Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah Chapter 9

00:00 Speaker 1 You know this is the third chapter of Tanya. The third joy. You know, because it’s the third chapter of Tanya.

00:10 Speaker 2 I went to him; I went to 110.

00:13 Speaker 7 All right, good evening, we’ll begin. Today we’re going to learn chapter 9. Chapter 9 is the second chapter—the second chapter in the second half of the second part of Tanya. It just worked out that way.

00:26 Speaker 2 What? The second chapter?

00:30 Speaker 7 Tanya has two parts: Likkutei Amarim and Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah. And Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, the second part of Tanya, also has two parts. You see, regarding the mitzvah to believe in Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and the first two positive mitzvos in the Rambam—and among the halachic authorities generally—there is the mitzvah to believe in Hashem’s oneness and the mitzvah to affirm His unity. What are these two mitzvos? The mitzvah to believe in Hashem’s oneness: that He is one and there is nothing else besides Him. In other words, the created beings added nothing to Him; even after they were created, He remained one. That is one mitzvah. In the language of philosophical inquiry, He is not “one” in a count—not a one that is followed by a two and a three. That is the mitzvah of Hashem’s oneness. The second mitzvah is to affirm Hashem’s unity: to believe that Hashem is singular. In other words, He Himself is not a composite one. Not only is He not one in a count; He is also not a composite one—not a one made up of parts, like a person made up of a head, hands, and various limbs. Rather, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is absolutely simple, a oneness that is not composite. So on both counts, it isn’t as it appears to us. To believe that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is one and there is nothing else besides Him—what does “nothing else besides Him” mean? I see the world, I sense the world, I feel myself to be separate. What do you mean there is no other world? The first part of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah deals with this. That is the first mitzvah, chapters 1 through 7. And the second part, chapters 8 through 12, deals with the second mitzvah, explaining Hashem’s unity. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is not one in a count—how is it that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is not a composite one, that He is not made up of parts? What does that mean? Who would have thought

02:24 Speaker 7 that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is made up of many parts? We know that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has attributes, He has sefiros, He has attributes, there are worlds. So what does it mean that He is absolutely simple? We say He has chochmah, binah, daas, and so on. The second part of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah deals with this, particularly its first three chapters, 8, 9, and 10. To explain this, the Alter Rebbe began in the previous chapter. Right at the beginning of chapter 8, he established—said, established, explained, said; I don’t know what word to use—that we cannot understand Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s oneness. Why can’t we understand it? Because Hakadosh Boruch Hu is beyond the intellect. We human beings can understand things. We have all kinds of faculties: the faculty of feeling, the sense of touch, and various other faculties. The highest faculty in a person is the intellect. Since Hakadosh Boruch Hu is higher even than intellect, we have no way and no means of grasping or comprehending Him. That is what he said at the beginning of chapter 8. To understand how this explains His absolute simplicity, he began chapter 8 by explaining what a oneness that is not simple looks like. He explained how it works in a human being, in created beings, in us. We have five general levels in the human soul. He counts the levels of the human soul from the bottom up: action, above it speech, above it thought, and above that, emotions and intellect.

04:31 Speaker 8 Is there a balcony there?

04:32 Speaker 9 Yes.

04:33 Speaker 8 You didn’t speak to me.

04:38 Speaker 9 Sorry I’m late.

04:46 Speaker 7 And in the previous chapter, the Alter Rebbe explained at length the vast distance between these levels. He explained that action, a person’s faculty of action, is not at all comparable to the faculty of speech. He explained that. The faculty of speech is not at all comparable to the faculty of thought; the faculty of thought is completely nullified and not at all comparable to the emotions from which that thought is drawn; and the emotions are not at all comparable to the intellect, to chochmah, binah, and daas. That was the content of chapter 8. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is infinitely exalted above all created beings, and created beings have these five levels. That is how he begins chapter 9. But as we said in the previous chapter, the beginning and first level of created beings is chochmah, which is far, far higher—chochmah is the first of created beings. But relative to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the level of chochmah, which is the very beginning of thought—and we are not just speaking of the beginning of thought in a person, but of supernal chochmah, the chochmah of Atzilus, which is the beginning of created beings altogether, from which all created beings are drawn down in a chain of descent—even though it is their beginning, relative to Hakadosh Boruch Hu it is the very end of action. That is, supernal chochmah, the chochmah of Atzilus, is considered to be at the level of action relative to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In other words, think of the vast distance in a person between chochmah, the chochmah in the soul, and the faculty of action. We said that one is incomparably beyond the other... Yes, so how great is the distance between chochmah and action? It is enormous. That is the distance between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and supernal chochmah of Atzilus, the first of created beings: they are utterly incomparable. What to us is the beginning of existence, the very first level of everything, is to Hakadosh Boruch Hu the end of action. As it is written, “You made them all with chochmah.” So the Alter Rebbe

07:28 Speaker 7 learns from this verse—the plain meaning of “You made them all with chochmah” is that Hakadosh Boruch Hu made created beings through chochmah, right? That’s what it says. He—what—

07:39 Speaker 9 He does it with wisdom, as though with that expertise.

07:44 Speaker 7 The plain meaning of “You made them all with chochmah” is: You made created beings through chochmah. That is the plain meaning. But seemingly, if that were all the verse wanted to say, it should have said, “You created them all with chochmah.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu did not make created beings; He created them something from nothing. He did not make them from something that already existed; He created them. It should have said, “You created them all with chochmah.” Why does it say, “You made them all with chochmah”? To hint to us that chochmah is not merely the means through which Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates, or makes, created beings. Rather, chochmah relative to Hakadosh Boruch Hu is like action relative to us. That is to say, the relationship of the vitality in physical, material action to the vitality of chochmah. What is that relationship? Chochmah’s vitality is the beginning and source of vitality in a person and in all physical created beings. How great is the distance between chochmah, the first of created beings, and action? Action is as nothing compared with the vitality in the letters of speech; the vitality in the letters of speech is as nothing compared with the vitality in the letters of thought; the vitality in the letters of thought is as nothing compared with the vitality and superiority of the emotions, from which that thought is drawn. And the vitality of the emotions is as nothing compared with the vitality and superiority of chochmah, binah, and daas, the source of the emotions. So too, just as great as the distance between chochmah and action is the relationship of the level and superiority of chochmah, the beginning and source of vitality in all the worlds, to Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, who is exalted and elevated myriads upon myriads of levels more than the level of chochmah is elevated above the vitality in action. Now, the words are quite understandable, but if you think about them for a moment, a question should arise. At first, what did we explain up to this point? That the distance between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and chochmah is like the distance between chochmah and action,

10:09 Speaker 7 right? That is what was explained. What does he say here in the very same breath? That Hakadosh Boruch Hu is exalted and elevated myriads upon myriads of levels above chochmah. How many levels is chochmah elevated above action?

10:28 Speaker 10 Five.

10:28 Speaker 7 Five levels, right? And what do we say about Hakadosh Boruch Hu? That He is elevated myriads upon myriads of levels above chochmah. So how can you say that the distance between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and chochmah is exactly like the distance between chochmah and action?

10:49 Speaker 10 Because each level expands into the full range of levels together.

10:55 Speaker 7 It doesn’t say that. That’s an interesting explanation, but it doesn’t say that.

11:03 Speaker 10 Because this is like that; they go together. Myriads upon myriads are like—

11:08 Speaker 7 So the Rebbe asks this question. Hm? The Rebbe asks this question.

11:13 Speaker 10 No, but isn’t it that everything is nothing compared with Him? Because no matter what, everything...

11:18 Speaker 7 Then why say this? Why give the analogy? If everything is nothing compared with Him and He is elevated myriads upon myriads of levels above chochmah, why give the analogy that it is like chochmah relative to action? What relevance does that analogy have at all?

11:33 Speaker 10 We don’t really know what “without limit” means. But we were told we have to speak in terms of oneness.

11:37 Speaker 7 What?

11:37 Speaker 10 We don’t really know what Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s limitlessness means. They gave us an analogy so we could grasp it, at least to some extent.

11:41 Speaker 7 Good. So that’s the first answer, and then there’s a deeper answer. That’s right. Let’s look at it inside. The life-force in action... The distance between the level of wisdom and the life-force in action is only five levels: action, speech, thought, emotions, and intellect. But Hakadosh Boruch Hu is exalted above the level of wisdom by myriads upon myriads of such levels, without end. So why do we say it’s the same thing? Only because created beings have the capacity to grasp the progression from the level of wisdom, which is their beginning, down to the lowly level of action. On the scale of created beings, there’s only wisdom through action. That’s the greatest distance created beings can understand, can grasp. So what do they tell us? They tell us: Listen, this distance between wisdom and action is something you can understand, and when you contemplate it, you’re awestruck.

12:53 Speaker 11 Shalom uverachah.

12:54 Speaker 7 Shalom uverachah. Oh, good, we’ll go over the whole introduction again. You’ll forgive me, right? Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of the universe, by Whose word everything came to be. As an aside, I’m opening a parenthesis for a story; it isn’t related to Tanya. The Frierdiker Rebbe tells a story that every 19 Kislev, Uncle Reb Nachum—Reb Nachum was a grandson of the Alter Rebbe, and he was the one sitting in the first carriage when they arrived and made the mistake of not calling the Alter Rebbe. Afterward, that led to the sequence of events in which the Alter Rebbe passed away in the village of Piena. You know the story, right? Huh? Yes. So he, Reb Nachum, was the one sitting there who made the mistake. It was him. Yes, yes, yes, yes. The very same person. The story with the katzitzke—what do you call it? That silk collar. Yes, that story is about him. So every year, when 19 Kislev came around, he would tell the story of 19 Kislev, and every time someone important arrived, he would start the story from the beginning. All right, I simply have to bring you up to speed, because we’re in the middle of it, right in the middle.

14:43 Speaker 11 We’re in... we’re in the classes on [unclear].

14:45 Speaker 7 Uh, Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah deals with the mitzvah of believing in Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The mitzvah of belief in Hakadosh Boruch Hu includes two aspects, two positive mitzvos in the Rambam: the positive mitzvah to believe in His oneness and the positive mitzvah to affirm His unity. What’s the difference between them? We discussed this at length in previous classes. In the language of Kabbalah, it means ruling out the idea that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is a composite one, or one that can be counted among others, and believing instead that He is absolutely simple and indivisible. What does that mean? A countable one means that one is one, but then there’s a second, a third, a fourth. There are others after it in the sequence. The first part of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah deals with ruling that out. There, the Alter Rebbe explains, following the Baal Shem Tov’s approach, what it means to believe that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is one—to believe that “there is nothing else besides Him.” That means there is no world: the entire world is utterly nullified and has no existence of its own. We explained that at great length. It takes a great deal of discussion to explain and understand it. Now we’re dealing with the second part of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, which speaks about the mitzvah to affirm His unity. We are commanded to believe that He is absolutely simple and indivisible, not a composite being. Not like a person, who is made up of many limbs and so on, but absolutely one. The point is to try to understand how, on the one hand, Hakadosh Boruch Hu has attributes: wise, kind, mighty, and so on. On the other hand, He is one. So which is it? Is He wise at one moment, kind at another, mighty at another, merciful at another? How, then, is He one? He has all sorts of qualities. Then He’s composite; He isn’t one. To understand this, we have chapters 8, 9, and 10 of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, and right now we’re in the middle of chapter

17:04 Speaker 7 9. Uh, what he has explained up to this point, in a word, is that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is exalted infinitely above created beings. And at the end of the... at the end of the... in the last lines, we asked a question: If Hakadosh Boruch Hu is exalted above created beings by an infinite distance, why do we say that He... why do we compare His distance from the beginning of created beings to the distance between wisdom and action? What’s the connection? Wisdom is only five levels removed from action. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is infinitely many levels removed from created beings. How does the analogy describe what it’s meant to illustrate? So he explains on line twenty-one: “Only because created beings have the capacity to grasp only the progression from the level of wisdom, which is their beginning, to the lowly level of action. Therefore we say that, relative to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the level of wisdom is considered just like the level of action.” In other words, the scale available to created beings runs from wisdom to action. That’s what they’re capable of understanding, so that’s the language used to speak to them. But we’re told: Know that the utmost you’re capable of understanding—when you’re, how do you put it, stretching up on tiptoe, stretching your mind to the limit of its ability, contemplating as deeply as you possibly can—even beyond that, everything you can understand is nothing at all. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is beyond it. Nothing at all. Yes. We’ve spoken several times about understanding by negation. Remember? Was everyone here, or not everyone?

18:55 Speaker 12 No, that wasn’t in the small class.

18:57 Speaker 7 Hmm?

18:57 Speaker 12 I think that was in the small class.

18:59 Speaker 7 That was in the small class, okay. Uh...

19:02 Speaker 12 What’s a small class? With two or three people?

19:04 Speaker 7 Maybe there were three, maybe.

19:09 Speaker 12 Maybe four.

19:11 Speaker 7 Yes.

19:11 Speaker 12 How are you?

19:12 Speaker 7 We have a concept in Judaism, in theological inquiry, in philosophy generally: the distinction between understanding through affirmation and understanding through negation. Understanding through affirmation means grasping what a thing is, explaining what it is. To explain what a thing is, you have to define it. It begins here and ends here. It has this shape, this size, these characteristics. I’m explaining its essence. I form a concept of it, explain it, grasp it in positive terms. Understanding through negation applies when there’s something I have no tools to describe. It isn’t within my world; I have nothing to compare it to. How can I nevertheless try to understand it? I say: Wait, it isn’t this, it isn’t that, it isn’t that, it isn’t that, and it isn’t that either. The more possibilities I rule out, from more directions, the closer I come to understanding. Now, the difference between understanding through affirmation and understanding through negation: through affirmation, I grasp the essence of the thing. I know what it is. Through negation, I grasp only the fact that it exists. I can know only that there is such a thing; I can’t know what it is. It remains beyond my grasp. I don’t have the tools to grasp it. Right? So in terms of its subject matter, understanding through negation reaches something far more exalted than understanding through affirmation. That’s one point. Another advantage of understanding through negation is that when a person grasps something in positive terms, he connects with it. I’ve understood it. It can give him pleasure or pain, anger or love. The thing feels close to him; he feels a sense of closeness to it. Understanding through negation awakens in a person a feeling of awe, of distance, of wonder, of self-nullification. So whichever way you look at it, understanding through negation is harder to grasp, and it also reaches

21:19 Speaker 7 a more exalted subject and evokes deeper, more elevated feelings in a person. Whatever we’re capable of grasping of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—of His exaltedness, not of Him Himself, but of His exaltedness—is only through understanding by negation. Because we can understand the range from action up to wisdom, and we must say that for such a thing as wisdom, or Beriah, or Atzilus to exist, whatever created it, whatever brought it into being, must be incomparably higher. So that gives me a feeling of awe, of... of fear, yes? And so on. But grasping the essence of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is out of the question, right? This is called grasping the fact of His existence, not grasping His essence. That took us to the end of this page. Still, the Alter Rebbe sums up the subject with a remarkable word: relative to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the level of wisdom is considered like the level of action, and he adds the word...

22:35 Speaker 13 “Actually.”

22:36 Speaker 7 Really? Sorry. We just said that this is only an analogy. We said it’s an analogy that doesn’t really fit at all. So why use it? Only because we have no choice. We have nothing else. So why do you say it’s exactly the same? The question makes sense. The Alter Rebbe says that within this analogy, in which Hakadosh Boruch Hu is as far beyond created beings as wisdom is beyond action, there is one particular point that really is exact. And that is what he is about to explain. In other words, although the distance between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and created beings is beyond comparison, even compared with the wisdom of Atzilus, there is one detail in which the analogy really does match what it represents. Namely, He is exalted and elevated far, far above the level of wisdom. How far? So far that no concept relating to wisdom can be applied to Him at all, even by saying that He is vastly above it. Earlier we discussed the difference between positive knowledge and knowledge through negation. In the Alter Rebbe’s golden language, even knowledge through negation does not apply to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. For example? He explains: to say of Hakadosh Boruch Hu that no created being, whether in the upper or lower worlds, can comprehend His wisdom or His essence. What does that mean?

24:32 Speaker 14 Torah. I have Torah.

24:33 Speaker 7 What does it mean? “No created being, whether in the upper or lower worlds, can comprehend…”

24:42 Speaker 14 Any.

24:42 Speaker 7 What can’t you do? It’s not that you can’t comprehend Him. You can’t say of Him that you can’t comprehend Him. The moment I say that I can’t comprehend Him, that’s knowledge through negation. Right? I’m saying, “I understand that I can’t comprehend Him.” You can’t say that you can’t… that you can say such a thing.

25:11 Speaker 14 As though it’s something boundless within boundaries, or something like that.

25:13 Speaker 7 In other words, Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s transcendence of understanding is not a matter of knowledge through negation. He is beyond even negation. Why? Why can’t I say, “I don’t understand Him”? What’s wrong with saying I don’t understand, I don’t comprehend? Why isn’t that all right? Yes. He is exalted, He is lofty, He is elevated. Not just a little, not merely like wisdom. Far more than wisdom. So then I don’t understand why you can’t say that. What’s the problem? Because comprehension applies to something that is wisdom or intellect. Of something that is wisdom or intellect, you can say it can be comprehended, or it can’t be comprehended because the concept is too deep. It’s so deep that I can’t grasp it. It isn’t so deep, and I can grasp it. But what can you say that about? You can say it about wisdom, about intellect. Hakadosh Boruch Hu, however, is above intellect and wisdom, so you can’t say of Him that He cannot be comprehended because the concept is too deep, since He is not in the category of comprehension at all. Someone who says that Hakadosh Boruch Hu cannot be comprehended is like someone who says of a lofty, profound idea that it cannot be felt with the hands because the concept is too deep. Anyone hearing that would laugh. Why would they laugh? Because the sense of touch applies only to physical things. He puts it this way. When you want to… I’ll give an example. Say someone wants to describe how wonderfully subtle the sense of smell is. Right? Okay?

27:04 Speaker 14 What does it mean to describe how wonderful it is?

27:07 Speaker 7 It’s something special. The sense of smell is a very subtle, remarkable, very spiritual sense. It isn’t like the sense of taste, which is physical and coarse. Smell is something subtle. You don’t… How subtle is it? Smell is so subtle that I can’t feel it with my hands. That wouldn’t make anyone laugh, right? No one would laugh at that statement. But if you say that wisdom is so subtle that you can’t feel it with your hands, that is funny. That no longer works. Right? Why does one work and the other not? What’s the difference? To me, it’s the same logic.

27:51 Speaker 14 Here they’re two senses. In practice, it’s not the same thing. Each one…

27:54 Speaker 7 Intellect is also a sense.

27:56 Speaker 14 Not really.

27:58 Speaker 7 Mm?

27:58 Speaker 14 They’re not comparable.

27:59 Speaker 7 Why aren’t they comparable? Right. What here is beyond comparison?

28:05 Speaker 14 Five hundred isn’t…

28:07 Speaker 7 Smell is a physical thing. Touch is physical, and smell is physical. Smell is just very subtle. It’s something physical that is very, very, very subtle, so you can’t feel it with your hands. But it isn’t funny, because this is physical and that is physical. It doesn’t sound funny to me because I understand that they’re on the same scale, so I can describe one in relation to the other. But intellect isn’t physical. Intellect is spiritual. It isn’t on the same… right? It isn’t on the same plane. So you can’t say of intellect that you can’t feel it with your hands, because it isn’t… it doesn’t fall on the same scale at all. It’s something else entirely. Right. The same applies to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. To say of Hakadosh Boruch Hu that you can’t understand Him, you can’t comprehend Him—what does that mean? He isn’t intellect. It’s exactly like saying of wisdom that you can’t feel it with your hands. In other words, in a certain respect, the distance between the Ein Sof, blessed be He, and the wisdom of Atzilus is exactly like the distance between wisdom and action. Wisdom is a different kind of thing from action. It isn’t just higher by one level, then another, then higher still. It’s a different kind of thing. Similarly, when we say that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is above the wisdom of Atzilus and the world of Atzilus, we don’t mean that He is an infinite number of levels higher. He is something entirely different. Okay? That’s what… This whole long passage—that’s the point the Rebbe wanted to convey. We’re at line thirteen, fourteen: “Because the sense of touch applies only to physical action, which can be grasped with the hands, and so…”

30:06 Speaker 7 “The level of intellect and comprehension is considered actual physical action in relation to Hakadosh Boruch Hu.” He says even more than that. It isn’t only our comprehension—that of human beings, mortals—that cannot grasp Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Even the understanding of the intellects in the upper worlds cannot grasp Him. And even the level of supernal wisdom, which gives life to them all, as it is written, “You made them all with wisdom,” cannot grasp G-dliness. For even the supernal wisdom of Atzilus is wisdom, while Hakadosh Boruch Hu is not wisdom. So now we have a question from the opposite direction. What conclusion have we reached? That His essence and being are exalted infinitely above all the attributes of Atzilus—even the attributes of Atzilus—to the point that He is something of an entirely different kind. He isn’t at all… right? He cannot be grasped in any way. If so, the Alter Rebbe asks in line nineteen: Why is Hakadosh Boruch Hu called wise? There is a verse in the book of Yeshayahu; he mentioned it in the previous chapter too: “And He too is wise.” There, in connection with the Exodus from Egypt, it says of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “And He too is wise,” and therefore He brought the Egyptians’ evil back upon them. The prophet writes a verse and calls Hakadosh Boruch Hu wise. So how can you say He is above the level of wisdom? The prophet calls Him wise. Our Sages, too, attributed to Him the quality and virtue of wisdom. For example, there is the expression “the Wise One who knows secrets”; everyone knows it, and there are others. So what do you mean He isn’t wise? Look, He is called wise. The reason is that He is the source of wisdom. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is not wise; He is the source of wisdom, from Whom the essence of the level of supernal wisdom extends and emanates. Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Why? Why is He called wise? Not because He is wise, but because wisdom comes from Him. He is the source of wisdom. Well, all right, in the world…

32:29 Speaker 7 …of Atzilus. And why, then, is He called merciful and kind? Because He is the source of mercy and the source of kindness. And the same goes for the other attributes. But wait a moment. If everything that comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, everything of which He is the source—if we call Hakadosh Boruch Hu by the name of something because He is its source, as with wisdom—then what do we call Him? Wise. The source of—

32:57 Speaker 3 That’s a name for someone who has it, not for its source.

32:59 Speaker 7 But Hakadosh Boruch Hu is also the source of cats. Isn’t He? Who created cats? Someone else? So perhaps we should call Him a cat because He is the source of cats? G-d forbid. Or, I don’t know, clouds. Because He is the source of His creations, should we call Him by the names of the creations? What kind of explanation is that?

33:24 Speaker 3 But mercy, uh, and judgment—those are something more, more elevated.

33:29 Speaker 7 More elevated. He created this, and He created that.

33:31 Speaker 3 Bless.

33:33 Speaker 7 Ah.

33:33 Speaker 3 Bless me.

33:36 Speaker 7 Call Him a soul, because He created souls. What kind of answer is that? Because He is the source of mercy, you call Him merciful? What’s the connection?

33:49 Speaker 3 So why, really, call Him by the name of the source? I mean, there’s…

33:54 Speaker 7 Here.

33:54 Speaker 3 We call the source that.

33:55 Speaker 7 So here we come to the two words that are the key to the whole subject of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah. Two words: “And likewise, all the other attributes were drawn forth and emanated from Him, blessed be He.”

34:19 Speaker 3 Two.

34:21 Speaker 7 Ah.

34:21 Speaker 3 Two.

34:22 Speaker 7 Those are the two words.

34:23 Speaker 3 Remember to give the words their due. Read.

34:25 Speaker 7 Were drawn forth and emanated. The whole of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah rests on those two words, revolves around those two words. Hakadosh Boruch Hu did not create the middos in Atzilus. The middos in Atzilus were drawn forth and emanated from Him. What is the difference between something being created and something being drawn forth and emanated?

34:51 Speaker 3 Something created is something new.

34:52 Speaker 7 Something created is something new; it did not exist before. It was created as something from nothing. The middos in Atzilus were not created as something from nothing; they were drawn forth and emanated from Him. What does “drawn forth and emanated” mean?

35:07 Speaker 3 Like in whom?

35:08 Speaker 7 Huh?

35:09 Speaker 3 A form that is drawn forth.

35:11 Speaker 7 There is something similar to this in a person, too. For example, a person has abilities. A person has the ability to write. Right. So when someone writes—not on a computer, right, but by hand—afterward, when people look at the handwriting, someone familiar with it immediately says: “That’s Moishele Zochmir’s handwriting. I know his handwriting.” Right. How do you recognize him? It’s written in pencil on paper. You didn’t even see him writing. Maybe it was someone else? “No, no, that’s his handwriting.” I see the power of the one who acts in the thing acted upon. Moishele Zochmir’s ability emanated and became invested in the pencil marks on the paper. “Emanated” means that the ability itself came out from its source and is now on a lower level. Before, it was contained within the soul, and now it has taken shape on the paper.

36:15 Speaker 7 But it’s the same ability. We immediately see that it’s his. We recognize him. It isn’t someone else. Right? That’s called emanation. Like when Moshe Rabbeinu imparted some of his spirit to the elders, and they prophesied. Moshe was a prophet, and as soon as he imparted some of his spirit, they prophesied too. They prophesied like Moshe. There is no comparison between Moshe’s prophecy and theirs. He prophesied with “this,” and they with “thus”; through a clear lens versus a lens that is not clear, and so on. But, but it’s the same thing. That’s called emanation. Being drawn forth goes much further. It’s like when... a person has a child. As I like to say—and I’m sure I’ve said it here a few times already, though I don’t remember—a person has never given birth to a frog. It’s always a child. Because, because the power of reproduction draws the parents’ very essence into the child. It’s the same power, and the child is truly similar to them. Right? So the middos of Atzilus were not created anew as something from nothing. They were drawn forth and emanated from Him. Now, hold on a moment.

37:37 Speaker 4 So if that’s the case, the whole world wasn’t created as something from nothing; it was always drawn forth?

37:42 Speaker 7 Created beings were created as something from nothing. What do you mean? The world of Beriah is something from nothing.

37:45 Speaker 4 It isn’t all just a succession of things being drawn forth?

37:47 Speaker 7 No.

37:47 Speaker 4 Okay. What are the middos drawn forth from?

37:53 Speaker 7 That’s in Igeres Hakodesh, chapter 21, when we get there, with Hashem’s help.

37:57 Speaker 4 With Hashem’s help. A little time, just a bit.

38:05 Speaker 7 So let’s stop for a moment and consider what we’ve learned. Let’s think for a moment about what it means. We’ve apparently learned two opposite things here. On the one hand, we learned that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is infinitely exalted above the essence and level of Chochmah, Binah, and Daas, to the point that even the essence and level of Chochmah, Binah, and Daas are considered like action in relation to Him, may He be blessed. Right?

38:26 Speaker 4 Exactly the opposite.

38:27 Speaker 7 On the other hand, we say: Ah, why do we call Him merciful and gracious and wise? Because He is their source. What does it mean that He is the source of the middos? Isn’t He the source of cats, too? And of them He is a source? Yes, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the source of the middos of Atzilus, because the middos of Atzilus were not created; they were drawn forth and emanated. They are truly Him. He is—what? He is recognizable in them. So excuse me: if He is recognizable in them, and they were drawn forth and emanated from Him, how can you say He is infinitely exalted above them? If you say He is infinitely exalted, how can you say He is recognizable in them, that they were drawn forth and emanated? How do those fit together? So let’s begin. “For they were all drawn forth and emanated from Him, may He be blessed; and the manner and nature of this drawing forth and emanation—how and what it is—are known to those with understanding.” When you become someone with understanding, when you study a lot of Kabbalah and Chassidus, then you’ll know exactly how they were drawn forth and emanated. Now, the Alter Rebbe didn’t leave us hanging in midair; he added a note here. We’ll read a little more. What time is it now?

39:47 Speaker 4 Um, quarter past nine. Quarter past nine. Quarter past nine.

39:51 Speaker 7 Quarter past nine? Then we’ll read the note quickly. The Rebbe explains here what is “known to those with understanding.” Here the Rebbe says it in a few brief words, but this is a subject explained at length, in detail, in many places—things that can be understood. But you really do need a little understanding for this, a little—you know, to sit down, apply yourself, and make an effort. So he explains it briefly here in a few words. Let’s read the small print. What is the se—ah, the secret of the drawing forth and emanation of the middos? “The secret of the tzimtzum in the light of Ein Sof, blessed be He”—that’s what is called the first tzimtzum—“and the tzimtzum of Adam Kadmon”—that’s the second tzimtzum—“and the secret of the dikna”—that’s the third tzimtzum. In general, for the sefiros of Atzilus to come into being, there are three general tzimtzumim. The first tzimtzum—

40:45 Speaker 5 The tzimtzum is in the light.

40:46 Speaker 7 What?

40:47 Speaker 5 That tzimtzum is also in the light.

40:49 Speaker 7 Also.

40:50 Speaker 5 Tzimtzum is only in the light.

40:52 Speaker 7 The tzimtzumim are only in the light, that’s true. And in general, there are three major tzimtzumim: the first tzimtzum, the tzimtzum of Adam Kadmon, and the secret of the dikna. We won’t explain them now. “For the purpose of all the tzimtzumim is to contract the light so that it can be invested in the vessels of the ten sefiros.” What were the three general tzimtzumim and all the particular tzimtzumim for? All that tremendous, lengthy explanation is about how, in the end, the sefiros of Atzilus could be drawn forth and emanated. “And after the light of Ein Sof has been invested in the vessels of Chochmah, Binah, and Daas”—in other words, once the world of Atzilus has come into being—“then it is appropriate to say what the Rambam wrote: that He is the Knower, He is the Knowledge, and He is the Known, and by knowing Himself, etc., He knows all created beings.” Why? How can we say that Hakadosh Boruch Hu knows all created beings by knowing Himself? Hakadosh Boruch Hu emanated the sefiros. The sefiros are not created beings; they were drawn forth and emanated. He expresses Himself in them, He is revealed in them, He is present in them. They are called by His name, and He is called by their names. So since He knows Himself—what is “Himself” here? “Himself” refers to the sefiros, and the sefiros become invested in and create the created beings. So by knowing Himself, the sefiros, He thereby knows all created beings. Once there are sefiros, then, you can say that He knows Himself. All right, we’ll have to come back to this. It isn’t so relevant to the content of this chapter. “And because the vessels of Atzilus become the soul and life-force of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah and everything in them,” then indeed, by knowing Himself, He knows them. “But without the tzimtzum and investiture mentioned above,” without those three general tzimtzumim and the particular ones, “it is entirely inappropriate to say that He is the Knower and He is the Knowledge, and so on, for He is not at all within the level or category of knowledge or knowing, G-d forbid.” That’s what we explained earlier in the chapter. “Rather, He is far, far above it, infinitely exalted, even above the level and category of wisdom, to the point that the level of wisdom—

42:47 Speaker 7 “is considered like physical action in relation to Him, may He be blessed.”

42:51 Speaker 5 The note.

42:52 Speaker 7 Yes, no... There’s—well, okay, it’s not... You can understand the chapter without this note. Let’s put it that way. It’s a big, important, profound subject and so on, but right now we want to understand the matter of Hashem’s unity. So we won’t get sidetracked into this note. Let’s return to the subject. The Rebbe begins like this: “Now, we have no dealings with hidden matters.” Listen to what an interesting sentence this is. “We have no dealings with hidden matters; but the revealed matters are ours: to believe with complete faith that He and His vessels are one.” Wonderful. What can be understood intellectually... the process of the tzimtzumim being drawn forth—the Rebbe does call that “hidden matters.” We have no dealings with that. It can be understood intellectually.

43:52 Speaker 5 Who is the “we” he’s talking about?

43:53 Speaker 7 Us. Everyone.

43:54 Speaker 5 Everyone. So why do some people deal with it?

43:56 Speaker 7 What?

43:57 Speaker 5 So why are there all those secrets of the tzimtzumim?

44:02 Speaker 7 Well?

44:02 Speaker 5 Look, if we have no dealings with it, then why does it exist? Why? Why is it there for us to be able to—

44:07 Speaker 7 It isn’t relevant to serving Hashem.

44:09 Speaker 5 Okay.

44:11 Speaker 7 For a beinoni’s service of Hashem—for a Jew to keep mitzvos, to believe in Hakadosh Boruch Hu, to have a moment of love and awe—you don’t need it. You can manage without it.

44:18 Speaker 5 Isn’t Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah also for a beinoni?

44:21 Speaker 7 Shh, of course.

44:24 Speaker 5 It isn’t Likkutei Amarim.

44:24 Speaker 7 We learned this in the introduction, in Chinuch Katan, the introduction to Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah: the whole of Likkutei Amarim rests on Chinuch Katan. After all, faith is the foundation of all the mitzvos. For a Jew to be... First, the Alter Rebbe’s wording there in Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah is that the first thing to arouse love and awe is pure faith in Him, may He be blessed. What is faith in Him, may He be blessed? To understand the... So we need to reach a point where pure faith in Him, may He be blessed, is revealed within us. If we understand all these things at length and in depth, that will add to it. But “we have no dealings,” says the Alter Rebbe—yes, the Alter Rebbe says we have no dealings with it. We beinonim, that isn’t our business. You want to understand it? Sit down and study; it’s explained, no problem. But that’s called “hidden matters.” What is called “revealed matters,” which are “for us and for our children”—

45:23 Speaker 5 To believe in it.

45:25 Speaker 7 To believe.

45:26 Speaker 5 Great, cut.

45:27 Speaker 7 What has to do with the intellect

45:29 Speaker 5 Yes, yes.

45:30 Speaker 7 What has to do with the intellect, what can be understood and grasped, is called “the hidden things.” That is not our concern. What belongs to faith, what cannot be understood intellectually, is called “the revealed things,” and that belongs to everyone. What does that mean? We’ve spoken many times about how every Jew has a soul, and the nature of a Jewish soul, its very essence, is faith. A Jew who... When you look at a soul, you see faith; you see love of Hashem. That’s what’s there. What is a soul? A soul is, is, is, is fire, a G-dly fire. That’s what it is. That’s its entire essence. So for a Jew to believe that Hakadosh Boruch Hu exists, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is one, that there is nothing besides Him—he doesn’t need too many explanations. You tell him, and he believes. Understanding it intellectually is complicated, but believing it? You tell him, and he believes. This is called “the revealed things are for us and our children.” What is revealed to us, for us to believe in with complete faith? That “He and His attributes are one.” You understand Aramaic, right? Meaning that Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s attributes, and His will, wisdom, understanding, and knowledge, are united with His essence and being. What is His essence and being? It is that which alone is exalted with an infinite exaltedness beyond wisdom, intellect, and comprehension. And so, since the attributes of Atzilus... For us, for every one of us, this is revealed to us; it comes easily to us. It is very easy for every Jew to reveal this faith. Faith in what? Faith that Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s attributes are united with Him. You can’t understand it. Fine, nobody asked you to understand; you were asked to believe. But how can I believe something I can’t understand? That’s no problem. You’re a Jew; you can. Okay? And since you are a Jew, and it is revealed within you to believe that Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s attributes are one with Him, therefore His union with the attributes that emanated from Him, may He be blessed, is also

47:58 Speaker 7 not something that can be grasped. If I believe that the attributes are united with Him, and I know that He is exalted and raised infinitely beyond comprehension, then I shouldn’t have any problem with not understanding how they are united with Him. They are united with Him just as I don’t understand Him. I don’t understand how they are united with Him. Okay? That’s the logic. How are they united? Therefore—therefore the conclusion of the chapter, that they are called—or it isn’t so much a conclusion as an addition. A central addition, but an addition. That is why the attributes of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the sefiros, are called in the holy Zohar “the secret of faith,” faith that is above the intellect, beyond the intellect. Meheimanusa means faith in Aramaic.

48:53 Speaker 6 The secrets of faith.

48:53 Speaker 7 What?

48:53 Speaker 6 The secrets of faith.

48:53 Speaker 7 No, the secret of faith. Not secrets, secret. The attributes are called a secret. Why do you call them a secret? So the first thought was: Why call the attributes the secret of faith? Because they’re something so lofty that I can’t understand them. So to me, they’re a secret. I can only believe. Right? The Alter Rebbe says: No. The attributes of Atzilus, of the world of Atzilus, are called the secret of faith not because they’re a secret to me, and not because, for me, it’s a matter of faith. Faith, by its very nature, concerns something that cannot be understood intellectually. Why can’t it be understood intellectually? Not because it’s loftier than intellect, but because it isn’t intellect. The essence of the attributes of Atzilus is not intellect. The essence of the attributes of Atzilus is G-dliness. It is His essence and being. They were drawn forth and emanated from Him, may He be blessed. And because they were drawn forth and emanated, rather than created, their essence and nature are G-dliness. And G-dliness isn’t intellect; it’s faith. That’s why they’re called the secret of faith. Not because they’re a matter of faith to me, but because, in their very essence, they are a matter of faith. That was the central point. Actually, not just the point, but a whole explanation of... how Hakadosh Boruch Hu is united with His attributes. In the end, though, we were left with a bit of a feeling, a kind of taste in our mouths, that, uh... It’s not like... From the beginning of Tanya up to here, the Alter Rebbe hasn’t left anything hanging in the air. He’s brought every point down for us until...

50:35 Speaker 6 Like in [unclear].

50:38 Speaker 7 Here, for the first time, the Rebbe leaves us a little... a little up in the clouds. So the Alter Rebbe doesn’t leave it that way. He added one more chapter for us, chapter 10. The content of chapter 10 is an analogy. Although we’ve said and explained at length that this cannot be understood, that understanding it isn’t possible, and that it can only be grasped through faith, and so on, there is nevertheless a physical analogy for this matter. Chapter 10 discusses the physical analogy for the concept of unity.

51:15 Speaker 6 We’ve already talked about this.

51:18 Speaker 7 Hmm?

51:18 Speaker 6 We’ve already talked about this in connection with shlichus.

51:20 Speaker 7 We mentioned it, yes.

51:26 Speaker 6 Oh.