Likkutei Amarim Chapter 38 · 5781

00:18 Speaker 1 Okay, we’ll begin. Ah... I found this page. Actually, I’d had it all along; I’d forgotten about it.

00:29 Speaker 2 Ah, that’s what—this one was small.

00:31 Speaker 1 It’s from the booklet, yes. The branches are laid out separately there in the booklet, so this is the branch that’s relevant to us. Let’s go over it for a moment. You can see here both what we’ve already learned and what we’re starting to learn now. In general, the branch called “A Dwelling in the Lower Realms” is the first part of the second half of Tanya. If the first half of Tanya discusses how to achieve completeness in observing the mitzvos, the second half discusses how to bring intention, love, and awe into the mitzvos—how to bring feeling into their observance. So in that second half, the first part is the fourth branch. Let’s look at the diagram for a moment. This first part begins by defining the goal: why do we need feeling? It says that feeling in serving Hashem is needed in order to make this world a dwelling for Him in the lower realms. Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants... He desired to have a dwelling in the lower realms; that is why He created the world. For Hakadosh Boruch Hu to have a dwelling here, two things are needed. First, there has to be a dwelling—a house has to be built for Him. Second, the house has to be clean and well lit. That’s what the two boxes below are about: the value of action and the importance of the intention within the action. Performing the mitzvos builds the dwelling, refines the world, and makes it fit for the Shechinah to rest in it. Then, when the mitzvos are performed with love and awe, with intention and feeling, the world is not only a dwelling for Hakadosh Boruch Hu; it is also an illuminated dwelling, where He is openly revealed. Those are the two elements. We’ve already covered the first three chapters, which explain how

03:02 Speaker 1 he describes the value of action. First, he explains that for the Shechinah to rest in the lower realms, for the Divine light to be able to take hold in the physical things of this world, this happens specifically through practical mitzvos. After all, we said there are mitzvos involving speech and mitzvos involving thought. But it is primarily through practical mitzvos that the Divine light takes hold and sanctifies physicality. Then he explained what that accomplishes: making a dwelling in the lower realms. And in the third chapter there, he explained the ultimate fulfillment of this: through practical mitzvos, we turn the world into a dwelling for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. We prepare the world for Divine revelation, not only in the particular small things we work with, but in everything connected to them and around them. Through the work of the Jewish people, even every grain of sand in the Sahara Desert in Africa, every molecule in the air, or any star—I don’t know—billions of kilometers away, everything, everything, everything is elevated to holiness and becomes a place for Him to dwell. So those are the three chapters: through practical mitzvos we prepare the world to be a dwelling. That we’ve learned. Today we’re beginning the second branch: why is intention needed? Here, too, there are three chapters. The chapter we’re learning today is about the existence of intention. The next chapter will be about the nature of intention, and after that, the effect of intention. In other words—we’ll see it inside later, but looking at it broadly—for anything in the world, there’s the fact that it exists, its existence as a thing. Yes, here it is. Right? There’s its existence, and there’s its nature. What does it do? What is it made of? What can it do? What can you do with it? That’s the nature of

05:22 Speaker 1 the thing. And then there’s: what is it good for? Why do we need it? So with intention in mitzvos, too, there are three things. There is the existence of intention: what is intention? Then, in the next chapter, what is its quality, where does it stand, what is its level, what Divine light shines within it—its nature. And then, in the third chapter, chapter 40, we’ll discuss what it accomplishes, how intention illuminates the world. Let’s begin inside. Chapter 38 explains what intention actually is when we say you need to daven with intention, or perform a mitzvah with intention. What do we mean by “intention”? That’s our chapter, chapter 38. Now, to begin with, this whole first page here, page 55, is a summary of the previous three chapters. He isn’t introducing anything new here. We’ll read it quickly. “In light of all the above”—what we explained about the importance of sanctifying the world through practical mitzvos—“the ruling laid down in the Talmud and the halachic authorities will be clearly understood: thinking is not considered equivalent to speaking.” Thinking is not like speaking. That is to say, the main thing is the mitzvah, its actual performance. Speech involved in a mitzvah also has a certain practical force, but thought alone does not. That is the halachic ruling. Where does this ruling apply? “If one recited Shema in his mind and heart alone.” There is a mitzvah to recite Shema twice a day, “when you lie down and when you rise.” The time for Shema has arrived, and the person is somewhere he isn’t allowed to speak—an unclean place. He isn’t allowed to speak. Right?

07:34 Speaker 9 [unclear]

07:35 Speaker 1 Hmm?

07:36 Speaker 9 [unclear]

07:38 Speaker 1 [unclear] So he wants to recite Shema in his mind. After all, the main thing is the intention, right? “The Merciful One desires the heart.” He wants the heart, the intention. And everyone knows Shema by heart—almost everyone does. There’s nothing to lose. So he’ll recite Shema in his mind, and seemingly that gets much closer to what matters most. What does saying the words add? What value is there in saying them aloud? The main thing is that I think about them and intend to affirm the oneness of His Name and give up my life for Him. That’s the main thing, isn’t it?

08:15 Speaker 9 Yes.

08:23 Speaker 1 Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, by Whose word everything came into being.

08:26 Speaker 9 Amen. How long has it been since we’ve seen you here?

08:34 Speaker 10 Ah, yes.

08:42 Speaker 1 Good evening. Okay, the Alter Rebbe doesn’t write this explicitly, but this is one of those cases of which it is said that the thinking of ordinary people is the opposite of Torah thinking. What we normally think and understand is exactly the opposite of what the Torah says. Our human intellect is not Divine intellect. What we see as the main thing isn’t even secondary.

09:17 Speaker 9 They planned, planned things so it would be that way.

09:20 Speaker 1 Because the thinking of ordinary people is the opposite of Torah thinking. What is he saying here? We think that in Shema, what matters most is the intention, the self-sacrifice, the oneness of Hashem, affirming His unity. Right? As, with Hashem’s help, we’ll get to Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah. That’s not so far away now. Right after chapter 53, we begin Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah.

09:42 Speaker 9 Another three or four months or so.

09:46 Speaker 1 No, another two months, two and a half months. So, in our minds we always have all the explanations in Chassidus about the great importance of Shema. What does the Alter Rebbe say? That it says in the Talmud, in the Gemara, and is ruled as halachah by all the authorities, something straightforward: thinking is not considered equivalent to speaking. And if he recited Shema only in his mind and heart, with all the power of his intention, he has not fulfilled his obligation. He gave himself over completely, but he didn’t say the words aloud, so he hasn’t performed the mitzvah at all and must recite it again. The same applies to Birchas Hamazon, which is a Torah obligation: if he only thought the words of Birchas Hamazon, he has not fulfilled his obligation. He has to say the words aloud. The same applies to the other blessings instituted by the Sages, and to davening. He has to say all the words aloud; if he intended them but didn’t say them, he hasn’t davened and must daven again. On the other hand, if he said the words with his lips but didn’t direct his heart, then he has fulfilled his obligation, even though he wasn’t thinking. I don’t know, he was daydreaming. I don’t know. He was daydreaming, he was spaced out, as they say. We spoke about this once. Now I remember why I brought it up. It says that Achashverosh ruled from Hodu to Cush, over 127 provinces. Where did we once mention that? There’s a vort about it.

11:21 Speaker 9 That Cush was within the territory?

11:23 Speaker 1 No. People ask about this; Rashi already asks: Hodu and Kush are next to each other. So what does “from Hodu to Kush, a hundred and twenty-seven provinces” mean? He answers that Achashverosh ruled the whole world as easily as one rules two neighboring provinces. That’s the plain meaning. That’s Rashi. But the fellows say that Hodu is the beginning of davening, “Hodu laHashem ki tov,” and Kush is “kush.” That’s Yiddish; it means spitting—the spit at the end of Aleinu Leshabeiach. So from Hodu to Kush, he traveled through a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Even someone like that, who wasn’t exactly focused on davening throughout, who traveled all over the world but said the words, has fulfilled his obligation. Why is that? Someone who did have kavanah and davened with all 248 limbs and 365 sinews, but didn’t say the words, has not fulfilled his obligation. How can that be? How? How? Yes. Why? “One need only repeat the first verse of Shema and the first blessing of Shemoneh Esrei, as stated in the Gemara at the beginning of the second chapter of Berachos. Up to this point, kavanah is required”; for one verse, you need to have kavanah. From then on, the requirement is to recite. Say the words. Why? Because the soul does not need the mitzvos to perfect itself. The mitzvos were given to the soul not so it could perfect itself, but so it could perfect the body and the animal soul. That’s what we learned throughout the previous three chapters. What are mitzvos for? To perfect the body, the soul, and the world. How do we perfect them? By fulfilling practical mitzvos. So first of all, perform the mitzvos—or at least say the words aloud. But if you don’t utter anything and only think it, our Sages said, “Thought is not equivalent to speech.” Thought isn’t like speech. Thought doesn’t count for anything. The soul

13:31 Speaker 1 only needs to draw down light to perfect the vital soul and the body through the letters of speech that the soul articulates through the five organs of the mouth. All the more so with practical mitzvos, which the soul performs through the body’s other limbs. So the beginning of chapter 38 sums up the previous three chapters. What is it all for? What is the main thing for which the soul descended into this world? Not kavanah, but action. Now the question arises. Any of us raised on Chassidus—or any ordinary Jew—hears this and says, “Listen, kavanah is worth nothing?” No. Thought is not equivalent to speech. Oh, so all that matters is mitzvos? You can daven without having any kavanah at all? You’re completely thrown off. It’s not what I’m used to. It’s not what I know. Right? Yes. Of course.

14:28 Speaker 11 That’s what I do.

14:30 Speaker 1 Yes, but of course. Even if I do that, it’s clear to me that it isn’t right to do it that way. Yes.

14:35 Speaker 11 That’s what we were taught.

14:36 Speaker 1 So how do we reconcile what our Sages said—which was established as halachah in the Talmud, by the halachic authorities, and ultimately in the Shulchan Aruch—with what is obvious to every one of us: that kavanah does matter? From here on, over these three chapters, he explains the other side, the importance of kavanah. So let’s begin. That was the introduction; now we’re starting the subject itself.

15:11 Speaker 11 From a halachic standpoint.

15:18 Speaker 1 Hmm?

15:18 Speaker 11 That it isn’t halachah.

15:18 Speaker 1 “Nevertheless.” Nevertheless, even though the main thing is fulfilling practical mitzvos—the body, the actual deed, and speech—and kavanah is supposedly worth nothing, nevertheless they said that prayer or any other blessing without kavanah is like a body without a soul. Okay, you fulfilled the mitzvah; you have the body. But it’s a dead body. That doesn’t sound so good.

15:58 Speaker 11 If it’s still a mitzvah, it does accomplish something, whereas a dead body does nothing.

16:01 Speaker 1 A dead body does nothing. A mitzvah without a soul—that’s a saying of our Sages. It’s also written in the Gemara. On the one hand, our Sages say that what matters is actually saying the words. Kavanah neither adds nor takes away anything when it comes to checking the box. You fulfill the mitzvah even without kavanah. But how do you fulfill it? Like a dead person. “Meaning: Just as all creatures in this world have a body and a soul—‘the soul of every living thing,’ ‘the spirit of the flesh of man,’ and ‘the soul of everyone with the breath of life in his nostrils.’” Yes? So he lists here that some bodies have a nefesh, some have a ruach, and some have a neshamah. “The soul of every living thing, the spirit of the flesh of man, and the soul of everyone with the breath of life in his nostrils.” Of all living creatures, Hashem gives life to every one of them, constantly bringing them into existence from nothing through the light and vitality He bestows upon them. Even the physical body, and even stones and earth—which are truly inanimate—contain light and vitality from Him, blessed be He, so that they do not revert to the nothingness they once were. We already mentioned Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah once today. Here he returns to it. At the beginning of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, the Alter Rebbe explains that all the beings in the world have a body and a soul.

18:05 Speaker 11 One second.

18:20 Speaker 1 So a person immediately asks: A human being—I understand that he has a soul. I can see it in animals too. Plants? Well, I can still understand that. You see some movement there; something is alive. I can understand it. But does an inanimate object have a soul?

18:36 Speaker 11 An atom.

18:37 Speaker 1 Hmm?

18:37 Speaker 11 An atom.

18:39 Speaker 1 I didn’t understand.

18:39 Speaker 11 An atom.

18:41 Speaker 1 What?

18:41 Speaker 11 There’s an atom. I mean, there’s vitality; the atom is moving all the time, constantly moving around.

18:50 Speaker 1 Ah. An inanimate object is a physical thing. You don’t see any movement of life in it. Even if it moves, you don’t see life in it. It doesn’t—

19:02 Speaker 11 Yes, you can understand that. You can understand that there’s an atom.

19:07 Speaker 1 No. With a person or an animal, you see that it sees, hears, understands, thinks. You can’t say that a plant understands, thinks, feels—I don’t know what. You see it grow; you see something developing. An inanimate object doesn’t develop. It... it just has this existence...

19:36 Speaker 11 It’s inanimate.

19:37 Speaker 1 Yes, that’s how it appears. Not a soul. What does it mean, then, that “even an inanimate object, such as stones and earth, contains light and vitality from Him, blessed be He, so that it does not revert to the nothingness it once was”? Very simple. Divine light gives life to the inanimate object. How do I know that Divine light gives it life? If it didn’t, it wouldn’t exist. In other words, there are created things in which the light of Hashem does what? It sustains them. The very fact that they exist, that they aren’t nothing at all. How is it—how, how, how is there this reality of, not sand, a mountain? There’s some G-dliness giving it life; otherwise, how does it exist? Right? There are higher forms of creation in which, beyond their very existence, a higher Divine vitality also works within them: not only do they exist, they grow and develop. There’s a still higher kind of created being in which the Divine vitality does more than sustain it and more than make it grow: it also sees, understands, feels, and so on. And some can even speak—the speaking species. So among all these, the Rebbe says something very interesting: Where does the human being’s physical body fit? In which of these four categories do we place it?

21:38 Speaker 12 Inanimate.

21:39 Speaker 1 It’s inanimate. True, for the first few years it develops a little, but that ends fairly quickly. A plant, even the simplest plant, always adds more leaves, more roots. It may not grow taller like a tree, but it keeps—it doesn’t stop growing. But—

21:57 Speaker 12 The body also changes all the time.

21:58 Speaker 1 What?

21:59 Speaker 12 The body also changes all the time.

22:00 Speaker 13 Until it reaches the grave.

22:03 Speaker 1 Generally speaking, after a person has grown five fingers on one hand, another finger doesn’t grow there, or whatever. It’s a one-time thing.

22:17 Speaker 12 Maybe when the soul leaves the body, it’s inanimate. But as long as the soul is inside the body, I mean...

22:21 Speaker 1 Then a person has an additional soul as well, one that is animal and speaking. But a soul of the vegetative kind—more or less, he doesn’t have that.

22:36 Speaker 12 I think it’s the same with a plant.

22:38 Speaker 1 Hmm?

22:38 Speaker 12 I think it’s the same with a plant.

22:40 Speaker 1 What do you mean?

22:41 Speaker 12 It grows and develops, but when you cut it off from its roots, only the body remains. It’s not the same soul.

22:47 Speaker 1 Only when it dies. But a person, even while alive, stops growing.

22:52 Speaker 13 But cells do renew themselves. I mean, the cells are constantly renewing themselves.

22:57 Speaker 1 But that isn’t growing or developing.

22:59 Speaker 13 They’re replaced. Hair, fingers—I mean, it’s not... Yes, the body develops. Maybe it doesn’t develop in—what do you call it?—in the sense of developing additional organs, but it renews itself over and over and over.

23:13 Speaker 1 Let’s not get into that debate. This really is a matter of looking for fine distinctions. In general, the Alter Rebbe compares the physical body to the inanimate, because it doesn’t develop—not even the way plants do. And nevertheless, even an inanimate object and the physical body contain Divine light; they have a soul. How does it exist? If it exists, that’s a sign that it has a soul, some Divine light sustaining it.

24:01 Speaker 12 It has vitality, doesn’t it?

24:04 Speaker 1 He calls it ruach, nefesh, and neshamah here. Divine light—I don’t know. There’s something there; it has life, it has a soul. He’ll spell that out shortly. “Nevertheless, there is no comparison or similarity whatsoever between the light and vitality that shine in the body and the light and vitality that shine in the soul, which is the soul of every living thing.” That’s the main point. Meaning: yes, Divine light shines even within physical matter, giving it life and sustaining it—and within the body too. But there is no comparison, no similarity at all. You can’t compare the Divine vitality that sustains an inanimate object with the Divine vitality that sustains a living creature. The Divine vitality that sustains plants and inanimate objects... Maybe let’s put it another way. As we know, there are generally four levels: inanimate, plant—no, the other way around—animal, well, human, animal, plant, inanimate. So, broadly speaking, we divide them into two groups: human and animal, and plant and inanimate. The soul of a plant or an inanimate object acts only on its body: it keeps the body in existence or makes it grow. It doesn’t produce spiritual faculties in it, so that it can see, feel, hear, or speak. The two higher categories have something in common: their souls produce more spiritual faculties within them. So there is a difference. You can’t compare the vitality that sustains plants and inanimate objects with the vitality that sustains animals and humans. One kind of vitality acts only on the body, while the other gives life to the soul. They are two different kinds, entirely different in nature. Okay? And we need to examine and understand how they differ. Okay, so when I look at this in general—let’s take the extremes, an inanimate object versus an animal—I can see clearly that one is inanimate and the other is alive, and their souls aren’t the same. The Alter Rebbe asks: Wait, why aren’t they the same? Do you see G-dliness in a stone? No. When you

27:21 Speaker 1 look at, I don’t know, a mouse, do you see G-dliness? No, you don’t. Right. Then take a kosher animal. Take a person. You don’t see it. So what’s the difference? What’s our measure of revealed G-dliness? That I feel it here and don’t feel it there? That I feel it more here and less there? There’s no difference. The very same concealment that hides the vitality in a stone hides it in every created being I know, without exception, including human beings. So why do you divide them up into inanimate, plant, animal, and human? The concealment is the same in all of them. Where do you see the distinction? That’s what he’s going to explain. “Although in both, the light is equally concealed through the hiding of the Divine countenance and through the same garments in which the light is hidden, concealed, and enclothed,” because both belong to this world. The vitality that sustains inanimate matter and the body, and plants too, as well as the vitality that sustains animals and humans, is vitality that becomes enclothed within this world. And in this world there is concealment, so we neither see nor feel it. Everything is hidden. “Throughout this world, the light and vitality from the breath of His mouth are concealed equally through the hiding of the Divine countenance and the descent of levels and the progression of the worlds from one level to the next, through many immense contractions, until it becomes enclothed in kelipas nogah to give life to this entire physical world.” In other words, everything permissible and pure in this world comes through that same process of contractions and concealments, and that is why we don’t see G-dliness anywhere in this world. “And from it”—from kelipas nogah—“and through it, the impure things receive their sustenance, for kelipas nogah is an intermediate level, as explained above,” as we learned in the previous chapter. “Nevertheless, the radiance—the flow of vitality with which Hashem illuminates and gives life through this garment—is not equal in all of them.” In what way is it unequal? “In the degree of contraction and expansion.” Now we need to concentrate.

29:59 Speaker 1 What are we trying to get at? We’re trying to understand why we need kavannah—what is the advantage of kavannah? Yes.

30:08 Speaker 14 What is kavannah in the first place?

30:11 Speaker 1 What is kavannah, and why do we need it? So first, the Alter Rebbe wants to explain to us the... the difference between the Divine light that shines on the lower levels—in inanimate matter and in the body—and the Divine light that shines in spiritual things. So what has he explained? What has he begun to explain? He’s begun to explain that there are two kinds of contraction, two kinds of concealment. We’ve spoken about this quite a few times already. There is contraction by way of concealment, and contraction by way of reducing the amount. In terms of concealment, everything is equal. Divine light reaches the world to give it life through the same concealment. Everything comes through kelipas nogah, and so we don’t perceive G-dliness anywhere in this world. But the amount is not equal. There are created beings that Hakadosh Boruch Hu sustains with light that comes through a tiny opening, so they receive only a little vitality. That would be an inanimate object or a physical body. And there are created beings that Hakadosh Boruch Hu sustains through a large window or an open door. That’s a large amount of Divine light. So in terms of contraction and expansion, they aren’t the same. A large amount of Divine light reaches a living creature, and we can see that it’s alive. So where does the concealment show itself? In the fact that we don’t perceive what that vitality means. No one sees G-dliness in the creature. We see life, but we don’t see G-dliness. Right. That’s what he’s explaining now. “For in the physical body and in truly inanimate matter, such as stones and earth, the radiance is contracted to an unparalleled degree, and the vitality within it”—within the physical body—“is so slight that it doesn’t even have the power to grow. In a plant, the radiance is not contracted to such a great degree,” so it can develop and grow a little. “Generally speaking, the levels of Divine vitality are divided into four levels: inanimate, plant, animal, and human.” Why specifically inanimate, plant, animal, and human? Because these correspond to the four

33:00 Speaker 1 letters of Hashem’s name Havayah, blessed be He, from which they receive their sustenance. Have we spoken about this before? I don’t remember. All forms of Divine influence come from the name Havayah.

33:15 Speaker 15 We haven’t.

33:16 Speaker 1 Huh?

33:17 Speaker 15 You don’t remember.

33:18 Speaker 1 I don’t remember.

33:20 Speaker 15 I muted it.

33:23 Speaker 1 Maybe we’ll say a few words about it, just so it doesn’t sound like—I don’t know—Chinese. The name Havayah comes from the word... Huh?

33:35 Speaker 15 No, Chani said something to me.

33:37 Speaker 16 No, I have Zoom on; I muted it.

33:40 Speaker 1 One explanation of the name Havayah is that it comes from the word mehaveh, “brings into being.” Why is it called Havayah, Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei? Because He brings all the worlds into being. How does He bring the worlds into being? Through His four letters: yud, hei, vav, hei. Why that way? Because any flow of influence from a higher level to a lower one must always pass through those same four general stages. The example given is a teacher who wants to teach a student. When the teacher wants to teach the student, before the lesson begins, he thinks for a moment: What will I teach him? Where will I start? He has to take everything in the Gemara—or, I don’t know, everything he knows—and choose one point to talk about. He can’t just start talking and go off in every direction; the student won’t retain anything, right? He wants the student to... So this is called contraction. It’s the yud, a point. At that stage, the teacher still isn’t thinking about the student. He’s thinking about what he himself is going to teach. He hasn’t yet begun to think about the student; he’s occupied with his own thoughts. Then he says, Wait, this point I’ve chosen—how am I going to explain it to him? Where do I start explaining it? How do I give him a starting point? He needs to bring it down through analogies and examples so the student can grasp something, have some thread to hold on to. Right? So bringing it down from above—an analogy takes an idea and brings it from above to below. That’s like the vav, which extends from top to bottom. When you write a vav, it has a little yud at the top, right? And then it extends downward. That’s the shape of the vav. Um, sorry, that’s already the vav. Before that you have the hei. After he

35:52 Speaker 1 Chose the—sorry. Even before the Vav, after the Yud comes the Hei. After he chooses the point, the teacher says, “Wait, what’s inside this point? It can be explained this way, and that way, and another way.” He works it out for himself in every direction, and for the teacher, that point becomes a whole subject. Then he says, “Oh, wait. If I drop all this on the student, he’ll burst.” Right? So he looks for an analogy to bring it down to the student’s level. That’s the stage of the Vav. Then, when the teacher actually gets to the classroom and stands in front of the student, suddenly his heart sinks. Until now, he was dealing with himself. He was dealing with the intellectual subject, the point, the details, the explanation, the analogies. Suddenly there’s a student standing in front of him. He sees the student’s face. Wait—what is he going to say to him? It looks completely different. This isn’t at all what I thought it would be. Right? Now he has to think about how to bring it down in practice to the student standing in front of him. So that’s another descent, and that’s the second Hei. This is by way of analogy. There are many, many explanations. So within each descent itself, there are more and more details and explanations, literally without end. Just to give you a sense of what else can be explained here: have you ever heard of the name Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei, the names Av, Sag, Mah, and Ban? Have you ever heard where those names come from? It’s gematria, right? You know that you take the Yud in the name and the Yu—huh?

37:39 Speaker 3 We don’t—

37:41 Speaker 1 You write the Yud as Yu—

37:42 Speaker 3 In its expanded spelling.

37:44 Speaker 4 In its expanded spelling, not “fully.”

37:46 Speaker 1 Yes, you write the Yud the way it sounds: Yud, Vav, Daled, the way you write it on paper, right? And you write the Hei as Hei, Yud, Hei. Right.

37:57 Speaker 4 Hei.

37:57 Speaker 1 Or Hei, or Hei-Hei. There are several possibilities. Right. And the same with the Vav, and so on. So the gematria of the name Havayah when you write it with the letters spelled out—there are different combinations. It can come to either seventy-two or sixty-three: Av, Sag, Mah, and Ban. These four possibilities, these four levels, are expressed with one expanded spelling or another or another. There’s also the spelling out of the expanded spelling, and how it is in Atzilus, and how it is in Beriah, and how it is here and there, and so on. There’s an enormous multitude of details and explanations, without end. The essential point is that every transmission from above to below comes through four stages. And since every transmission from above to below comes through four stages, how are all the created beings in this world created? Through the name Havayah. Since all created beings are created through the name Havayah, through its four letters, created beings also have four levels corresponding to those letters. Those created directly from the letter Yud are on a high level, the level of the human being; those created from the letter Hei are somewhat lower, and so on. “And just as the illumination and flow of life-force in inanimate things and plants cannot be compared to the illumination and flow of life-force clothed in animals and human beings, even though in all of them the light is equally concealed and clothed in the same garment—the garment of nogah”—so in all of them it is concealed in the same way. But each contains a completely different measure of light. So... until now, that was the analogy. “So too, there is no comparison at all between the illumination and flow of the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He—which is His inner will, without any concealment or garment, and which shines and is clothed in the actual performance of practical mitzvos, and likewise in mitzvos dependent on speech and the utterance of the lips without intention, which is considered actual action, as explained above—and the illumination and flow of the light of Ein Sof

40:20 Speaker 1 blessed be He, that shines and is clothed in the intention with which a person performs practical mitzvos in order to cleave to Him, blessed be He.” So at first, the Alter Rebbe explained at length the difference between the G-dly life-force that gives life to the soul and the G-dly life-force that gives life to the body. What is he saying now? That was only the analogy. You should know that the G-dly life-force drawn down through performing a mitzvah is as nothing compared with the G-dly life-force drawn down through the intention of the mitzvah. So much so that the relationship of the soul to the body, which we explained earlier, is the same as the relationship of the mitzvah’s intention to the mitzvah. That’s what our Sages meant when they said that a mitzvah without intention is like a body without a soul. “And likewise with the intention in prayer, the Shema, and other blessings, through which a person attaches his thought and intellect to Him, blessed be He.” So that was a somewhat lengthy explanation, but the idea is very simple. The Alter Rebbe stated the essential point at the beginning: in its superiority to the physical performance of the mitzvah, the intention of the mitzvah is like a soul. It’s true that the main thing is the body—that there be a body that can be alive. But the superiority of the soul over the body is such that there’s no comparison at all. Likewise, there’s no comparison between the intention of the mitzvah and the body of the mitzvah. Before the Rebbe finishes the subject in our chapter, he adds a qualification. The next passage is a brief qualification. We might have thought this way if the Alter Rebbe hadn’t included this note here. Why? Let’s turn it around. If someone came and asked me, “Tell me, why is the soul loftier than the body?” Well, what do you mean, why? I wouldn’t even understand the question. Right? It’s a soul. Because it’s a soul, and it’s spiritual and alive, while that’s just a body. I mean, what kind of

43:21 Speaker 1 question is that? Right? The Rebbe says: No. After all, we just explained that both are created beings. Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the soul just as He created the body.

43:32 Speaker 5 No, those are pilpulim.

43:34 Speaker 1 Yes, but why? Why say that? Why do I need to give the whole explanation we gave earlier, that intention is loftier and is like a soul in relation to the body? Who says the soul is loftier than the body?

43:48 Speaker 5 Right.

43:48 Speaker 1 Just because that’s how it seems to me?

43:52 Speaker 5 No, I’m thinking it over.

43:53 Speaker 6 They say that in the future, too, the superiority of—

43:55 Speaker 1 The superiority of the body will be revealed. Right. Who says the soul is loftier? At first glance it sounds right, it sounds good, but who says it’s true?

44:06 Speaker 5 And the Torah says it’s true.

44:08 Speaker 1 So let’s see why it’s true. The Alter Rebbe points out, line seventeen: “It is not that the attachment of a person’s thought and intellect to Him, blessed be He, is inherently superior to the attachment attained through the actual performance of practical mitzvos, as will be explained later. Rather, this too is His will: that one cleave to Him through intellect and thought, through intention in practical mitzvos, and through intention in the Shema, prayer, and other blessings.” When Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted us to perform mitzvos, He explicitly did not want just their performance. From the outset, He also wanted the intention. What makes the intention loftier than the body of the mitzvah isn’t that it is inherently loftier. It’s loftier because that’s what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted. When Hakadosh Boruch Hu established that I must observe mitzvos, He established from the outset: “Listen, I want you to perform the mitzvah with intention. That’s what I want. Don’t perform mitzvos for Me without intention. True, if you performed only the mitzvah—thought is not equivalent to speech, how does the saying go?—meaning you performed only the mitzvah, there’s no question, everything’s fine, I’ve checked it off for you. But that isn’t what I want. I want you to perform the mitzvah with intention.” So that’s the superiority of the mitzvah by virtue of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s will. More than that: “And the illumination of this supernal will, which shines and is clothed in this intention, is infinitely greater, far, far above the illumination of the supernal will that shines and is clothed in the performance of the mitzvos themselves.” That’s another point. Hakadosh Boruch Hu established that His will, as it shines in the intention, is infinitely greater and loftier than His will as it shines in the performance.

46:29 Speaker 5 Cool.

46:29 Speaker 1 That’s how it is.

46:30 Speaker 5 I didn’t understand.

46:32 Speaker 1 Hmm?

46:32 Speaker 5 Why that sentence? Add something more.

46:34 Speaker 1 At first we asked, who says the mitzvah is above the intention? Hakadosh Boruch Hu said that He also wants the intention. Well, so what if He wants the intention too? Who says the intention is greater? Because Hakadosh Boruch Hu established that His will in this—in the intention—shines more than His will in... Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants the performance, and He wants the intention. Where is His will revealed more, where does it shine more? In the intention. How much more? Infinitely more. Far, far above. Wait, we’re not finished. There are two more steps. “The illumination of this supernal will, which shines and is clothed in this intention, is infinitely greater, far, far above the illumination of the supernal will that shines and is clothed in the performance of the mitzvos themselves, in action or speech without intention, just as the light of the soul is vastly superior to the body, which is a vessel and garment for the soul.” Just as the body is a vessel and garment for the soul, so too the body of the mitzvah itself is a vessel and garment for the intention of the—

47:56 Speaker 5 That’s basically thought, right?

47:58 Speaker 1 Hmm?

47:59 Speaker 5 Intention is basically thought.

48:02 Speaker 1 Ah, not exactly. That’s true, but it’s not exact. Kavanah—intention—means a feeling of love and awe, mainly love. We’ll look at this at much greater length later. Right now we’re—kavanah...

48:22 Speaker 5 What do you mean by “intend”?

48:24 Speaker 1 Hmm?

48:25 Speaker 5 You intend something.

48:32 Speaker 1 He asks in line six: “Although seemingly, in both of them—in the mitzvah or in the kavanah—there is vested one simple will, utterly simple.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted us to fulfill mitzvos. He didn’t have two separate wishes: “I want you to fulfill mitzvos, and I also want you to have kavanah.” No. What do you mean? He wants you to fulfill mitzvos with kavanah. It’s one will. He didn’t want two things. So how can you tell me that He wanted one more and the other less? That His will shines more here and less there? What are you basing that on? After all, it is “one simple will, utterly simple, without any change or multiplicity, G-d forbid, and united with His essence and being in absolute unity.” He says: “Nevertheless, the illumination is not equal in its degree of contraction and expansion.” The Alter Rebbe gives the explanation here in a note. We won’t read the note inside, because it uses some Kabbalistic terminology. We’ll get to know it briefly, orally. The source of created beings, in general, is in the world of Atzilus. All right? All created beings were created—the process of creation began with the world of Atzilus. The source of created beings is in the world of Atzilus. What is there in the world of Atzilus? Lights and vessels, Divine lights and Divine vessels. In the language of the Zohar, these are called chayohi and garmohi: the life and the “bones,” so to speak, of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Ihu vechayohi, ihu vegarmohi—His life and His... His life and His “bones.” From the lights in the world of Atzilus, the spiritual things and the kavanos were subsequently created below; from the vessels in the world of Atzilus, the physical things were subsequently created below. What is the difference between lights and vessels? We’ve discussed this quite a few times. What does a vessel do? A vessel constricts the light. Take our perennial cup of coffee: if you didn’t have a cup and poured out the coffee, it would spread without limit. Right? That’s what would happen. But

51:04 Speaker 1 the vessel constricts it and confines it to one place.

51:07 Speaker 5 Which leaves me bigger than it.

51:09 Speaker 1 Huh?

51:10 Speaker 5 That’s what remains.

51:11 Speaker 1 All right, there you go, free of charge. You can use that for good or bad, and so on. The function of a vessel is to limit the light. So what do vessels in Atzilus mean? They are that aspect of the world of Atzilus that limits the light so it won’t spread infinitely. From the lights, the matter of kavanah subsequently descended and came into being below; kavanah is spiritual and not so limited. And from the aspect of contraction in Atzilus subsequently came into being the matter of vessels, of physicality, of the body of the mitzvah. Since the body of the mitzvah—what is its source? Contraction, limitation. So the will shines less within it, because it is limited. Its whole nature is limitation, allowing less to shine within it. That’s what he says here in the note. And this limitation itself is also divided into four levels, because the bodies of the mitzvos themselves actually comprise two levels. There are mitzvos that are literally performed through action and mitzvos dependent on speech. Yes, two levels: mitzvos of action and mitzvos of speech—speech and thought, such as Torah study, the recitation of Shema and prayer, Grace After Meals and other blessings. And the kavanah of the mitzvos is also divided in two. The kavanah of the mitzvos, to cleave to Him, which is like a soul to a body, is also divided into two levels, like the two levels of soul within a physical body: the living being and the speaking being. Here we begin the final part of the chapter, which is its main point. What have we explained up to now? That kavanah in relation to the mitzvah is like a soul in relation to a body. Following that, the Rebbe explained that the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu within the kavanah is incomparably higher than the will within the performance of the mitzvah. Now the Rebbe adds another point: within the kavanah of a mitzvah there are also two levels. Just as there are two levels in the body of a mitzvah—mitzvos dependent on action and mitzvos dependent on speech—there are also two levels in the kavanah of a mitzvah, analogous to

53:49 Speaker 1 the living being and the speaking being. Yes? When is the kavanah of my mitzvah—we’re talking now about when I perform a physical mitzvah—when is my kavanah on the level of a living being, and when is it on the level of a speaking being? “For one whose understanding is capable.” Where did we encounter that expression, “one whose understanding is capable”? Do you remember? A long time ago. When we began explaining the service of Hashem in the earlier chapters—18, 19. We said how... Ah, sorry. In chapters 16 and 17, we said how to serve Hashem. What is the service of Hashem? It is to contemplate the greatness of Hashem. Since I contemplate and grasp the greatness of Hashem, I will naturally have love and awe. Right? Do you remember us discussing that? Then, in chapter 18, he began: Wait—what about someone whose understanding isn’t capable, someone whose understanding is limited? He can’t do that. What can he do? He doesn’t have the knowledge. And even when he contemplates and thinks about it, what can he do? He’ll contemplate and think, but love and awe won’t be born. What should he do? That’s someone whose understanding is limited. So he will serve Hashem with a hidden love. And then, from chapter 18 through chapter 25, he explains how to serve Hashem with a hidden love. First, in two chapters, 16 and 17, he explains how someone whose understanding is capable gives birth to love and awe. Then, from 18 through 25, he explains how someone serves Hashem with a hidden love. Now the Alter Rebbe comes full circle: the two kavanos, the two levels of kavanah... When a person’s kavanah for a mitzvah is like a living being, like an animal, that is someone who serves Hashem with his hidden love. Why does he serve Hashem? He has a hidden love, and he fulfills mitzvos because he knows he is a Jew and has to observe mitzvos. What is the level of the speaking being? That is someone whose understanding is capable, who contemplates the greatness of Hashem. He studies Chassidus to the point that a feeling is born in him

56:22 Speaker 1 of love and awe that draws him in. Why does he want to? He feels compelled to observe mitzvos; he is drawn to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He doesn’t just—he wants to study Torah, he wants to—it burns inside him, observing mitzvos burns inside him. He can’t do without it. Yes. And when he fulfills mitzvos out of that kind of feeling, that is the kavanah of a speaking being, of someone with free choice, someone who understands what he is doing. Let’s look at it inside. “For one whose understanding is capable of knowing Hashem, contemplating His greatness, and giving rise through his understanding to a higher awe in his mind and a love of Hashem in the right chamber of his heart, so that his soul thirsts for Hashem, to cleave to Him through the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos, which draw down and reveal the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, upon his soul, to cleave to Him.” Yes, his understanding is capable, and with this kavanah he studies and fulfills the mitzvos. He contemplates, he studies, he feels it, he is moved by it. And now all his mitzvah observance and Torah study are infused with that feeling. “Likewise, with this kavanah he prays and recites blessings. This kavanah, by way of analogy, is like the soul of a speaking being, who possesses intellect and choice and speaks with understanding.” So now he is fulfilling the mitzvos like a human being. “But one whose understanding is too limited to know and contemplate the greatness of Ein Sof, blessed be He—whose understanding is too limited to give birth through his comprehension to love revealed in his heart.” It doesn’t work for him. “And likewise, awe in his mind”—fear of Hashem does not awaken in his heart. So what does he do? He “recalls and awakens the natural love hidden in his heart, and brings it out from its concealment in the heart into revelation in the mind.” At any rate, he contemplates the greatness of Hashem; he contemplates the fact that he is a Jew, that he has a hidden love, that through mitzvos he cleaves to Hashem, and through transgressions he separates himself from Hashem. Until he reaches the conclusion that he wants to: “the will in his mind and the hidden depths of his heart agree and fully consent, in truth, to surrender to his G-d”

58:40 Speaker 1 “His very life in actual practice for the oneness of Hashem.” He genuinely wants to be a Jew. He doesn’t feel it in his heart, but he wants to feel it in his heart. “In order to attach his divine soul and its garments to Him and include them in His unity and oneness—which is the supernal will clothed in Torah study and the fulfillment of mitzvos, as explained above. Fear is also included in this: accepting His kingship and not rebelling against Him, G-d forbid.” And this is the very person whose understanding is limited. “With this intention”—meaning that he has reached the intellectual conclusion that he must serve Hashem. Since I am a Jew, and I have a hidden love, and I don’t want to be separated from Him, and I want to be attached to Him, I keep mitzvos with this intention. “He turns away from evil and does good, studies, prays, and recites blessings, articulating the words alone, without fear and love revealed in his heart.” That’s right—he doesn’t have them. You look into his heart and see neither love nor fear there. But this intention is, by way of analogy, like the soul of an animal. What is an animal? An animal has no intellect or freedom of choice, and all its emotions—its fear of things that harm it and its love of things it finds pleasant—are simply natural to it, not products of its understanding or knowledge. Take a cow and try to push it into a Lag BaOmer bonfire. It’ll be frightened; it won’t run in, right? Why? Did anyone ever teach it that fire is dangerous?

1:00:10 Speaker 7 It senses it.

1:00:11 Speaker 1 It’s natural; it’s in its nature. It’s afraid. Right. And it’s the same with a Jew—or take the opposite example. Put a cat next to a dish of milk. Won’t it run over and lick it? Did anyone ever teach it that milk tastes good? It hasn’t seen milk since it was a kitten. What could it remember? But what it loves and fears is natural to it. You don’t have to teach it. That’s what it is; that’s its nature. In the same way, the nature of every Jew is love and fear of Hashem. So if a Jew serves Hakadosh Boruch Hu with hidden love and fear, it’s true that they haven’t been awakened. This isn’t love born of contemplation or fear born of contemplation; he’s simply drawing on the nature he already has. But since he serves Hashem with that existing nature, it’s like an animal behaving according to its own nature. So what kind of soul does his mitzvah have? It has intention; it has a soul. What kind of soul? An animal soul.

1:01:20 Speaker 7 And that comes from the mind of an animal.

1:01:22 Speaker 1 Yes.

1:01:22 Speaker 7 But that’s the essence of the soul, and that’s what reached the mind.

1:01:25 Speaker 1 Right.

1:01:30 Speaker 7 Why does he call it the essence of the soul?

1:01:33 Speaker 1 But it isn’t revealed.

1:01:35 Speaker 7 Just the opposite. Why isn’t it revealed?

1:01:38 Speaker 1 Because he doesn’t feel it. It isn’t revealed in him. He doesn’t feel the essence in his heart. He isn’t actually displaying mesirus nefesh.

1:01:47 Speaker 7 This isn’t being compared to the chapters before chapter 18. It’s a comparison between two kinds of love. As if he’s saying there, in chapters 18 through 25, that there’s a love that comes through contemplation and a love that comes through the revelation of the soul’s essence.

1:02:03 Speaker 1 The love discussed from chapter 18 through chapter 25 is the hidden love we’re talking about here.

1:02:09 Speaker 7 Like an animal.

1:02:10 Speaker 1 Yes.

1:02:10 Speaker 7 So it’s less lofty.

1:02:12 Speaker 1 It depends what you’re discussing, which aspect you’re looking at. If you’re talking about what it is, its source, its essential character, then of course it’s loftier. There’s no question about it. It’s the essence of the soul; it’s mesirus nefesh. But generally, in a person like us, it isn’t revealed in its full strength. What it says there in chapters 18 through 25 is that a person should remember, should remind himself: if I were backed against the wall, I would certainly give up my life. So what’s being asked of me now? Just to practice iskafya? Then I can restrain myself. It’s not that he is actually experiencing mesirus nefesh now. He’s only reasoning that if such-and-such happened, he could have mesirus nefesh. So why can’t I do that here? I’ll restrain myself. His mesirus nefesh isn’t revealed.

1:03:10 Speaker 7 That actually brings him to perfection.

1:03:12 Speaker 1 Hm?

1:03:13 Speaker 7 It actually makes him pray with a great deal of intention and perform mitzvos very—well...

1:03:17 Speaker 1 It brings him to complete observance of Torah and mitzvos without intention. Or, more precisely, not without intention; rather, the intention within his Torah and mitzvos is a natural intention.

1:03:35 Speaker 7 But it’s still natural—natural.

1:03:37 Speaker 1 Hm?

1:03:39 Speaker 7 If it’s natural, then it comes from the essence of the soul.

1:03:45 Speaker 1 Again, it’s true that it’s the essence of the soul.

1:03:47 Speaker 7 Okay.

1:03:50 Speaker 1 But here the essence of the soul isn’t revealed in his feelings, nor is it revealed in his intellect. It just trickles down and affects his actual conduct. He isn’t living with the essence of the soul. The Rebbe gives an example of this in a sicha, or perhaps in other places too, about the chassidim in Russia. I remember this passage. There the Rebbe asks: How could it be that chassidim in Russia lived for decades with actual mesirus nefesh—every day, every moment, every hour—and didn’t even feel that they were displaying mesirus nefesh? They lived with mesirus nefesh as their reality. Then, when they moved to countries where life was comfortable, suddenly you don’t see that mesirus nefesh. The Rebbe puts it gently: the mesirus nefesh they had before is not as apparent. Where did it go? Because there, they lived with mesirus nefesh. Here, a person keeps mitzvos and doesn’t commit transgressions, but it isn’t alive within his present experience. He doesn’t live with it. It isn’t his reality. There, it was his reality. Right? So there’s a difference between its being revealed and its merely affecting actual conduct. Now, when we’re talking about the first part of Tanya, its whole purpose is simply to bring a Jew to the point where he won’t commit transgressions. That’s the demand; that’s the minimum. So you have two approaches: ideally, attain intellectual love and fear, and then you’ll love Hashem and fear Hashem. Of course you won’t commit transgressions; of course you’ll fulfill all the mitzvos. You can’t manage that? At least awaken the hidden love. But in the second part of Tanya, which we effectively began studying today, we’re talking about something entirely different. Just fulfilling mitzvos isn’t enough.

1:05:55 Speaker 1 Why isn’t just fulfilling mitzvos enough? Because the revelation of G-dliness present in intention is incomparably loftier than the revelation of G-dliness—the will that is present in fulfillment.

1:06:08 Speaker 8 Why?

1:06:14 Speaker 1 Where are we? Line eight? Nineteen?

1:06:18 Speaker 8 Line eight.

1:06:21 Speaker 1 Uh...

1:06:25 Speaker 8 “Like the soul of an animal.”

1:06:25 Speaker 1 “Like the soul of an animal, which has no intellect or freedom of choice, and all its emotions—its fear of things that harm it and its love of things it finds pleasing—are merely natural to it, not products of its understanding or knowledge. So, by way of analogy, are the natural fear and love hidden in the heart of every Jew, for they are an inheritance from our forefathers and are like an inherent nature in our souls, as mentioned above.” Good. So let’s look again at the cover sheet—this will be much clearer now. The bottom row, the bottom three boxes. We began studying the importance of intention in action, to which the Alter Rebbe devotes three chapters. We studied the first of them, chapter 38, where the Alter Rebbe explains what intention is: intention is the soul of an action. In effect, throughout this chapter the Alter Rebbe has explained again and again that it is the soul, what it means to be the soul, how much loftier it is than the action, and so on. But the Alter Rebbe has not yet explained what that soul is, what it is made of. Right? That is what the Alter Rebbe will explain in the next chapter: what the soul of the action is made of. And then, in the third chapter, chapter 40, he will also explain what it accomplishes, what it adds to the action.