texts after the class.

53:14 Speaker 6 Huh?

53:18 Speaker 1 All right, that’s editing from time to time... In any case, after discussing the virtue of action for three chapters, the Rebbe will now spend three chapters discussing why action needs to be accompanied by intention. Then, in the chapters after that, from chapter 41 onward, he’ll begin explaining how to awaken intention and how to serve Hashem with love and awe, and so on. That’s in the coming chapters.

53:40 Speaker 6 Next week, G-d willing. Avraham and David, may they be remembered for life.