Likkutei Amarim Chapter 39 (Part 2) · 5785

00:00 Speaker 1 So we’re start—learning chapter 39 today. We’ll continue from page 52, near the top, a few lines down, in the middle of the line. We said that chapter 52 is—chapter 39 is one of three chapters that, in general, answer the question we had. At the end of chapter 38, after the Alter Rebbe fin—finished explaining the importance of action—that action is the main thing, and that making a dwelling for Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the lower realms happens specifically through action—we ask: Wait, why do we need intention? After all that explanation that the whole point is action, and that it is specifically through action that the Shechinah is drawn down, then what? What is all this—what is intention? Where is serving Hashem in this? So in the coming chapters he’s going to explain that the truth is, the truth of serving Hashem is that every action, when a person fulfills a mitzvah, is permeated with feeling. If a person fulfills a mitzvah just like that, it isn’t the complete form of serving Hashem. Serving Hashem means that the action comes from feeling. What does “from feeling” mean? A person might fulfill all the mitzvos; he’s observant, religious, very observant, he has intention, he fulfills all the mitzvos. But why does he fulfill them? Because that’s what he was taught. Because that’s how he was raised. Maybe he’s even explained it to himself that way. And so he fulfills them. He can’t imagine doing otherwise. His motivation for fulfilling the mitzvos isn’t feeling. Feeling means—what I mean is that because I love Hakadosh Boruch Hu, I want to do what… what He tells me. Yes. When a person does something for a friend, why does he do it? He loves him; he has some feeling toward him. If just anyone

02:08 Speaker 1 on the street asks me to do all sorts of things, why should I do them? If it’s convenient for me, fine. But for my friend, I’ll do it. So genuine service of Hashem is specifically when the motivation for the acts of mitzvos is feeling. Now, first of all, what does feeling mean? How can I love Hakadosh Boruch Hu? I can love things that I see, hear, and understand. How can you love Hakadosh Boruch Hu? What does it mean to love? Loving is… I can understand something and love it. What is there to love? What is there to love there? So before he explains in the coming chapters how a person can come to love Hashem, he devotes three chapters to explaining why it’s needed at all. What’s the question—why is it needed? If we explained in the earlier chapters, 35, 36, and 37, that all service of Hashem and all holiness, sanctifying the world, preparing it, and refining it, are achieved through action, then what does it matter to you whether there’s feeling or not? What does it matter why I do the mitzvos? I do them, and that’s that. That’s why he devotes these three chapters, 38, 39, and 40, to explaining why it’s needed at all. What is the role of feeling in serving Hashem? What good is it? If we’re talking about feeling as in the earlier chapters, from chapter 1 through 34, the whole first half of Tanya, why do we need feeling? So that I’ll fulfill the mitzvos. If I have no feeling, if I don’t love Hashem, if I don’t fear Hashem, then I won’t fulfill the mitzvos fully. In that case, the feeling doesn’t permeate the mitzvah; it’s only a means

03:53 Speaker 1 of fulfilling the mitzvos. Are you with me?

03:56 Speaker 2 But he says this so that we—like, according to what you’re saying, what I’m thinking is that in day-to-day life, in the everyday routine—

04:04 Speaker 1 Yes.

04:06 Speaker 2 When I come to do a mitzvah, how much do I love this mitzvah?

04:09 Speaker 1 Yes.

04:10 Speaker 2 That’s what you’re saying.

04:11 Speaker 1 You need to.

04:13 Speaker 2 Do you say it?

04:14 Speaker 1 Yes.

04:14 Speaker 2 Say it?

04:15 Speaker 1 What do you mean, say it? You don’t need to say it aloud; you need to feel it.

04:18 Speaker 2 You feel that you love this mitzvah of putting on tefillin, of wrapping yourself in tzitzis.

04:23 Speaker 1 That’s serving Hashem. That is serving Hashem.

04:26 Speaker 2 Right, I know, but I’m saying, doesn’t it become automatic?

04:30 Speaker 1 If it’s automatic, it isn’t avodah.

04:32 Speaker 2 So what about the Jewish people when they do mitzvos? What is that?

04:38 Speaker 1 That’s why the Alter Rebbe wrote the Book of the Beinoni, so that we would know how to serve Hashem.

04:43 Speaker 2 So what does that mean? That they need to give it thought?

04:45 Speaker 1 Until—until there was—until… until the later generations.

04:51 Speaker 2 I’m sorry if I’m asking questions.

04:52 Speaker 7 No, this is excellent.

04:54 Speaker 1 I, I—

04:55 Speaker 7 She’s asking for all of us.

04:57 Speaker 1 Until the later generations—really, why do we need the teachings of Chassidus? Until the later generations, there truly wasn’t a need for them. Why weren’t they revealed? There was no need; the world was more refined. People felt it naturally. But as the world grew darker—there are two reasons. The Rebbe explains why the teachings of Chassidus were revealed specifically in the later generations. One of the two reasons is that the world grew darker: revelation from Above diminished, and the world below became coarser. People felt less.

05:33 Speaker 2 Yes.

05:33 Speaker 1 So what people once felt naturally now has to be explained to them. A person has to educate himself. And someone who really doesn’t study… This is how the Rebbe explains it with everything. For example, when the Shulchan Aruch was written, how did people fulfill the mitzvos before it was written? How did they know the halachos? They learned from the Mishnah and the Gemara. Well, why not now? I’ll fulfill the mitzvos now, all the halachos, the way people learned them until six hundred years ago. Why do I specifically need him to tell me what to do? I can think the way he did. What’s the problem? Right? The Rebbe says: No. It doesn’t work that way. The Shulchan Aruch was written because that generation needed it. Before there was a Shulchan Aruch, before the halachos were written down, the way to fulfill the mitzvos really was to understand them from the Gemara. But once the generations declined and people could no longer work it out on their own, if someone tries to work it out for himself after the Shulchan Aruch was written, he’ll get it wrong. Exactly the same applies to the teachings of the Mishnah. It applies to anything that is revealed: once it has been revealed, today you can’t serve Hashem without studying Chassidus. Someone who doesn’t study Tanya, who doesn’t study Chassidus, cannot serve Hashem. Why? Not because it’s his fault.

06:55 Speaker 2 Serve Hashem, but not in the way—

06:57 Speaker 1 He cannot serve Hashem. He cannot serve Hashem because he doesn’t know what serving Hashem is. He doesn’t know how a person can do it. How can someone sharpen a shechitah knife if he hasn’t learned how to sharpen one? He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know. You can’t do it on your own.

07:14 Speaker 7 Even when you study Chassidus, there are mitzvos—I don’t know, this is how I can understand it or feel it—there are mitzvos that really are enjoyable to do, that you do out of love. Like Sukkos, which comes after a whole year; it’s nice to go outside into the fresh air for that. And there’s a difficult mitzvah like tznius, which is every day, even in the summer: getting dressed, putting on stockings, putting on a sheitel. And there are mitzvos like that.

07:36 Speaker 2 When you’re in the middle of what you’re doing and you have to stop.

07:39 Speaker 1 Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

07:41 Speaker 2 That’s what I’m saying. But it isn’t easy.

07:44 Speaker 1 Nobody said it was easy.

07:45 Speaker 2 No, but you’re saying I need to come and do it out of love.

07:49 Speaker 7 And if I don’t, then this and that—it doesn’t count as—

07:51 Speaker 2 That’s the difficulty you’re talking about.

07:54 Speaker 1 It doesn’t count as serving Hashem. The person fulfills the mitzvah, the world is sanctified, and the Shechinah is drawn down. All of that, yes. Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants it to be done with feeling. Why? That’s what these three chapters are for. So in the first chapter, chapter 38, he began by explaining in general that there are… You interrupted me in the middle. Sorry. One more introduction first. So in the first half of Tanya he discusses why we need—he speaks about love and fear. Usually we speak mainly about love of Hashem. “There is no service like the service of love,” says the Zohar. The main service is the service of love, and fear is included within love. That’s another subject. Not now. Up to the middle of Tanya, he discusses why love and fear are needed. If you don’t love, you won’t act. If you don’t fear, you’ll commit transgressions. Love and fear are tools. They’re a means of fulfilling the mitzvos. Why? Because fulfilling the mitzvos is the main thing. That’s what he discusses at the beginning. From here, from these chapters, he begins to speak differently: No, love and fear are themselves a goal. Right? We need to understand why, because seemingly, if you tell me they’re a means, then fulfilling the mitzvos is the main thing and they’re a means to reach it. Okay, so we need them. But once you say, no, they themselves are also a goal—what is the goal in that? Right. So that’s what he’s explaining now. What did he begin to do? In the previous chapter, he began by explaining, in general, that there are two kinds of love of Hashem: a natural love of Hashem and an intellectual love of Hashem. You remember we spoke about that, right?

09:34 Speaker 8 Yes.

09:34 Speaker 1 An intellectual love of Hashem is when a person—

09:38 Speaker 8 Contemplates.

09:38 Speaker 1 Contemplation, with the ability to choose, gives rise to love, and that’s like... he said, it’s like human beings. And a natural love of Hashem is like that of animals. It’s not that he has no intellect—he does have intellect, but the intellect cannot choose to change his nature, as with animals. Now each of us knows that no one considers himself a tzaddik. So that means we’re all... we’re animals, so to speak. So there has to be an explanation here: what does Hakadosh Boruch Hu want when He wants us to have a love of Hashem? What kind of love of Hashem does He enable us to have? Only the kind animals have? Is that why He brought us down here? So what did he begin explaining in this chapter? He says, let’s start with what seems to be a side issue. He explains what the avodah of the angels is. And to explain the avodah of the angels, he explained that there are three worlds: Beri—

10:37 Speaker 8 Yes, we talked about that.

10:39 Speaker 1 Hmm?

10:39 Speaker 8 Yes, we talked about the angels.

10:41 Speaker 1 Yes, yes, of course. That’s the beginning of the chapter. So he says there are three worlds: Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. And, generally speaking, the angels are on the level of the world of Yetzirah, while the souls of the great tzaddikim are on the level of the world of Beriah. Why? Because Yetzirah is the world of the vav of Hashem’s name, the world of the middos, the world of emotion, and the angels’ avodah is an avodah of emotion. What does that mean? The angel Michael can love Hashem. He can’t really fear Hashem in the same way. Why not? Doesn’t he have intellect? He does. He has greater intellect than we do, but he cannot change himself. Right? And similarly, the angel Gavriel has greater intellect than we do, and emotion that is not just greater, but immeasurably greater. But he cannot change himself. Right? And that is why the angels are called chayos, beasts, and birds. Not because they’re animals.

11:47 Speaker 8 Not because they’re simple, but because they’re...

11:50 Speaker 1 Because they cannot... What is distinctive about the tzaddikim? The great tzaddikim changed their nature. Human nature is to desire the things of this world, and they changed their nature so that they desire G-dliness and hate this world, as we learned in the early chapters of Tanya, chapter 10. So their reward, or the level of their avodah, is in the world of Beriah, because they truly changed their nature. Their avodah is on a human level. All right? So that’s what we’re discussing. Let’s start reading from the point where we left off and look at it inside. Earlier, he spoke about the angels in the world of Yetzirah. He says: “But in the world of Beriah,” which is higher, “Hashem’s chochmah, binah, and daas shine there, and they are the source and root of the middos.” Do we understand why chochmah, binah, and daas are the “parents,” the source and root, of the middos? Why is that?

12:58 Speaker 9 Because chochmah is the father. Binah is the mother.

13:02 Speaker 1 Why is intellect called the source of emotion? The mother of emotion, the father and mother of emotion.

13:08 Speaker 9 When you think about something, it gives rise to that emotion.

13:10 Speaker 1 Because whatever a person thinks about gives rise to an emotion toward that thing. Simple. How is an emotion born? Through thinking. So, “From my flesh I perceive G-d”: just as thinking gives rise to emotion in a person, so too, so to speak, in G-dliness. The sefiros of chochmah, binah, and daas are, so to speak, Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s intellect, and they give rise to the middos—chesed, gevurah, and so on. “As stated in Tikkunim.” In the world of Yetzirah, only the middos shine. In the world of Beriah, the chochmah, binah, and daas of G-dliness shine; they are the source, the source, the source of the middos and their root. As stated in Tikkunim: “The supernal mother,” the sefirah of binah, “nests in the three sefiros of the throne.” “Throne” means the world of the throne. Right? Why is it called a throne? Why is the world of Beriah called a throne? Because there G-dliness descends to a lower level, like a person who sits down and becomes lower, more contracted. Right. So the world of Beriah has its three first sefiros—chochmah, binah, and daas, as in every world. And within those three first sefiros of Beriah, who “nests” there? Binah. The binah of the world of Atzilus. That is the language of the Zohar. In simple terms, the world of Beriah as a whole is more connected with matters of intellect than the world of Yetzirah, which is more connected with emotion. Not our intellect or our emotion, but... “As stated in Tikkunim, the supernal mother nests in the three sefiros of the throne,” which is the world of Beriah. And because intellect shines there, and intellect is the source of the middos—meaning that intellect can change the middos—it is the dwelling place of the souls of the tzaddikim. What about the tzaddikim? How did the tzaddikim serve Hashem? With fear and love drawn from binah and daas. They did not serve Hashem with natural fear and love. They served Hashem with intellectual fear and love. So just as they...

15:36 Speaker 1 Correspondingly, the level on which they receive their reward is the world of Beriah. “Fear and love drawn from binah and daas through contemplation of the greatness of Hashem.” They contemplated the greatness of Hashem with their binah and daas, and this changed them, giving rise to their emotion—their love and fear of Hashem. So their reward in Gan Eden is in the Gan Eden of the world of Beriah, which is higher than the angels, who are only in the world of Yetzirah. “This love is called re’usa deliba, as explained above.” The desire of the heart.

16:18 Speaker 9 Which love is—

16:20 Speaker 1 Intellectual love. Intellectual love. Love born of intellect is called, in Chassidus—and in Kabbalah too—re’usa deliba, the desire of the heart. Here the Alter Rebbe doesn’t go into detail, but throughout Tanya he brings up this re’usa deliba in several different contexts. Generally speaking, there are three different levels. There is a desire of the heart that doesn’t really reveal itself. He contemplated, and the contemplation affected him so that he truly wants, but he doesn’t actually feel it in his heart. He understands that... he understands that he ought to want it. He understands that he ought to love Hashem. But it’s not merely an intellectual understanding: the contemplation led him to a decision. It pains him so deeply that he doesn’t feel it that he decides to conduct himself as though he loves Hashem. This is called love concealed in his heart and mind. In practice he doesn’t feel it, but he has made a firm commitment: “I observe all the mitzvos because I contemplated, I understand that this obligates me, and therefore this is what I do.” He reached that conclusion because there is something inside him. If there were nothing inside him—if he didn’t truly believe it—he couldn’t have reached such a conclusion outwardly. But he doesn’t actually have the feeling. Then there is this love, still called re’usa deliba, in a more revealed form: it is not only in the outer part of his heart but also in its inner part, not only concealed but also revealed. And then there is a level beyond that, where it truly takes hold of his entire being and is completely revealed. So in different places in Chassidus, re’usa deliba is used in different ways. Sometimes it refers to something so faint that the person barely feels anything; sometimes it refers to the very peak of Yom Kippur, and so on. It’s the same thing; it depends on how fully it is revealed. Generally speaking, re’usa deliba is a love of the heart’s desire,

18:19 Speaker 1 a love of Hashem born of contemplation. And because it was born of contemplation, their reward is in the world of Beriah, the world of intellect. “This love is called re’usa deliba, as explained above, and from re’usa deliba a garment is formed for the soul in the world of Beriah,” which is the higher Gan Eden, “as will be explained below.” We’ll talk a little more about that. “And as stated in the Zohar, Vayakhel”—there it says that the dwelling place of the souls of the tzaddikim is in the world of Beriah. “However, this refers specifically to actual neshamas.” Who are we talking about? Who receives the reward? Which tzaddikim receive their reward in the world of Beriah? Specifically “actual neshamas.” What does that mean? Are there tzaddikim who don’t have actual neshamas?

19:11 Speaker 9 Who don’t have the full revelation, as you said, right?

19:14 Speaker 1 If he’s a tzaddik, then he loves Hashem with love and fear. That’s what “tzaddik” means. Right. And if he has a neshamah, then where does the neshamah receive its reward? In the higher Gan Eden. What does “neshamas” mean? What are “actual neshamas”? We already discussed, right at the beginning of Tanya, in chapter 2, that every soul comprises nefesh, ruach, and neshamah. In a person, neshamah is primarily associated with intellect, ruach is primarily emotion, and nefesh is primarily associated with the powers of action. So every person understands things, has emotions, and can also write. He has the power to act as well. Right? What is dominant in him? Some people are very practical, technically minded people. He knows how to do things, but his understanding is less developed. And with others it’s exactly the opposite. You see a great genius—he understands things, he’s brilliant—but give him a screwdriver...

20:04 Speaker 9 Two left hands.

20:04 Speaker 1 Two left hands, yes. And some people are very humanities-oriented, emotional and so on, and understanding isn’t their strong suit. Yes, this is called—every soul has all of it. It includes nefesh, ruach and neshamah. But the balance between them varies from person to person. There are infinitely many possible combinations.

20:25 Speaker 9 Yes.

20:25 Speaker 1 He explained it. He discussed it there at length, with several details. In any case, who merits the reward in the higher Gan Eden? The actual neshamah of the tzaddik. The tzaddik’s ruach and nefesh do not share in that level.

20:47 Speaker 9 What, they split apart?

20:48 Speaker 1 Yes.

20:49 Speaker 9 Yes.

20:49 Speaker 1 How does that work? I’ve never been there, so I don’t know. That is, actual neshamahs. What does “actual neshamahs” mean? They are on the level of mochin d’gadlus of the Infinite, blessed be He.

21:16 Speaker 9 Come here.

21:19 Speaker 1 We won’t explain the concept of mochin d’gadlus now. Anyone who wants to can find a good entry on it in Chabadpedia. But the ruach of the tzaddikim—and likewise all the other souls of the Jewish people who serve Hashem with the fear and love hidden in the heart of every Jew, who serve Hashem with natural love and fear—never ascend there, to the world of Beriah. When do they ascend? Only on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh. In other words, who receives reward in Gan Eden? The tzaddik’s neshamah. But his ruach and nefesh receive their reward in the lower Gan Eden, together with all the other souls of the Jewish people. Why? It’s simple. Ruach has to do with emotion. Like the rest of the Jewish people—all the beinonim, us—whose main service of Hashem is through hidden love, natural love, the tzaddik’s ruach, too, operates on that natural level of the soul. So it, too, receives its reward in the lower Gan Eden, in the world of Yetzirah. Yes, that makes sense. What new point is he making? That on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh these souls also ascend. It’s not just the neshamah of a tzaddik. True, this is only his ruach, but it belongs to his soul. So on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh it ascends. Fine, I understand. But our souls—we don’t even have... I won’t say we have no connection whatsoever to the service of the tzaddikim, but our service of Hashem is love, hidden love, natural love. By what merit do our souls, the souls of beinonim, ascend to the higher Gan Eden on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh? The angels don’t merit that. What do we have that...? Do you understand the question?

23:16 Speaker 9 Yes.

23:18 Speaker 1 Yes. But first of all, how is it possible at all? There’s a parsa between the world of Beriah and the world of Yetzirah. A parsa is a screen, a curtain. When you look through a curtain, you can’t see what’s on the other side. That’s only an analogy. In the case it represents, the reason you can’t see what’s on the other side is that it’s on an entirely different plane. Just as a person cannot see anything spiritual with his physical eyes, because it’s on an entirely different plane. In the same way, someone in the spiritual world of Asiyah can’t see anything happening in the world of Yetzirah, because it’s on an entirely different plane. And someone in the world of Yetzirah can’t see anything in the world of Beriah. It’s a different level—so different that there’s no connection at all. You can’t see it. There’s a curtain. So if my level is that of a physical human being, right, then even when Shabbos or Rosh Chodesh arrives, I can’t suddenly start seeing what happens in the higher worlds. The worlds ascend, wonderful, but I can’t see them because I don’t belong there. I have a body, and the body limits me, and I can’t see. It’s the same with all my service of Hashem. Its reward is in the lower Gan Eden, in the world of Yetzirah. What suddenly happens on—how? Not what happens. How is it possible at all? After all, I have a body, a body of the world of Yetzirah. How can I suddenly see what happens in the world—Shabbos has arrived. How can one ascend? Yes?

25:01 Speaker 10 Who said you can?

25:04 Speaker 1 That’s what it says: “They ascend there only on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh.” On Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh, all the souls, even those who serve Hashem with natural love, ascend from the lower Gan Eden to the higher Gan Eden. But first of all, how is that possible? Through the pillar that extends from the lower Gan Eden to the higher Gan Eden, which is the world of Beriah, called the higher Gan Eden. So first of all, the Rebbe isn’t introducing a new idea here. It’s written in many places, very many places, and it’s also explained that there’s a pillar between the lower and higher Gan Eden. You can ascend through the pillar. Usually, when we want to go up a floor, we don’t do it through pillars. Right? There’s an elevator, stairs, a ladder. I don’t know, right?

25:59 Speaker 11 A rope.

26:00 Speaker 1 A rope.

26:02 Speaker 10 That’s already similar to a pillar. A rope is already...

26:05 Speaker 11 Bungee jumping.

26:06 Speaker 1 The idea of a pillar has two aspects, two points people make about it. One is that a pillar is a single unit. No, before that: a pillar connects the roof to the floor. What is a pillar for? To connect the roof to the floor. That’s its purpose, right? How does it connect them? Well, stairs are only a way to go up; they don’t connect them. Right? A pillar not only connects them; it’s made of one piece. There’s no... In what it represents, so to speak, it’s a single point. Right? So it says in the books of Kabbalah that the pillar between the lower and higher Gan Eden is hollow, and the souls ascend through it. What does “pillar” mean?

26:59 Speaker 11 Not directly.

27:00 Speaker 1 A hollow pillar.

27:01 Speaker 11 Like an elevator pulley.

27:03 Speaker 1 Ultimately, the inner essence of the higher Gan Eden and the lower Gan Eden is G-dliness. It’s a single point. And because they’re a single point, someone who can enter and connect to that point is there.

27:21 Speaker 10 Then why are they divided?

27:23 Speaker 1 What?

27:24 Speaker 10 Into the higher Gan Eden and the lower Gan Eden.

27:25 Speaker 1 Their inner essence is one. Outwardly, there’s a gap; there’s a difference. They’re two utterly different things. One is the world of emotion and the other is the world of intellect. So first of all, the souls can ascend. Well, if they can ascend, why don’t they ascend every day? Why only on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh? But before that—before we explain why this applies specifically to Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh...

28:01 Speaker 11 What about Yom Tov?

28:03 Speaker 1 Hmm?

28:03 Speaker 11 What about Yom Tov?

28:05 Speaker 1 I don’t know, but it doesn’t say so here. Probably Yom Tov too. I don’t know; I don’t want to say it without a basis. The higher Gan Eden is the world of Beriah. And why is it called the higher Gan Eden? Because it is meant for taking delight in Hashem and enjoying the radiance of the Shechinah. For a created intellect has no pleasure or delight except in what it can intellectually grasp, understand, know and comprehend—with its intellect and understanding—of the light of the Infinite, blessed be He, through His wisdom and understanding that shine there in the world of Beriah. So what is the nature of the world of Beriah? He said that there the Infinite Light is contracted. Why is the Infinite Light contracted? The world of Beriah, we said, is the world of the throne, kursaya. So why contract the Infinite Light? You want to reward the tzaddikim, who have done such great work. Why give them a contracted light? Give them the full measure... Pour it out. You want to give it to them, don’t you? Yes. What can a person enjoy? A person can only enjoy something he can contain. He can’t enjoy something greater than himself. What brings a person pleasure? The highest faculty a person has—and no one needs this explained—is the faculty of intellect. Right? It’s the highest faculty in a person. So since intellect is the highest human faculty, when the intellect contains the loftiest thing it can contain, that is the greatest pleasure there can be. For a person as a person, in his very nature as a human being, there can be no greater delight than understanding an idea, a new idea. That is the greatest delight possible. Even the Greek philosophers said that; it isn’t a new insight of the Torah. And... can you grasp the Infinite Light? The Infinite Light is infinite. Infinite means unlimited. A soul, even the soul of the greatest tzaddik... That’s it. We said earlier

30:35 Speaker 1 that it has a form, because it does. You can see that even when there are two tzaddikim, one has one kind of character and the other has another. That isn’t infinite; it’s limited. No matter how great a tzaddik or how great a soul someone is, whatever people may say, it’s limited. And if it’s limited, it cannot receive the Infinite Light itself. It cannot receive it, cannot contain it, cannot enjoy it. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu contracted His light: kursaya, the world of the throne. He contracted the light of Chochmah, Binah and Daas of His world of Atzilus. What for? So the souls could enjoy it. Where? In the world of Beriah. That is the essence of the higher Gan Eden.

31:19 Speaker 11 Each soul enjoys a different level, doesn’t it?

31:23 Speaker 1 Yes, but generally speaking, the tzaddikim are on this level and the beinonim are on that level.

31:27 Speaker 11 Each one can contain what it can.

31:28 Speaker 1 Yes.

31:30 Speaker 11 A different truth.

31:31 Speaker 1 Now he asks: What entitles these souls to this? Which souls? The ruach of the tzaddikim, and our souls, when we served Hashem only with a hidden love, a natural love. Why do these souls merit to ascend higher than the angels? After all, we don’t have the intellect of the angels or the feelings of the angels, and we can also commit sins, and—and everyone knows themselves. On what merit? Okay, it’s Shabbos or Rosh Chodesh, and there’s a technical possibility; there’s a passageway upward. We get to ascend and they don’t. Why?

32:15 Speaker 11 But that’s the angels’ natural place, isn’t it?

32:18 Speaker 1 It’s also our natural place.

32:21 Speaker 11 What? Why?

32:22 Speaker 1 The World of Yetzirah. A person who serves Hashem with hidden fear and love, with a hidden love—that’s their natural place... That’s where everyone receives their reward.

32:34 Speaker 12 But Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh and all that—is that talking about after a person’s lifetime?

32:40 Speaker 1 All the reward we’re discussing, everything from the beginning of the chapter, is talking about after a person’s lifetime.

32:46 Speaker 11 That’s a bummer.

32:50 Speaker 1 We talked about it last week. I emphasized it a lot.

32:52 Speaker 12 I don’t remember.

32:53 Speaker 11 Part of it didn’t come back to me.

32:54 Speaker 1 Okay.

32:55 Speaker 12 Me neither.

32:56 Speaker 1 Okay. At the beginning of the chapter I said that the Alter Rebbe starts talking here about angels and souls and worlds. What? Where are we? How did we get here? What are you doing to us in the middle of Tanya? I’m hoping that by the end of the chapter we’ll get the answer. For now, we’ve left the whole subject of Tanya and serving Hashem, and we’re explaining what angels are, what souls are, what Gan Eden is. Right now we’re focusing... Wait, right now we’re focusing. When do souls receive their reward in Gan Eden? After a person’s lifetime. Obviously after a person’s lifetime. Why would it be before?

33:26 Speaker 12 No, because you started... It’s just that you started saying Rosh Chodesh and all that, so I thought maybe...

33:31 Speaker 11 Terms from our own experience.

33:32 Speaker 12 Like how on Shabbos Chazon they show it to you. I was just thinking something like that. No, it’s fine.

33:41 Speaker 11 Be patient.

33:42 Speaker 1 That’s what it means to make sure we’re on the same page, yes.

33:45 Speaker 12 Yes.

33:49 Speaker 1 So he asks why our souls, after a person’s lifetime, merit to ascend higher than the angels. On what merit? On the merit of the service you performed. Okay, you reached the World of Yetzirah. Fine, you earned that. But what connection do you have to the World of Beriah? You didn’t belong there. “Although they served with natural fear and love alone, this is because through their fear and love”—those of the beinonim—“they subjugated the sitra achra clothed in their bodies.” Angels don’t change themselves. We don’t change ourselves either. That’s why we’re called animals and beasts, and our service is called natural. Yes, all that is true. We don’t really change ourselves, but we do change our behavior. Angels don’t. I can’t change my essential nature—not as an ordinary, normal person. We discussed that perhaps a tzaddik’s soul might enter a person through some merit or something like that, but ordinarily a person cannot change their essential nature. A cat can’t suddenly become a goat. That’s how it is. A man can’t become a woman, a woman can’t... That’s it. That’s what they are. A person cannot change their essential nature, but a person can choose good rather than evil. We have an animal soul, whose nature is the opposite of the G-dly soul’s. When a person overcomes their animal soul—when they want to do this or that, but hold themselves back—that is an act of choice. True, it isn’t a choice about their essential nature, but it is a choice to side with the G-dly soul rather than the animal soul. Because choice is involved, they have a connection. Their service really is the service of the natural soul. That’s their service. But they also have a connection to something intellectual, and to the matter of

36:16 Speaker 1 choice.

36:17 Speaker 12 Again, that choice doesn’t come from love; it comes from understanding.

36:20 Speaker 1 Right, but the person has a connection to choice, a connection to change. So they aren’t there all the time. But on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh, when all the worlds ascend, there is greater revelation, and everything becomes more refined, they too merit to ascend to the higher Gan Eden. Every Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh. “They subdued the sitra achra clothed in their bodies, both in the aspect of ‘turn from evil,’ by restraining and breaking their desires, and in the aspect of ‘do good,’ as explained above. And they”—meaning the souls of the beinonim—“had free choice to choose evil, G-d forbid, but chose good, to subdue the sitra achra, so that the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu would be exalted.” What does it mean for the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu to be exalted? What do those words mean?

37:12 Speaker 12 To depart means that it arrived here.

37:14 Speaker 1 “Depart” doesn’t sound good. They merited to remove Hakadosh Boruch Hu from the world? That’s... Yekar means honor, Hashem’s glory. The literal meaning of “depart” really is to go away, to disappear. But in the language of Kabbalah, it doesn’t mean that He is absent in the simple sense. It means exactly the opposite: that a light rests there which cannot be contained internally. Through the service of subduing the sitra achra, Hakadosh Boruch Hu brings such a lofty revelation of G-dliness that it cannot enter a person internally. That’s why it’s called “departing.” It rests there; that’s why it says that His glory is exalted. Yekar means Hashem’s glory. What is honor? What’s the difference between honor and food? Which matters more?

38:23 Speaker 13 Why that comparison?

38:24 Speaker 12 What do they have to do with each other?

38:25 Speaker 13 Why that comparison?

38:26 Speaker 1 Huh?

38:26 Speaker 13 Why that comparison?

38:30 Speaker 12 How can you even compare food and honor?

38:33 Speaker 1 It’s true that a person can’t live without food. True. Yes. But when a person is caught up in a matter of honor—whether someone offended them or not, and how they’ll act so that people will respect them—they forget about food.

38:50 Speaker 13 Mm-hmm.

38:50 Speaker 1 That happens, yes. Food is very important, but honor matters more.

38:57 Speaker 13 Yes.

38:58 Speaker 1 So in human nature, in human nature—

39:00 Speaker 13 In human nature.

39:02 Speaker 1 Why? Honor is something encompassing. It isn’t internal. Something internal enters a person, becomes one with them and gives them life. It might sustain them spiritually or physically. Something internal enters within: the person grasps it, contains it, becomes one with it, understands it. It becomes part of them. Something encompassing remains around them. It’s like a fragrance. Yes, a fragrance is wonderful, but the moment you move it away from your nose, nothing remains of it. It’s encompassing. So “the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is exalted” does not mean that a person’s service causes Hakadosh Boruch Hu to depart. On the contrary: through a person’s service of subduing the sitra achra, the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu rests there—such a lofty, encompassing G-dly light that it cannot be contained internally. That’s the general idea. This isn’t the place to explain it; I’m only mentioning it in passing. There are places where a blessing is mentioned. So, “Since they chose good, to subdue the sitra achra, so that the glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu would be exalted, etc., as in the superiority of light, etc.” We’ve also explained several times already what the superiority of light means, as above. Now, what have we arrived at? What have we covered from the beginning of the chapter until here? There are angels and there are souls. Our service of Hashem, the service of the beinonim, is like that of angels. That isn’t so bad, because the angels’ service of Hashem isn’t what we thought earlier—it isn’t the service of animals. Right? In the previous chapter we said that our service of Hashem is like that of animals. Now we understand that it isn’t literally like animals. So what is it? It’s an analogy. But the truth is that our service is very lofty. Yes. Now we go up another level. “Now, all this concerns the abode”—the abode of the souls. What

41:14 Speaker 1 is an abode? A place where one lives. The building, right? It is the place where they stand. The place where who stands?

41:25 Speaker 14 The souls.

41:25 Speaker 1 The souls. Whose abode? The souls’. “But their Torah and their service are actually incorporated into the ten sefiros, which are G-dliness.” What does “their Torah” mean? What’s the difference between the souls and their Torah and service? The souls stand in the worlds, but the souls’ Torah and service don’t stand in the worlds. They are actually incorporated into the ten sefiros.

41:58 Speaker 14 Is that the ruach and the nefesh?

42:00 Speaker 1 What is it—what is there in the worlds of Yetzirah and Beriah? Aren’t they ten sefiros? What’s the difference? We have the world of Yetzirah. Come on, slowly, all right? We have the worlds of Yetzirah, Beriah, and Atzilus. How—we belong to the world of Yetzirah, all right? Now, we studied Torah and fulfilled mitzvos, and as the Rebbe explains in Tanya, we did so with natural love and awe. We contemplated and served Hashem as we should, right? We deserve Gan Eden, and we’ve arrived. Wonderful. That means there are two things here: the place where we stand, and the place where our Torah and our service—the Torah and mitzvos we performed—stand. They aren’t the same thing. Both are in the world of Yetzirah; that’s our place. But within the world of Yetzirah there are two things: the chamber, the hall, the home, the place—and the ten sefiros. People always say that the world of Yetzirah is the ten sefiros. No. We can already understand that each of the worlds—Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah—has the ten sefiros and has the world. All right? That much is clear. Yes? To understand what that means, the simplest thing is to look at what happens here in this world. The first verse of the Torah says, “In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth.” Rashi says: for the sake of the Torah, which is called “the beginning,” and for the sake of Israel, who are called “the beginning.” Why do we need the rest of the world? How could a Jew study Torah, earn a living, eat, and live if there were no trees, plants, water, air, non-Jews, animals, and the rest of the world? Right. So the whole world is the outer aspect of the world. Israel and the Torah are its inner aspect, its purpose, the world itself. Yes. When we speak about the world of Asiyah, Yetzirah, or Beriah, it’s the same thing, only on a spiritual plane. There is the place

44:12 Speaker 1 and there is G-dliness. In every world, the G-dliness—the ten sefiros of that world—what are sefiros? They are Him. They are Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s wisdom, understanding, will, knowledge, and kindness. They are Him. What is Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kindness? What kind of Hakadosh Boruch Hu... His kindness isn’t something apart from Hakadosh Boruch Hu; it is He Himself, and right now it is in the world of Yetzirah or the world of Beriah, and so on. Yes?

44:39 Speaker 3 So He is the main thing, and the souls are around Him?

44:43 Speaker 1 He is the inner aspect, the purpose. For His sake—the whole world is for His sake. And there is the place of the world. What does “place” mean spiritually? What does “place” mean physically?

44:59 Speaker 3 An area.

45:01 Speaker 1 Physically, a place means that what is here isn’t over there. Right? That’s a place. Yes. What does it mean spiritually? Someone in the realm of kindness isn’t in the realm of severity. Someone in the realm of severity isn’t in the realm of kindness. That’s a spiritual place. Yes? So there is the world, and there are the ten sefiros in the world. Now he makes this distinction; I’ll explain it this way: the souls themselves really do ascend to the world of Yetzirah, to Gan Eden, and there they receive their reward. Yes? But the mitzvos a person fulfilled and the Torah he studied are actually incorporated into the ten sefiros, which are actual G-dliness. Is there a difference between the expanse of the world and Israel and the Torah? Between non-Jews and Israel, or between, I don’t know, animals and... yes?

46:00 Speaker 3 Obviously.

46:00 Speaker 1 So our souls are in the world of Yetzirah. The world of Yetzirah is no simple thing. And they receive their reward. What reward? They experience delight. How do they experience delight? Because they can receive the radiance. How? Because there the radiance has descended in a way they can receive it, and therefore... I must bring it to the next class, bli neder. There’s a book—its name has slipped my mind. There’s a book the Frierdiker Rebbe gave the Rebbe as a wedding gift, before the wedding, and told the Rebbe... It’s a book of stories.

46:41 Speaker 3 Sipurei Nora’im?

46:41 Speaker 1 Sipurei Nora’im.

46:43 Speaker 3 You told us about it once.

46:44 Speaker 1 Several times already. It’s very striking. You have to read it inside, the—

46:48 Speaker 3 You didn’t read it to us before bedtime.

46:50 Speaker 1 Well, that was because I wanted to scare you.

46:53 Speaker 3 We really were scared. It worked. Just kidding.

46:58 Speaker 1 The Frierdiker Rebbe gave it to—and the Frierdiker Rebbe told the Rebbe to know the stories in that book well. It was written by a Jew who heard many of the stories from the Alter Rebbe himself, and some of the others from the Maggid’s disciples and from a Jew who lived in those generations. It’s an old book. It has a fairly long introduction, a fascinating introduction, and there, among other things, he explains what Gan Eden is. You have to see it inside. You can’t repeat those words; it’s simply... it’s not this world. It’s something else. So here’s what I’m saying: our Torah and our service aren’t merely in the world of Yetzirah; they’re actually incorporated into the G-dliness of that world, into the ten sefiros. Our lives in the ten—sorry. Our Torah and our service are actually incorporated into the ten sefiros, which are G-dliness, actual G-dliness, and the Infinite Light is united with them. With what does “them” refer to?

48:15 Speaker 3 In the three lines.

48:17 Speaker 1 No.

48:19 Speaker 3 The Torah and the mitzvos.

48:20 Speaker 1 The Torah and the mitzvos. The Torah and mitzvos are united with, incorporated into, the sefiros, which are actual G-dliness. Actual G-dliness is infinite. So the Infinite Light is united with them—with the mitzvos—in a complete union. That is, with the ten sefiros of Beriah through intellectual love and awe, and with the ten sefiros of Yetzirah through natural love and awe. “And within them are clothed the ten sefiros of Atzilus.” Within them—within what?

48:54 Speaker 3 The Torah.

48:55 Speaker 1 What has he been talking about until now? It is united in a complete union: the ten sefiros of Beriah through intellectual love and awe, the ten sefiros of Yetzirah through natural love and awe, “and within them are the ten sefiros of Atzilus.”

49:12 Speaker 3 The love and awe.

49:14 Speaker 1 “Within them” refers both to the ten sefiros of Beriah and to the ten sefiros of Yetzirah. You can’t divide Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is a simple unity; He can’t be divided. The world of Atzilus is called Atzilus because it is with Him. It is He Himself—His intellect, His kindness, He Himself. What does it mean that the ten sefiros now shine in the world of Beriah? Is that no longer Him? Is it someone else?

49:52 Speaker 3 He doesn’t have to be divided. He can be in everything, can’t He?

49:56 Speaker 1 He is constricted. It is less of Him. There’s sunlight, and then there’s a window. The light coming through the window is less, but it’s the same light. When you see it, nobody would dream it’s the light of a candle or a bonfire or anything else. It comes from the sun. It is that light. Yes? Then you pass it through a small opening, and it’s even more constricted, but it’s still that same light. It isn’t something else. The ten sefiros of the worlds of Beriah and Yetzirah are indeed constricted, but they are the ten sefiros; within them shine the ten sefiros of Atzilus. They are truly one, openly, without concealment or hiding. There is no concealment or hiding over the sefiros. It is the Divine light itself. It is Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. And since our Torah and our service are united with the ten sefiros—true, only in the world of Beriah or only in the world of Yetzirah—therefore they are completely united with the Infinite Light, blessed be He. And all of this refers to their Torah and their service. By contrast, the souls are not incorporated into the G-dliness of the ten sefiros. Rather, they stand in the halls and chambers of Beriah and Yetzirah and enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah. What is the radiance of the Shechinah? It is the Infinite Light, blessed be He, united with the ten sefiros of Beriah and Yetzirah, and it is the radiance of their very own Torah and service. What does the soul enjoy in Gan Eden?

51:39 Speaker 3 The light of its Torah and mitzvos.

51:40 Speaker 1 Its own service, the mitzvos it fulfilled, are incorporated into the ten sefiros. That soul is now beside them, and it enjoys the light of the ten sefiros as it is clothed in its Torah and its service.

52:01 Speaker 3 Each person enjoys his own service?

52:03 Speaker 1 His own service. That’s what our Sages meant when they said, “The reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah.” The simple meaning of “the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah,” as written in Pirkei Avos, is that when a person does one mitzvah, he is rewarded with the opportunity to do another mitzvah. Another mitzvah. You did one—well done, I’ll give you another one. You deserve it. Yes. The meaning according to Chassidus is that the reward for a mitzvah is the mitzvah itself. The reward a person receives in Gan Eden is the light of the mitzvah he fulfilled.

52:33 Speaker 3 So it’s worth doing.

52:34 Speaker 1 The mitzvah he performed unites with the ten sefiros themselves, and it is the vessel through which the Ein Sof light can shine upon his soul. Without the mitzvah, the Ein Sof light has no way to reach his soul. His soul cannot receive it. So we’re beginning to understand that being living creatures isn’t so terrible after all. And this is what our Sages meant when they said that the reward for a mitzvah is the mitzvah itself. Now, we’ve spoken at length about the worlds of Beriah and Yetzirah, right? Yes, but there’s also the world of Atzilus. What about it? Atzilus, after all, is also called a world. The Hebrew word for “world,” olam, is related to he’elem, concealment. So what is it needed for? The world of Atzilus is beyond the intellect, comprehension, and understanding of a created mind. What does “created mind” mean? It doesn’t refer only to our intellect, or that of the angels or souls. Anything that can be called intellect cannot belong in Atzilus. Why? What does intellect do? It understands something. Right. That means there’s someone here understanding something else. In Atzilus, there is no “other.” The whole concept of intellect begins only when there is someone else. In Atzilus, there is no other. There is nothing besides Him. So there is no created intellect in Atzilus. Right. The world of Atzilus is beyond the intellect, comprehension, and understanding of a created mind. There is intellect there—the intellect of G-dliness, not created intellect. For the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of the blessed Ein Sof are united with Him there in absolute unity, in a unity infinitely more profound and powerful than in the world of Beriah. For there, in Atzilus—for there, sorry, in Beriah—they descend to shine in a state of tzimtzum. Why? So that created minds can receive wisdom, understanding, and knowledge from them. Why? To know Hashem, and to understand and attain some grasp of the blessed Ein Sof Creator, according to the capacity of

55:18 Speaker 1 created minds, which are limited and finite. Why? So that they will not cease to exist as distinct beings, and no longer be considered created beings at all. If the light itself were revealed, they would simply return to their source and root in G-dliness itself. Then they can enjoy it; but in Atzilus, that limitation isn’t there. The light is revealed as it is—the Divine light itself is revealed.

55:38 Speaker 3 Revealed to whom, if there’s no one there?

55:40 Speaker 1 Ah. And why is it called a world? And why is it needed at all? And why are we even told that such a thing exists?

55:49 Speaker 3 Right, we have no connection to it from any angle.

55:51 Speaker 1 None whatsoever. Now, this tzimtzum of the world of Beriah, right? It is what enables the Chabad of the blessed Ein Sof to shine there for those souls in the world of Beriah. If so, in Atzilus, where the sefiros are not so greatly constricted, created minds cannot receive from them on their own. Therefore, “their thought cannot grasp there at all”—the thought of created minds cannot grasp it. That is why the world of Atzilus is the dwelling place of the great tzaddikim. Until now, we said: where do the tzaddikim receive their reward?

56:44 Speaker 4 In Beriah.

56:45 Speaker 1 In the world of Beriah. Why? Because their avodah is intellectual; they can change their emotional attributes, and they have free choice.

56:50 Speaker 4 Right.

56:51 Speaker 1 Yes. But there are tzaddikim, and then there are great tzaddikim. Ordinary tzaddikim—ordinary, right? The sort of whom there are thirty-six in every generation. By the way, I’ve mentioned this here a few times already. There’s a letter from the Rebbe, printed in Igros Kodesh, in which someone asked the Rebbe whether there are still thirty-six tzaddikim today, because he doesn’t see any. So the Rebbe tells him: Thirty-six? Many more. And the reason you don’t see them is that they’re hidden tzaddikim. You don’t see them. There are many more.

57:29 Speaker 4 Interesting.

57:30 Speaker 1 Uh-huh.

57:32 Speaker 4 Interesting.

57:32 Speaker 1 We’re used to thinking of it in such limited terms. But what does “great tzaddikim” mean? The Alter Rebbe is coming to—before we get to that, we’re approaching two points where the main point of the chapter begins. It’s brief, but it’s the heart of the chapter. After the Alter Rebbe explains at length about beinonim and tzaddikim—that beinonim are like angels, and tzaddikim, and so on—there are people for whom it’s clear that, if they merit to receive their reward in Gan Eden, it is in Atzilus. So their avodas Hashem here must correspond to it. Just as someone whose avodas Hashem is with natural fear and love receives his reward in Yetzirah, and someone whose avodah is with intellectual fear and love receives his reward in Beriah, we must understand that someone whose reward is in Atzilus has an avodas Hashem like Atzilus. Right? What is that? What does a person have besides intellect and emotion? If he serves Hashem with emotion, he’s in Yetzirah. If he serves Him with intellect, he’s a tzaddik in Beriah. But if he serves Hashem neither with intellect nor with emotion, then... how does he serve Him?

59:10 Speaker 4 Maybe with both?

59:12 Speaker 1 Huh? I’ve only just posed the question. There’s no need to guess. It’s not something you can guess. That’s why it’s explained.

59:27 Speaker 4 It’s long.

59:28 Speaker 1 Huh? Ah, but you want to get to the end.

59:31 Speaker 4 No, I’m...

59:34 Speaker 1 What?

59:34 Speaker 4 I’m in suspense. Just kidding.

59:36 Speaker 1 You can’t switch it off that quickly. Let’s s-s-shorten it. Someone wants to get to the end of the matter. The great tzaddikim—their avodah is far, far above even the fear and love that arise from understanding and knowledge of the greatness of the blessed Ein Sof. Just as the world of Atzilus is beyond understanding and knowledge and created intellect, what, then, is the avodah of those tzaddikim? The avodah of the great tzaddikim was to be an actual merkavah, a chariot, for the blessed Ein Sof. Their avodah is not through intellect or emotion, but through bittul.

1:00:13 Speaker 4 Mm-hmm.

1:00:15 Speaker 1 To nullify their independent existence before Him and be absorbed in His blessed light. And not only themselves, but everything they have. Even an ordinary tzaddik serves Hashem because he understands that he must serve Hashem. His own sense of self is still there: “I understand that I must serve Hashem.” For the great tzaddikim, there is no “I.” Hashem must be served; there is no “I.” Never, at any point in his life—from the time he reaches understanding until the end of his days—does the thought pass through his mind: “I’m hungry, I’m tired, I need something, I’m lacking something, I feel good, I feel bad.” It doesn’t exist. It doesn’t enter his mind, and it doesn’t enter his heart either. It doesn’t pass through him. For him, there is no such thing.

1:01:09 Speaker 5 That sounds wonderful, Rabbi.

1:01:11 Speaker 1 His entire existence is about what Hakadosh Boruch Hu needs. Bittul. There is no “I.” What? All right, we’ve finished that. What do we need to do now? What’s this? Not only themselves, but everything they have. When he looks at the physical things that belong to him—he has a house—what does he need it for? “Oh, it’s for me.” But there is no “me.” His sense of self has been erased. That’s called a merkavah, like a chariot that... Today we’d say a car, right? When it drives, the car doesn’t think; it has no thoughts, no desires. It goes wherever... it has no existence of its own. Its entire existence is only to serve its Maker. Even his intellect and emotions—and that’s harder—through the performance of Torah and mitzvos. As they said of the Patriarchs, “They themselves were the merkavah,” meaning that this was their avodah throughout all their days. What level—what is the emphasis in “all their days”? Someone whose soul’s root is too limited to contain this complete avodah, to be nullified and absorbed in His blessed light through his avodah consistently... He cannot be a merkavah all the time. Sometimes, yes. The ordinary tzaddik can be, sometimes, but not consistently, not all the time. “All their days” applies only to the great tzaddikim. So if he is someone who reaches that state only from time to time, at times of Divine favor—such as during Shemoneh Esrei, which is in Atzilus, and especially during its bows, each of which corresponds to Atzilus, as explained in Pri Eitz Chaim. Bowing, Atzilus: the idea is bittul in His blessed light, before which everything is truly as nothing. Even so, the soul’s permanent place is in the world of Beriah. True, sometimes he attains that level of bittul, of being a merkavah, but not all the time. What is his constant mode of avodah? It is avodah guided by intellect. So his reward, too, corresponds to intellect. Who reaches the world of Atzilus? Only someone for whom this is his very essence. His essence is bittul. That applies only to the great tzaddikim,

1:03:21 Speaker 1 as Rashbi says: “If there are two, they are my son and I; if there is one, it is I.” Only at certain times of Divine favor does his soul ascend to Atzilus as mayin nukvin, as those versed in the mystical teachings know. Just as the beinoni has a connection to the world of Beriah, and on Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh he can ascend to Beriah, so too the ordinary tzaddik: since he does sometimes have this bittul, he can sometimes ascend to Atzilus as well. But his permanent place is in the world of Beriah. So, up to this point, the Alter Rebbe has explained the nature of our avodah. The essence of our avodas Hashem is—I’m summarizing everything he has said throughout the chapter—avodah with natural love and fear, which is the level of the world of Yetzirah, the avodah of the angels. Through our avodah, after a hundred and twenty years, our souls ascend to Gan Eden—the lower Gan Eden, which is in the world of Yetzirah. From here until the end of the chapter, the Alter Rebbe will explain what that means.

1:04:33 Speaker 6 Sorry. With all my strength. I’ll think deeply about it.