Likkutei Amarim Chapter 40 (Part 1) · 5785

00:00 Speaker 1 Today we’ll study chapter 40. Here, in chapter 40, the Alter Rebbe concludes the line of thought he began in chapter 35. We’ve mentioned several times that chapters 35 through 40 are the preparation for the second part of Tanya. In the first part of Tanya, the Alter Rebbe discusses how a person can reach wholeness in serving Hashem: doing mitzvos and not committing aveiros. If he loves Hakadosh Boruch Hu, if he has love and fear, then out of love he’ll want to do what Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, and out of fear he won’t want to commit aveiros. So if he has love and fear, he’ll never stumble in anything. The entire first part of Tanya, through chapter 34, deals with this question: how to awaken a person’s love and fear so that he won’t stumble and will be complete in his observance of Torah and mitzvos. According to that understanding, then, what is serving Hashem? It’s something internal, a feeling a person has inside. It isn’t a matter of action; it’s a matter of working to change his personal reality, to change his personality. So all this serving Hashem that we talk about so much is only a means to an end. The goal is to fulfill mitzvos. It’s just that without love and fear, you won’t be able to fulfill them. So love and fear come out looking like something secondary, not the main thing. In the second part of Tanya, he explains the other side: the value and importance of the inner service of Hashem. And it works the other way around. When does the value of

01:57 Speaker 1 the inner service of Hashem become apparent? Precisely in the practical fulfillment of mitzvos. The first part, which discusses fulfilling mitzvos, is all about awakening love and fear. The second part, which discusses inner service, is all about making the fulfillment of mitzvos permeated with feeling. The two are intertwined. So to understand what a person’s inner service of Hashem really is, how does a person reach a point where his fulfillment of mitzvos is permeated with love and fear? Not just love and fear in order to fulfill the mitzvos, but the mitzvos themselves accompanied by a feeling of love and fear of Hashem. So he gives an introduction, six chapters from chapter 35 through our chapter, chapter 40. And that introduction itself is divided in two. First, he explains the importance of fulfilling practical mitzvos: the main thing Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants from us is practical mitzvos. Why practical mitzvos? Because the purpose of Creation—why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu create the... Am I right?

03:15 Speaker 2 Yes.

03:16 Speaker 1 I feel like some little kid, like some kind of lecturer.

03:18 Speaker 2 Really, just like that.

03:21 Speaker 1 And the reason—the reason for which, insofar as we can speak of a reason for which Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world. Our Sages gave a number of explanations, but the innermost reason, the deepest, true reason: why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu create the world? Because He wanted a dwelling place in the lower realms. “Hakadosh Boruch Hu desired a dwelling place in the lower realms,” as the Midrash says. And to turn the lower realms, to turn the world into a dwelling place, you have to use the world. You use the world through practical mitzvos. When a person has a thought or a feeling, it isn’t in the world; it’s within the person. When you take the world—the physical world, its plants, inanimate matter and living creatures—and use them to fulfill mitzvos, you sanctify the world. That is the purpose of Creation. Through this, Hakadosh Boruch Hu dwells there, and the world is elevated and refined. But this would seem only to strengthen the question: If the whole purpose of creating the world is to sanctify it, to turn it into a place ready for the revelation of the light of the Shechinah, why do we need intent? Man was created to prepare the world for the revelation of Hashem. How do we prepare it? By fulfilling mitzvos. What difference does it make whether he had intent or not? He fulfilled the mitzvah. The mitzvah sanctified the thing with which it was performed, and that’s it. It’s sanctified, set apart, already a vessel fit for the Shechinah to dwell in; it’s nullified, and everything is fine. Why do we need my feelings? What do my feelings add? But he began

05:17 Speaker 1 to explain this in the last seven chapters. We’re in the final chapter. To understand this, we need to understand what intent means—fulfilling mitzvos with intent. What does that mean? He divides it into three aspects. But first he explains what intent is in the first place: what is the nature of intent, what is its definition? He bases the explanation on the statement of our Sages: “A mitzvah without intent is like a body without a soul.” In other words, intent gives life to the mitzvah. True, the body doesn’t depend on the soul for its existence. We can see that even the body of a living creature continues to exist for some time after its soul has departed. All the more so with the other bodies in the world—plants, and especially inanimate matter. They don’t need a soul to keep them in existence. The body doesn’t live from the soul. The soul enables the body to move, think, feel and act, but the soul doesn’t sustain the body’s existence. The body is sustained by the food it eats. So although the body doesn’t originate from the soul, wasn’t created by the soul and doesn’t live from the soul, it’s clear to everyone that a body without a soul isn’t worth much. The same is true of a mitzvah without intent. It is a mitzvah, and it accomplishes everything discussed in the preceding chapters; it prepares the world to be a dwelling place in the lower realms. But it’s a dwelling place without vitality, without a soul. That is what intent is: the vitality of the mitzvos. Then, in the previous chapter, he explained what that vitality is. We say “vitality,” “giving life”—what does that mean? He explained that it depends on the kind of intent a person has. There is intellectual intent and there is natural intent. If a person fulfills mitzvos with hidden love, that’s called natural love. We don’t need to go into all the detail now, right? If he fulfills them with intellectual love, then it’s intellectual love. And just as a human being has an intellect, emotions and a body—what is a human being?—so too, as it were, man was created in the image of what is above. Hakadosh Boruch Hu, too, as it were, has the form of a body above, in the higher worlds. There are the worlds, which are the body, and within them is their inner vitality. And that inner vitality of the worlds is analogous to what we find in a person. The world of Beriah is analogous to a person’s intellect, and the world of Yetzirah is analogous to his emotions. Therefore, when a person fulfills mitzvos with natural love, with love that comes only from his emotions, the mitzvah he fulfills with that feeling ascends and becomes united with the world of Yetzirah. If he fulfills a mitzvah with intellectual love, then that love—his intent in the mitzvah, his love of Hashem—takes the mitzvah and elevates it to its own level. What level is that? The level of intellect. It’s intellectual love, so it elevates the mitzvah to the level of intellect. Where? To the world of Beriah. And if this person is a great tzaddik who serves Hashem with complete self-nullification, like the great tzaddikim, with the self-nullification of a merkavah, then fulfilling a mitzvah with that feeling of absolute self-nullification elevates the mitzvah to the world of Atzilus. In other words, we can’t be tzaddikim.

07:43 Speaker 1 A person has an intellectual intention and a natural intention. If a person fulfills the mitzvos with a hidden love, that is called natural love. We don’t need to go into all the details now, right? If he fulfills them with an intellectual love, then it is intellectual love. Now, just as a person has—what is a person? He has intellect, emotions, and a body—so too, as it were, man was created in the image of what is above. Hakadosh Boruch Hu, too, has, as it were, a form of a body in the higher worlds. So there are the worlds, which are the body, and within them is their inner life-force. And that inner life-force of the worlds is also, by way of analogy, like a person: the world of Beriah is analogous to a person’s intellect, and the world of Yetzirah is analogous to his emotions. Therefore, when a person fulfills the mitzvos with natural love, with a love that comes only from his emotions, the mitzvah he fulfills with that feeling ascends and unites with the world of Yetzirah. If he fulfills the mitzvah with intellectual love, then that love—the intention he has in the mitzvah, meaning his love of Hashem—takes the mitzvah and raises it to its own level. What level is that? The level of intellect. Intellectual love raises the mitzvah to the level of intellect. Where? To the world of Beriah. And if the person is a great tzaddik who serves Hashem with complete self-nullification, like the great tzaddikim, whose self-nullification is like that of a chariot, then fulfilling the mitzvah with that sense of absolute self-nullification raises it to the world of Atzilus. In other words, we cannot be tzaddikim.

09:50 Speaker 4 Doesn’t it matter where the mitzvah is?

09:52 Speaker 1 Ah. So it doesn’t matter. That’s not what we’re trying to say here. We learn it the other way around. Natural love elevates the mitzvah to the world of Yetzirah, and intellectual love elevates it to the world of Beriah. What does that mean? The point is the reverse: if my love has the power to elevate the mitzvah to the world of Beriah, that means that when I fulfill the mitzvah here, the world of Beriah is revealed to me. Right now, in my fulfillment of the mitzvah, there is a revelation of G-dliness from the world of Beriah, of the higher angels.

10:36 Speaker 4 We can’t see that.

10:37 Speaker 1 Hmm?

10:37 Speaker 4 We can’t see it, feel it.

10:41 Speaker 1 We don’t feel it. But the very knowledge—this is what the Alter Rebbe says. True, we don’t feel it, but the very fact that a person knows he has it already brings him great joy. He gives the example of someone who was given a box full of precious stones and pearls as a gift, and they tell him it’s his. He doesn’t have the key, but he has the box and knows that someday it will be opened. That knowledge alone is enough. So the previous two chapters discussed the reality of a mitzvah and how its intent is its life. What does it mean that intent is the life of a mitzvah? It means that intent brings into the mitzvah a revelation of G-dliness found only in the higher worlds. What does the mitzvah do? It takes this world and connects it to the higher worlds, to the World of Yetzirah or the World of Beriah. That’s what he explained there.

11:56 Speaker 4 You said that intent just means, “Now I’m going to perform the mitzvah,” because we can’t formulate all sorts of kavanah, um...

12:06 Speaker 1 On that point, he explained that there are three levels of intent. Maybe we should go back over the scale for a moment. One person performs a mitzvah because he knows that Hakadosh Boruch Hu commanded it. Another person performs a mitzvah because he wants people to look at him. He wants everyone to see that he keeps mitzvos, that he’s religious, that he’s observant, that he’s meticulous about mitzvos. He wants them to call him “Rabbi” and give him honor. That is an intent that is not for its own sake. If a person performs a mitzvah with that kind of intent, it adds vitality to the kelipos. Then there’s someone who simply performs a mitzvah without thinking at all about what he’s doing. He’s not doing it for an ulterior motive, but he’s not doing it for its own sake either. He doesn’t think anything. He was brought up to do it, so he does it. There’s a higher level: when performing the mitzvah, he knows what he’s doing. Before each mitzvah—say we’re about to study now—before the lesson begins, he reflects: “I’m about to study the word of Hashem. I’m about to fulfill what Hakadosh Boruch Hu commanded me: to study Torah. And now I’m going to do it.” Or he says Tehillim and tries to understand the meaning of the words. He doesn’t just recite Tehillim the way we tend to recite Tehillim; he reads it and tries to understand it. That is already called intent: he knows what he’s doing, understands what he’s doing, is aware of what he’s doing. There’s a higher level of intent than that. Why does he do it? Not because he understands that he has to, but because he loves Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is so great, so good, and gives life to all the worlds.

14:00 Speaker 1 “I want to draw close to Him. I want to do what He asked of me.” That’s already called intent. And when a person performs a mitzvah with feeling, there too are two levels. Does he love Hakadosh Boruch Hu because he has a G-dly soul, and that soul has now revealed itself, so he loves Him? Or has his intellectual understanding of Hashem’s greatness awakened that love in him? Those are two entirely different levels—as different as an animal and a human being. These are intellectual and natural love. But in general, I don’t want to get caught up in all that. After learning this whole subject, we’re left with a question. At the end of the previous lesson, at the end of chapter 39, a question remained. What was it? What is Torah? It is the wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, right? And what are mitzvos? They are His will. What did He want? The will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Torah and mitzvos are the wisdom and will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. What was explained in all the preceding chapters? That if I have one kind of love or another, I can take the mitzvah and raise it to the higher worlds. So I ask the Rebbe a simple question: Does the wisdom and will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu need me in order to ascend?

15:47 Speaker 4 With your permission.

15:50 Speaker 1 No. When I perform a mitzvah with love and awe, I raise the mitzvah to the ten sefiros of the World of Yetzirah or of the World of Beriah. What? You don’t need love and awe to sanctify lowly things. Performing the mitzvah draws down G-dliness. That was explained earlier. What does the act of performing the mitzvah accomplish? It draws down and reveals G-dliness below. But for the mitzvah to ascend, it needs my love and awe. That sounds—it doesn’t sound right. Hakadosh Boruch Hu—the Torah is His wisdom; “the Torah and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are entirely one.” What does that mean? The Torah is His wisdom, and His wisdom is He Himself. Does Hakadosh Boruch Hu need me in order to ascend from below to above? Come on. It doesn’t add up. So chapter 40 continues the preceding chapters and comes primarily to answer this question. In other words, not just what intent is, what its nature and essence are, but what it accomplishes. What exactly does it mean when we say it raises mitzvos upward? So he begins. I’ll read it inside. Chapter 40: “But as long as he has not gone back and studied the matter—” He began in the previous chapter, chapter 39, by saying that when someone studies Torah lishmah, for its own sake, it ascends to the higher worlds, Yetzirah and Beriah, according to his intent. What happens when he studies without that intent? I don’t mean that he’s deliberately studying for an ulterior motive. Rather, he studies without intent. He studies because he finds it interesting, or out of habit, because that’s what he’s accustomed to doing. He studies without intent, without love and awe, without the intent to study lishmah. He has a reason for studying, but not the intent of doing so lishmah, not love and awe. So he says: since his study was without love and awe, what

18:25 Speaker 1 raises the study to the higher worlds? Love and awe. You studied without love and awe. What happened to your study? It remained below. What does “remained below” mean? Did it go to give life to the kelipos? No. He wasn’t studying for honor; he just studied. So it doesn’t go to the kelipos or give them life. But it doesn’t ascend to the higher levels either. What happens to it? He says it remains below—which means that it does ascend to the higher worlds, but only to the outer aspect of those worlds. Even in the higher worlds, there’s the outer aspect of the world itself and there’s its inner aspect. Remember we discussed this? In every world there are the sefiros and there is the world, just as a person has a soul and a body. So every world has the body of that world and its soul. In our physical world there’s the whole world, and there’s the Jewish people; there’s Jerusalem. There’s the purpose for which it was created. There are the Chinese over there, I don’t know, and the Ethiopians and the Arabs who live throughout the world, and the animals, and so on. And there’s the Jewish people, for whom the world was created. There’s the outer aspect and the inner aspect. So the higher worlds also have an outer aspect. When a person performs a mitzvah without the intent to do it lishmah, without love and awe, it too ascends to the higher worlds, but it remains in their outer aspect; it doesn’t unite with their inner aspect. So why did our Sages say, “A person should always study Torah even when it is not lishmah, because from studying not lishmah he will come to study lishmah”? After all, when he studies, it goes to the outer aspect, not the inner aspect. Should he not study at all? No, he says, he should study. Why? Because even though he studied without intent, ultimately the words he said were holy words, words

20:17 Speaker 1 of Torah, and so it does ascend to the higher world. But what happens? It does not unite with that world’s inner dimension. Fine. The next time he learns the same thing with love and fear, what he learned before will join it and enter the inner dimension too, because it is not clothed in kelipah. It is already above; it just has not united with the inner dimension. Learn it again with love of Hashem, and it will enter and become joined with it. About this he says, “But as long as he has not gone back and learned this matter for its own sake—” He learned it once not for its own sake and has not learned it again with intention. “His learning does not ascend even to the ten sefirot that shine in the worlds of Yetzirah and Asiyah.” It does ascend to the higher worlds, but not to the ten sefirot in those worlds—not even to the ten sefirot of the lower worlds, only to the outer dimension of the worlds. Why? Why doesn’t it unite with the inner dimension of the worlds, with the sefirot? Because the sefirot are actual G-dliness. He says, “The sefirot are a manifestation of G-dliness, and in them the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, is actually clothed and united.” Let’s think about that. What is the difference between the inner and outer dimensions of the worlds? The inner dimension is the sefirot. Why is it called the inner dimension? In anything, its inner dimension is its soul, its substance, its vitality. What is the inner vitality of the worlds? G-dliness, Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Let’s use the human soul as an analogy; that’s easier to understand. A person has a soul. The soul gives him life; it is his life, his personality, right? And then there is the way it manifests in the body. So where does the soul first enter the body? First, it enters the faculties of the mind in the head. Thought—that is where the soul is revealed most fully, in understanding and thinking. After that,

22:40 Speaker 1 when it descends further, it becomes clothed in the heart. The heart has feelings and emotional responses. That is no longer the mind—you can’t think with your heart—but there is a great deal of vitality in the heart. Then, when it descends further, it gives life to the body, so that the body can live and move. It is now clothed in the power of action. When it descends still further, there are just the senses, and there are even lower levels. Would we say a person has three souls—one in his mind, one in his heart, and one in, I don’t know, somewhere else? No one would say that, right? Why? Because everyone feels, “I think, I feel, and I act.” It is me, not someone else. Right? So if it is all me, why does that “me” take the form of intellect at one time, emotion at another, and playing soccer at another? It’s the same me. The explanation is simple: it depends on how much the “me” is constrained within its vessels. The mind is a refined vessel, so my “me” can reveal itself there more expansively. The heart is a more limited vessel, a little more material, so my “me” can reveal itself there somewhat less; in the body, less still, and so on. It is the same me. The only difference is how fully I am revealed and in what form. But who is being revealed? I am. It is me, not someone else. And so it is in the higher worlds. The world of Beriah is, so to speak, the intellect of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In the ten sefirot of the world of Beriah, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is revealed in the form of intellect. In the ten sefirot of the world of Yetzirah, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is revealed in the form of

24:47 Speaker 1 emotion. In the ten sefirot of the world of Asiyah, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is revealed in the form of action: G-dly intellect, G-dly emotion, and G-dly action. But who is present there? He is present there. The ten sefirot in each world are Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. He is revealed one way here and another way there, but it is He Himself.

25:09 Speaker 5 Which world corresponds to intellect?

25:11 Speaker 1 Beriah. So when we say that a person performs a mitzvah with intellectual love, what are we saying? Because he performed the mitzvah with intellectual love, his mitzvah ascends and unites with the intellect of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, so to speak—with the world of... What does that mean? If he does it without intention, it will ascend to the outer dimension of the world of Beriah. But if he does it with intention, it will unite with G-dliness itself, with the ten sefirot themselves. Without intention, though, what lifts it up? What connects the physical substance of the mitzvah to G-dliness? Just as the body without a soul is dead—it has no vitality—what gives the mitzvah life? What connects it to G-dliness? My intention. If my intention is on one level, it connects with G-dliness on that level. If my intention is on another level, it connects with G-dliness on that level. But if I did it without intention, then fine: Torah is intellect, so it will ascend to the world of Beriah, but it will not connect with the G-dliness there. If I perform another mitzvah, one connected with “turn away from evil and do good,” with positive and negative commandments, pure and impure, and so on, then the nature of the mitzvah is a matter of emotion. We won’t explain that now; perhaps later. The nature of the mitzvos is emotion, so it will ascend to the world of Yetzirah, but it will not connect with its inner dimension. If I perform it with feeling, it will connect with the inner dimension, with G-dliness. That gives the mitzvah life. So, as we said, the sefirot themselves are G-dliness. It is Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, and within the sefirot “the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He, is actually clothed and united.” Therefore, without fear and love, when they perform

27:04 Speaker 1 the mitzvah—when they perform it without fear and love—it cannot ascend and stand before Hashem. Again, how can something made of physical material, a mitzvah, connect with G-dliness? If you have the intention, it connects; if you don’t, it doesn’t. As it says in Tikkunim. But when someone performs a mitzvah without love and fear, his learning does ascend. Where to? To the chambers and abodes that form the outer dimension of the worlds, where the angels stand, as we discussed earlier, and as Rabbi Chaim Vital, z"l, wrote in Shaar Hanevuah. This is actually a novel point. After all that explanation, we say, “Okay, we understand,” but the Alter Rebbe says, “We believe.” Yet the Alter Rebbe cannot rely on everyone believing him, so first he has to bring proofs and evidence. To say that Torah and mitzvos ascend to the higher worlds even without intention is a novel point. There was no intention here—why should they ascend? So the Alter Rebbe brings proof from the writings of the Arizal. Rabbi Chaim Vital, who recorded the writings of the Arizal, writes in Shaar Hanevuah, chapter 2, that Torah learned without intention creates angels in the world of Yetzirah, and mitzvos performed without intention create angels in the world of Asiyah. Surely everyone knows that every mitzvah a person performs creates an angel. Right? You know that, don’t you? Everyone does.

28:42 Speaker 6 I thought an angel was created only when you did something wrong by mistake.

28:44 Speaker 1 Ah, that’s a bad angel.

28:47 Speaker 6 A defective angel.

28:53 Speaker 1 Every mitzvah creates an angel. If the mitzvah is performed in a defective way, then the angel created is defective too. Performing the mitzvah is what creates the angel. Rabbi Chaim Vital writes something more than just the fact that angels are created. That was already written; our Sages said it. Rabbi Chaim Vital adds that if a person performs a mitzvah without intention, what kind of angel is created in the world of Yetzirah?

29:20 Speaker 6 Asiyah. From mitzvos.

29:24 Speaker 1 From the mitzvos in the world of Asiyah. And if he learns Torah without intent, a higher angel is created, in the world of Yetzirah. So what is he saying? The Alter Rebbe says: That is exactly what I said. You see that Rabbi Chaim Vital himself writes that even if a person fulfills a mitzvah without intent, it rises upward. What proves that it rises upward? If an angel is created, how could it be created if the mitzvah did not rise there? When the Torah he learned without intent reached the external aspect of the worlds, the world of Yetzirah, it created an angel. But you could still ask a question. What does Rabbi Chaim Vital say? That mitzvos performed without intent create angels. Where? In the world of Asiyah. What does “without intent” mean? Without intent for its own sake, without love and awe, or without any intent at all? You could understand it in two ways, right? We said that there are several levels of “without intent.” So what does the Alter Rebbe say? What am I trying to prove to you? That even when a person learns Torah and fulfills mitzvos without love and awe, they nevertheless rise upward. But perhaps when Rabbi Chaim Vital said “without intent,” he meant without any intent at all? How do you prove that he meant without intent for its own sake? Is the question clear? His answer is that all angels have both substance and form. It says, “He makes His angels winds, His servants a blazing fire.” There is a verse. The Rambam writes that we, all the beings in this world, are made of four elements: fire, air, water, and earth. All beings in this world are made of four elements. Angels are made of only two elements, fire and air. Angels, too, are created beings, and if they are created, then they too must be made of some elements. But they are made only of the more refined, spiritual elements: fire and air.

32:00 Speaker 1 This itself can be understood in two ways. One explanation is that some angels have bodies made of air and others have bodies made of fire. A second explanation—both explanations appear among the early commentators, in the Ramban and others—is that some angels have bodies made of air and souls made of fire. But in any case, according to both views, angels have both a body and a soul.

32:31 Speaker 7 They have souls too.

32:36 Speaker 1 Of course they have souls. They are alive. The question is whether they also have bodies. The Frierdiker Rebbe writes at great length about this and proves it through a logical argument. We will not go over the explanation now, but any created being must have both a body and a soul. There cannot be a created being with only a soul or only a body. It is impossible. Every created being...

33:06 Speaker 7 So that applies to inanimate things and plants.

33:09 Speaker 1 Right. Even an inanimate thing has a soul, and even an angel has a body. Exactly. And it makes no difference what level we are talking about—an angel in the world of Yetzirah, a higher one, an even higher one, or even the loftiest angels. This takes a lot of study and contemplation, but the basic principle is that there is no created being with only a body or only a soul. There is no such thing; it is impossible. Every soul... So, since angels have both bodies and souls, who created the angels?

33:45 Speaker 7 Ours.

33:46 Speaker 1 No, we did. A mitzvah that I fulfill creates an angel, as our Sages said, right? And where does the mitzvah rise? To the world of the angels. And angels have both bodies and souls, right? If the mitzvah I performed has only a body and no soul, how could it create an angel with a soul? So we must say that when Rabbi Chaim Vital writes that Torah and mitzvos performed not for their own sake do create angels—angels that have not only bodies but also souls—he means that the person learned Torah and performed mitzvos without intent for their own sake, but with some intent. Otherwise, no angel would have been created.

34:36 Speaker 7 Because doing something without intent for its own sake is, in effect, like doing it without the soul.

34:39 Speaker 1 Intent for its own sake means with love and awe. Ordinary intent, as Ilana said earlier, means simply knowing what you are doing, thinking about what you are doing: “I am performing a mitzvah now because Hakadosh Boruch Hu commanded it.” I don’t light Shabbos candles. Well, people light them often; it has been a long time since I lit Shabbos candles. But I imagine it happens quite often that people light candles and think about all sorts of lofty things: the children, blessings, a livelihood. They just forget to think, “I am about to fulfill a mitzvah of Hakadosh Boruch Hu.” How do they put it? The main point is missing.

35:16 Speaker 7 We go over to light the candles.

35:18 Speaker 1 And that is exactly what is called doing it without any intent at all.

35:23 Speaker 7 No, we are going over now to...

35:25 Speaker 1 You have to think consciously: “I am about to fulfill a mitzvah of Hakadosh Boruch Hu.” That is called performing a mitzvah with intent. Without that, you could have the loftiest thoughts in the world, but you are fulfilling the mitzvah without any intent at all.

35:43 Speaker 7 In short, [unclear]. Lighting Shabbos candles... We really do.

35:48 Speaker 1 You do not need the Arizal’s mystical intentions. You simply need to know—to bring it to mind. Intent for its own sake means fulfilling a mitzvah consciously: I am aware that I am fulfilling a mitzvah. Not just automatically.

36:08 Speaker 7 I think it is important for me to hear this, because usually you do it because that is how you were taught to light candles. First of all, you were taught—you were taught to speak, you were taught... You simply do what... No, even if it is not just mechanical, even if you do... Well, I do not think, “I am fulfilling this because Hakadosh Boruch Hu told me to.” I do it because that is how a Jew is supposed to behave, because it connects me to Hashem. But I have never thought, “Hashem told me to do this, and that is why I am doing it.” I have never thought of it that way. It is just not something that comes up.

36:37 Speaker 1 I imagine you are not the only one.

36:39 Speaker 7 Exactly.

36:41 Speaker 1 And I can reassure you that even when I put on tefillin every day, although I have learned this chapter a million times—not a million, a little less—it is rare that I manage it. It takes work. Serving Hashem takes work. It is not easy. What did the Jewish people say to Moshe about Egypt? “We remember the watermelons and cucumbers we ate in Egypt for free.” Things are free only in Egypt, in the kelipos. In holiness, nothing is free. What comes without work...

37:14 Speaker 7 Does not last.

37:17 Speaker 1 Does not rise upward. For it to rise upward, there are angels above, and angels have both bodies and souls. Fine, so it is not intent for its own sake. But if there is no intent at all, it simply remains in the external aspect of the worlds. It does not rise.

37:35 Speaker 7 Do the angels we create help us, or are they just angels? Are they connected to us in some way?

37:42 Speaker 1 Of course they are connected to us.

37:44 Speaker 7 They are around us; they are with us, doing the work for us.

37:47 Speaker 1 How does it say? “Behold, Solomon’s bed, with sixty mighty men around it”; “Ten thousand at your right and a thousand at your left.” These are the angels we create, and they are with us all the time.

38:04 Speaker 7 And if I create...?

38:05 Speaker 1 Around every person extends an atmosphere of Gan Eden and an atmosphere of Gehinnom. All their good thoughts are recorded in the atmosphere of Gan Eden, and the thoughts that are not good in the other atmosphere. It is there all the time. We are not aware of it, but it is there.

38:22 Speaker 7 And does he address the flawed angels later on as well?

38:26 Speaker 1 Here we are talking about serving Hashem.

38:28 Speaker 7 Oh, the positive side.

38:30 Speaker 1 We will discuss the flawed angels in Igeres Hateshuvah.

38:33 Speaker 7 Okay. So wait, just...

38:35 Speaker 1 They are discussed. Yes.

38:36 Speaker 7 Maybe I will go back over this. So “for its own sake” means knowing that you are doing what Hashem wants.

38:40 Speaker 1 Being conscious of your intent.

38:42 Speaker 7 And when you said “without any intent at all,” that means you are just doing it mechanically.

38:47 Speaker 1 Yes.

38:48 Speaker 7 And there is another possibility in between, another possibility.

38:49 Speaker 1 No, there is a possibility below that.

38:51 Speaker 7 Oh, below that?

38:52 Speaker 1 And two more possibilities above it.

38:53 Speaker 7 Oh yes, what you said about someone doing it with a different intention.

38:56 Speaker 1 Yes. That is called doing it for an ulterior motive. He is not intending it for Hakadosh Boruch Hu at all; he is thinking of himself.

39:03 Speaker 7 Okay, that is below doing it without intent.

39:05 Speaker 1 That already goes to the kelipos.

39:06 Speaker 7 Okay.

39:07 Speaker 1 And above that are two more levels of intent, which we discussed at length in the previous chapter. We will see them here too, but [unclear].

39:14 Speaker 7 Do you need to say anything?

39:15 Speaker 1 You do not need to say anything. You just need to think for half a second that Hakadosh Boruch Hu commanded it. To be aware—that is all.

39:21 Speaker 7 No, because I seem to remember you once said that before a mitzvah you should say, “I am doing this mitzvah.” Maybe there was something like that.

39:29 Speaker 1 Right, we talked about it. Sephardim actually say it aloud for precisely that reason.

39:34 Speaker 7 I do not know, I need to... When you say “intent”...

39:36 Speaker 1 Why are you hearing it that way? We have not even started.

39:38 Speaker 7 No. Oh, you mean why we do it.

39:41 Speaker 1 Oh, you gave me a scare.

39:45 Speaker 7 When you say “Sephardim,” is that because of the “Leshem Yichud”?

39:47 Speaker 1 Yes. We say it only once in the morning, for the whole day. Sephardim really do say it before every mitzvah. Why? Because you say it out loud. So at least say it out loud. I don’t know whether you meant it, but at least say it.

39:58 Speaker 7 A lot of times it’s just words, but you still need to say it. Yes, you say it, but you’re not thinking it.

40:09 Speaker 1 Well, we didn’t learn much Tanya today, but at least we got something out of it.

40:12 Speaker 7 That’s important.

40:14 Speaker 1 Okay, come on, come on, come on... Oh, and really, this is sort of... this isn’t the content of the chapter. All the angels... So when the Alter Rebbe adds that bit about all the angels having substance and form, it’s to demonstrate that when Rabbi Chaim Vital writes that even learning without the intention of doing it for its own sake rises to the higher worlds, he means without an intention to learn for its own sake. But Torah learned actually for an ulterior motive is already on the other side of... not for its own sake. He’s doing it for that ulterior motive. Right? For example, to become a Torah scholar. Yes. To become a Torah scholar. He studies Torah because he wants to gain knowledge of Torah, to be wise in Torah. Not even to show off. He studies Torah because it interests him. He wants to know a lot of Torah. It isn’t for Hakadosh Boruch Hu at all. He’s simply interested in learning. He enjoys it; he likes learning. A student sits and studies Torah day and night, all day long, from morning till evening. Why? Because it draws him in. He isn’t fulfilling a mitzvah. It all goes to the kelipos. No, no, I shouldn’t say he isn’t fulfilling a mitzvah; that’s not right. He is fulfilling a mitzvah, but all the Divine life-force drawn down through his mitzvah goes to give life to the kelipos instead of to holiness. It does not rise upward at all, not even to the palaces and dwelling places of the holy angels. Not only does it not reach the inner dimension; it doesn’t even reach the palaces and dwelling places. Instead, it remains below in this physical world, which is the dwelling place of the kelipos. We won’t read the... Here the Alter Rebbe brings three proofs from the Zohar that even a mitzvah without intention rises upward. No... we’re a little short on time. That’s the content of what we learned earlier. As it says in the Zohar about the verse, “What profit does a person have from all his toil at which he toils under the sun?” The Zohar says:

42:14 Speaker 1 What does “all his toil” mean? The verse says—King Shlomo says—“What profit does a person have from all his toil at which he toils under the sun?” What is “all his toil”? What kinds of toil are there?

42:31 Speaker 7 No.

42:31 Speaker 1 Seemingly, the plain meaning of the verse is: What good does all the toil you do under the sun do you? You raise children, earn a living, and attend to all the affairs of this world. It’s all under the sun. What’s the profit? What does it give you? Right? That’s the plain meaning of the verse. The Alter Rebbe says that the Zohar pays attention to the wording. Why does the verse say, “What profit does a person have from all his toil at which he toils under the sun?” It could have said, “What profit does a person have from his toil at which he toils under the sun?” What does the word “all” add? What is “all his toil”? Couldn’t you say the verse without the word “all”? “What profit does a person have from his toil at which he toils under the sun?” Would anything be missing? Do you understand what the word “all” adds? The Zohar notes: “All his toil” includes even toil in Torah. Even if a Jew toils in Torah, but his toil in Torah is not for its own sake, is without intention, then just as all worldly toil remains under the sun and does not rise upward, his toil in Torah also does not rise upward. That is what the Zohar derives from the word “all” in the verse. Even toil in Torah, “if he does it for his own honor,” and so on. If he studies Torah for his own honor, and so on. Look at what it says in the Zohar.

44:15 Speaker 7 What does “and so on” mean?

44:16 Speaker 1 And so on.

44:17 Speaker 7 Oh, and so on.

44:20 Speaker 1 The Alter Rebbe doesn’t want to add it here. Go look at what it says in the Zohar. It doesn’t rise upward; it goes to give life to the kelipos. And this is what our Sages meant when they said, “Fortunate is one who comes here with his learning in his hand.” What does the verse mean... I mean... the words are getting mixed up in my mouth again. What is the simple meaning of “Fortunate is one who comes here with his learning in his hand”? Someone who comes... Fortunate is one who comes to Gan Eden. And what does “with his learning in his hand” mean?

44:47 Speaker 7 He hears the...

44:49 Speaker 1 What?

44:49 Speaker 7 What he learned.

44:50 Speaker 1 But that isn’t the simple meaning. The simple meaning, as all the commentators explain it, is that fortunate is the person who learned a great deal of Torah and, in that merit, reached Gan Eden. Right?

45:04 Speaker 7 Maybe that’s the interpretation of the name Shimon[?].

45:06 Speaker 1 Huh?

45:06 Speaker 7 Fortunate is one who comes to Gan Eden with his learning in his hand. So how did he get there?

45:10 Speaker 1 Who gets to Gan Eden? Someone who learned Torah gets to Gan Eden. If someone didn’t learn Torah, what would he be looking for in Gan Eden? Gan Eden—the higher Gan Eden—is a reward for Torah study. Someone who didn’t learn Torah doesn’t enter Gan Eden.

45:25 Speaker 7 Fortunate is one who comes where? To Gan Eden.

45:27 Speaker 1 Yes, yes.

45:28 Speaker 7 So he’s already in Gan Eden. Why say that his learning is in his hand? Obviously, he got there in the merit of studying Torah. What would he be doing in Gan Eden otherwise? How did he get there? He came to Gan Eden.

45:36 Speaker 1 He came to Gan Eden in the merit of studying Torah. So seemingly it should have... I don’t know how it should have been said, but what does “his learning in his hand” mean? It sounds as though he comes to Gan Eden together with his learning. But now, based on the explanation here, it makes sense. We’re not saying that he was given entry to Gan Eden as a reward for studying Torah. Rather, his learning itself brought him into Gan Eden. When a person studies Torah with love and awe, with intention, for its own sake, that Torah study becomes united with the sefiros of Gan Eden, with the inner dimension of the higher worlds, and that Torah study is what brings the person into Gan Eden. That is what “his learning in his hand” means. “Fortunate is one who comes here,” to the higher world, “with his learning in his hand”: his learning, what he studied, brings him into Gan Eden. Meaning that it did not remain below in this world. A Jew might have studied Torah, a great deal of Torah, but when he arrives at Gan Eden they don’t let him in. Why don’t they let him in? Because his Torah study remained in this world. He studied without the intention of doing it for its own sake. He studied—not merely without that intention. He studied with an intention to do it for an ulterior motive. His learning remained below, in this world, among the kelipos, and when he reaches Gan Eden, he has no learning that can bring him inside. So up to here was the conclusion of the previous chapter. And here, after that introduction—what?

47:22 Speaker 7 I like these introductions.

47:31 Speaker 1 Up to here was the conclusion. He began a chapter with “But as long as...” What does “but” refer to? It goes back to what he said in the previous chapter. Right? To get to “And although the Torah...” which is the content of our chapter, he first had to finish the subject of the previous chapter. Why he put it here rather than in the previous chapter is another question. There’s an explanation for everything, but we can’t learn the entire Torah while standing on one foot. So what has he explained up to this point? He explained that when a person studies Torah and performs mitzvos for their own sake, it elevates the person, raises the Torah and mitzvos to the higher worlds, and connects him with G-dliness. If he studies without the intention of doing it for its own sake, it rises only to the outer dimension of the worlds. And if he studies for an ulterior motive, it doesn’t rise at all. It remains under the sun, among the life-force of the kelipos in this world. And here he asks the question we asked before we started learning: “And although the Torah and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are entirely one.” The Torah and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are one, and He and His will are one. So the Torah is one with Him, and the mitzvos, which are His will, are also one with Him. What does it mean, then, that through my intention it rises or falls, or does or doesn’t rise? Why does it depend on me? What difference does it make? Torah is Torah. If I don’t study Torah, is it no longer Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s Torah? Is it no longer united with Him? I study Torah with intention or without intention—what difference does it make? Torah is Torah; it is one with Him. Why does it need me in order to be united with Him? Even if I had never been born, it would still be one with Him. What difference does it make? Right?

49:22 Speaker 1 Whether I studied or didn’t study, with intention or without intention—what does that have to do with it? “And although the Torah and Hakadosh Boruch Hu are entirely one, for He and His will are one.” After all, Hakadosh Boruch Hu fills all worlds equally. And nevertheless, the worlds are not equal in their spiritual standing. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is everywhere. He brings all the worlds into being and gives them life. Is there a difference in how He gives life to the World of Beriah, the World of Yetzirah, or our world? It is all Him; He is present, and He gives life to everything, equally. So why is there a difference between the worlds? Where does that difference come from?

50:19 Speaker 8 The vessels.

50:20 Speaker 1 What?

50:20 Speaker 8 Maybe it depends on the vessels.

50:25 Speaker 1 Although He is present and gives life—not only present equally everywhere, but gives life to all of them equally—nevertheless, the worlds are not equal in their spiritual standing. What accounts for the difference? The difference lies in those receiving, in two respects. First, the higher worlds receive an infinitely greater revelation than the lower worlds. Just as the mind has an infinitely greater revelation of the soul than the heart does, and the heart has an infinitely greater revelation of the soul than the hands do, and so on. So, to begin with, there is more revelation in the higher worlds. He is present everywhere equally, but He is not revealed equally. Do you understand the difference between being present and being revealed? That is one difference. The second difference is that the higher worlds receive without as many coverings and screens as the lower worlds do. A screen means concealment: you cannot see. When the soul gives life to the body, it is true that it gives life to the brain more openly and to the heart less openly. Yes, but is there a difference in concealment? Let’s not put it that way. Let me phrase it differently. When someone looks at the intellect or at an emotion—my intellect, all right? It is clear to me that my intellect comes from my soul. The soul is not concealed within the intellect. It is revealed in the intellect more than in the heart. But is it less concealed in the intellect than in the heart? Where is the sou—

52:59 Speaker 9 It is more concealed in the heart. Why?

53:04 Speaker 1 There is no difference at all. When I think, it is clear to me that I am thinking. Nothing conceals that. I know that it is I who am thinking. No one needs to tell me or prove it to me. I know it is me. It is completely apparent to me. Right? When I feel something, it is just as clear to me that I am feeling it as it is that I am thinking or that I want something. Nothing conceals the soul. In terms of revelation, there is a difference. In terms of concealment, there is no difference at all. Just as the soul is not concealed in the intellect, it is not concealed in the heart, and it is not concealed in the body either. When a person moves his hand, he is the one moving his hand. Right? I’ll give the opposite example: how Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives life to this world. Clearly, a human being has the greatest vitality, an animal has less vitality, less revelation, right? A plant has even less, and an inanimate object has still less. Right? Everyone knows that an inanimate object has less vitality than a plant. You don’t need to prove it; the vitality is completely apparent. But what about concealment? Can you sense in an inanimate object that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is giving it life, bringing it into being from nothing? You cannot sense anything. And in a plant? When someone looks at a plant—a non-Jew looks at a plant—would it occur to him that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is bringing it into being from nothing right now? No. And an animal?

54:59 Speaker 9 No, not there either.

55:00 Speaker 1 Not there either. And a person? No, not there either. Nor in a Jew. There is a difference in revelation, but in terms of concealment, everything is the same. Just as with the human soul there is a difference in revelation, but whatever the degree of revelation, there is no concealment at all. With the G-dly vitality that gives life to the world, it is exactly the opposite. There are differences in revelation—great, enormous differences—but in terms of concealment, there is no difference. From that perspective, everything is concealed to the same degree. In the one case, everything is equally apparent; in the other, everything is equally concealed. Right?

55:40 Speaker 9 No, I didn’t understand.

55:42 Speaker 1 Hmm?

55:42 Speaker 9 I didn’t understand, so... let’s continue. What—what are you basing that on?

56:01 Speaker 1 I’m trying to find a different analogy, another way to explain it. I’ll try explaining it again. The difference between an animal and a plant... there is a difference.

56:31 Speaker 10 Yes.

56:31 Speaker 1 We know—it is written in the Torah—that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives life to all the worlds. Not only does He give them life, He brings them into being. And not only does He give them life and bring them into being, He brings them into being from nothing. And not only that, but He does so anew at every single moment. There are proofs for this too, and the proofs need to come from the words of our Sages: at every single moment, Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates every single detail, every single atom in the world, anew from nothing. Every single moment. Can we see it? No.

57:08 Speaker 10 It exists.

57:09 Speaker 1 Huh?

57:09 Speaker 10 It exists.

57:11 Speaker 1 Can we see it?

57:12 Speaker 10 It exists, but we can’t see it.

57:13 Speaker 1 We can’t see it. Why not? Some sort of screen has been placed there, concealing the G-dliness within the world from us. The world’s true reality is, so to speak... like this. Here’s another analogy that is often given. When a person stands in front of a mirror, right? The person is a person. What is the reality of the one in the mirror? Does he have a reality of his own? He is a reflection of the person standing there. He is not something separate; he is an extension of that person. The world is, so to speak, only an extension, a ray of G-dliness, like the light that comes from the sun. Is the light something in its own right? Put up a screen, and there is no light. There is no light without the sun. Right? The entire world, the very existence of the world, comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu saying, “And G-d said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters.” Those words written in Bereishis are what give life to the heavens and everything in them, every single moment, right up to now. If He were to stop saying those words for even one moment, there would be no heavens. Why? Because what gives life to the heavens is the word of Hashem. Without the word of Hashem, there are no heavens. Do I see that? I don’t. I don’t see the word of Hashem or the power of the Maker within what is made. I don’t see it in inanimate objects or plants, in animals or in the heavens, in angels or in anything else. It is completely hidden and concealed. So vitality is... I can see the difference in vitality, but I cannot see the G-dliness within it. In terms of vitality, there is a difference: more here, less there. In terms of concealment, there is no difference at all. Now, that is in this world. What happens in the higher worlds? In the World of Beriah, the G-dly vitality is much greater than in the World of Yetzirah, and it is also not as concealed. The created beings—

59:20 Speaker 1 The angels in the World of Beriah—you look at them and you see that they come from G-dliness. If you were there, you would see it. Someone in Gan Eden sees it. The created beings in the World of Yetzirah also have less vitality than those in the World of Beriah—less in quantity, rather like animals compared with beings endowed with intellect, by way of analogy. But it is also less apparent in them that G-dliness gives them life. It is not as clear as it is in the World of Beriah. In the World of Asiyah—spiritual Asiyah—it is even more concealed, and there is even less vitality. And in this physical world, the vitality that gives it life is contracted to the utmost degree. That is why physical beings were created. This is something shared by all the beings in this world: inanimate objects, plants, animals and humans are all physical. Why are they all physical? Because what gives life to this world is a contracted vitality, a very small amount of vitality. So what can emerge from it is only something physical. Within the physical there are four levels, but they are all physical. And it, too, is concealed to the utmost degree, so that you cannot see that it comes from G-dliness. Those are two things. All right, what does this have to do with our subject? How does it answer what we asked? What did we answer? We asked: How does my observance—my intention, my love and awe—help elevate the Torah and mitzvos of Hakadosh Boruch Hu? Seemingly, they don’t need me. Right. How does this explanation help us? Well, he hasn’t explained it yet. This is the beginning of the explanation. So I’ll put it this way.

1:01:01 Speaker 11 Ten to ten.

1:01:02 Speaker 1 Ten to ten. Well, what? We’re just at the beginning of the subject. All right.

1:01:07 Speaker 11 Another two lines or so, no?

1:01:08 Speaker 1 Huh?

1:01:09 Speaker 11 Another two lines or so.

1:01:10 Speaker 1 No, no, no. It’s much more than two lines.

1:01:13 Speaker 11 No, it’s...

1:01:14 Speaker 3 This is the introduction. It’s only the introduction, isn’t it?

1:01:16 Speaker 1 Huh? Um, one second. A few more lines. Just three lines.

1:01:25 Speaker 3 All right, I was only asking. I already told you.

1:01:28 Speaker 1 All right, so let’s at least finish a point.

1:01:30 Speaker 3 I didn’t say “enough” at all. I only mentioned the time.

1:01:35 Speaker 1 Just when I’d gotten into the subject.

1:01:38 Speaker 11 We can try a little more, all right.

1:01:42 Speaker 3 A fascinating result.

1:01:45 Speaker 1 So I’m starting from the line: This world, this world is the lowest of worlds in two respects: both in the extent to which its life-force is revealed and in the degree of concealment, because the illumination within it is contracted to the furthest extreme. That is why it is material and physical. And not only is it material and physical, meaning that it has less life-force, but that life-force is also clothed in many garments and screens, until it is clothed in kelipas nogah. We’ve spoken many times about kelipas nogah, starting from chapter 6 of Tanya. Its function is to conceal G-dliness to the point that G-dliness is not apparent at all. It gives life to all the pure things in this world, including the human being’s vital soul, which speaks. So, among them is the human being’s vital soul, which speaks. When a person just talks—not words of Torah, just talks. No, he isn’t gossiping or saying anything forbidden. He’s talking about things needed for the house, for the laundry, for whatever the household needs. Necessary things. But they aren’t connected to Torah. He’s talking about matters of this world. Right. Who’s speaking here? His vital soul, right? Where does his vital soul get its life-force? From kelipas nogah. He isn’t doing anything forbidden; this isn’t from the impure kelipos. It’s kelipas nogah. And how much life-force is there in kelipas nogah? The absolute minimum. To what extent is G-dliness concealed within it? To the greatest extent possible. So when a person simply talks about matters of this world, what life-force does he receive from Hakadosh Boruch Hu? The smallest amount of life-force possible, in the greatest state of concealment possible. He is as far from G-dliness as he can be.

1:03:47 Speaker 11 When he’s doing what? I don’t remember.

1:03:49 Speaker 1 Talking about worldly matters, about necessary things. Not forbidden things, not lashon hara. Things he needs in order to live, to earn a living. He isn’t thinking about Hakadosh Boruch Hu; he’s thinking about things in this world. He is disconnected from G-dliness to the greatest extent possible. He receives the minimum of life-force and is separated and distanced from G-dliness as much as possible. He hasn’t committed any sin. Now wait: what happens when that same vital soul speaks words of Torah? That same vital soul is speaking words of Torah—who moves the mouth? The vital soul. What happens now? We’ll leave that for the next chapter, for next week.