Igeres Hakodesh Chapter 9

00:03 Speaker 1 Okay, good evening.

00:04 Speaker 2 And we had it there, in Oro—at—at Oro. I remember once when I was at Oro, right.

00:14 Speaker 1 What does that have to do with Oro?

00:16 Speaker 2 At Oro there was a campaign to memorize something, and there was a song about it, about—

00:19 Speaker 1 This?

00:19 Speaker 2 The song, this letter. The tune is just playing in my head.

00:23 Speaker 1 Nice.

00:24 Speaker 2 Interesting, that was after [unclear].

00:26 Speaker 1 Mm-hmm.

00:26 Speaker 2 Never mind, when was that? With Ze’ev? Probably. Wow, I...

00:31 Speaker 1 Igeres Hakodesh 9. This is a letter whose content is a little different from all the letters we’ve studied about tzedakah so far, because up to now, each letter explained a particular virtue of tzedakah—different kinds and different aspects of its virtues. Here the Alter Rebbe isn’t speaking about a virtue of tzedakah, but about the feeling: how a person, how a Jew, should feel when giving tzedakah. Tzedakah isn’t some obligation, or... I don’t know what. When a person gives tzedakah, the point—the thing the Alter Rebbe asks of us here—is that he feel that the money I have isn’t mine. The money a person—Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave me is a kind of deposit, and when I give money to someone else as tzedakah, I need to feel that I’m simply giving him what belongs to him. It isn’t mine at all. That’s called giving tzedakah for the sake of Heaven. He isn’t giving because he has to, or because he’s commanded to, or to attain some virtue. He gives because—because it needs to be given. That’s the content of the letter. About this letter, the Frierdiker Rebbe writes somewhere that... Where did I see that? I don’t remember where I saw it. Ah, the Frierdiker Rebbe writes that in Tanya, the Alter Rebbe’s sons included eighteen letters in Igeres Hakodesh concerning tzedakah. Out of thirty-two letters, or thirty-six letters, however you count them, eighteen are about tzedakah. And altogether, we know of a hundred and eighty, a hundred and ninety letters of the Alter Rebbe that have reached us and been printed. The Frierdiker Rebbe writes that on tzedakah alone, the Alter Rebbe wrote hundreds of letters. Hundreds of letters, hundreds of general letters about giving tzedakah. And it reached the point

02:47 Speaker 1 where among the Alter Rebbe’s chassidim a saying developed—apparently it wasn’t a saying of the chassidim, but of the Alter Rebbe himself: “In my slice of bread is your portion.” You see, the Alter Rebbe spoke about tzedakah so much and ingrained the idea so deeply that chassidim truly felt that my money really isn’t mine; it’s really yours. And chassidim genuinely felt that way. It wasn’t something they arrived at through contemplation or anything. It had simply been ingrained in them, and spoken about so much, that the subject was so alive for them.

03:24 Speaker 2 Was tzedakah a particular strength of the Alter Rebbe?

03:28 Speaker 1 Uh, not only that, but apparently it was one of the things he emphasized very strongly.

03:34 Speaker 2 Because it had to do with the Rebbe’s concern, as though the Alter Rebbe himself continues.

03:38 Speaker 1 Right.

03:38 Speaker 2 Eretz Yisroel, so...

03:40 Speaker 1 Right. So that really is the content of this letter, in which the Alter Rebbe speaks about this and asks it of the chassidim. Let’s look inside.

03:52 Speaker 2 Yes,

04:18 Speaker 5 Of course. You’re smiling.

04:21 Speaker 1 The Alter Rebbe opens the letter with an appeal, an address: “My beloved, my brothers and my friends, who are as dear as my own soul.” Someone who gives tzedakah—someone who gives tzedakah is called the Alter Rebbe’s brother and friend. The Alter Rebbe says: If you give tzedakah, then you are my beloved and my brother; you’re like my own brother. There are—

04:50 Speaker 5 Like my own soul.

04:52 Speaker 1 In other places, the Frierdiker Rebbe comments on this, when the Alter Rebbe writes letters asking for Ahavas Yisroel, he begins there: “My beloved, my dear friends and my friends, who are as dear as my own soul.” So someone who practices Ahavas Yisroel is like a friend of the Alter Rebbe. But someone who gives tzedakah is like a brother of the Alter Rebbe. That’s an insight from the Frierdiker Rebbe. So he says: “My beloved, my brothers and my friends, who are as dear as my own soul, I come to remind and awaken those who sleep.” Why are you called sleepers? Because a person immersed in the affairs of this world isn’t awake. His soul is, so to speak, asleep. Someone who is awake knows what he needs to do; he sees what is before him, and he gives tzedakah. When a person doesn’t give tzedakah, or turns a blind eye to it, it’s because his soul is asleep. And where is it asleep? It is asleep in a slumber of utter vanities. The affairs of this world are, in themselves, vanity. But when a person makes that vanity his goal in life—one does need to deal with worldly affairs, but one must know that they are vanity. If a person treats worldly affairs not as vanity but as something he needs, yes, if he makes the affairs of this world his goal, then it isn’t just vanity; it’s utter vanity, vanity upon vanity. And the Alter Rebbe comes to us here with a request not only to wake up, not only to wake from the utter vanities that put us to sleep, but to open the eyes of the blind. In other words, we are immersed in worldly vanities not only to the point that our soul is asleep, but like someone who is blind, like blind people trying to see. When the Mitteler Rebbe explains Igeres Hakodesh in one of his maamarim—and it’s fitting today to mention an insight of the Mitteler Rebbe’s—

07:12 Speaker 5 Yes, that’s

07:13 Speaker 1 about this letter. So he asks: What does “blind” mean? There are two kinds of blindness. There’s someone who isn’t blind because he has no sight; rather, his eyes have been covered. It isn’t that his ability to see is gone. One person can’t see because his eyes have been bound, so he can’t see. Another person has not only had his eyes bound, but his eyelids have been stuck together with tar. So he says that when we’re immersed in the vanities of this world, there’s being immersed and asleep; beyond that, being immersed in the vanities of this world; beyond that, being immersed in this world’s utter vanities, making this world primary and holiness secondary; beyond that, being blind because one’s eyes have been bound; and beyond that, having one’s eyes stuck together with tar. So the Alter Rebbe comes to bring us out of... out of the depths of our immersion in worldly affairs, to see, to open our eyes and see. What should be the whole hope and desire of “my beloved, my brothers, my dear friends and my friends”? “That our whole hope, desire and aim should be to incorporate our spiritual lives in the Source of living waters, the Life of life, all our days, from soul to flesh.” So how do we incorporate our entire spiritual life, from soul to flesh—our spiritual concerns and our physical concerns—how do we incorporate everything in the Source of life? Namely, that all worldly matters, all the things of this world that we deal with and all the work we do to earn a living, should not be as though one “acts for his own sake.” A person shouldn’t engage in worldly affairs as though he needs them for himself. “And the House of Israel should not be like all the nations.” Uh, our Rebbe corrects this in the list of corrections: it should not say “worshippers of idols,” but rather “like all the nations.” Uh, when Tanya was printed, there was—

09:28 Speaker 1 Does it say “worshippers of idols” every time?

09:35 Speaker 6 I think every time, or almost every time, yes. Uh, in the Rebbe’s list of corrections.

09:36 Speaker 1 So that correction was actually because of the...

09:42 Speaker 6 Because of the censorship. What does it mean that we shouldn’t be like all the nations? That all the nations feed, support and honor their wives and children out of love. Why do all the nations support their wives and children? Because they love themselves, and someone who loves himself wants things to be good for him. He has a wife and children, and they belong to him, so he gives to them because—because he’s giving to himself.

09:45 Speaker 1 He can say that he’s giving to them.

10:23 Speaker 6 So the Alter Rebbe says that for Jews, it shouldn’t be that way. Why? Because “Who is like Your people Israel, one nation in the land?” That’s a verse from—where is that verse? He writes it here, cites it below. We say it at Shabbos Minchah. And what does “Who is like Your people Israel, one nation in the land” mean? That even when a Jew, even when a member of Israel is in the land, dealing with earthly matters, with worldly affairs, even there he must be “one nation.” Hashem’s oneness must be apparent in him; he is not like all the nations. Namely—

10:29 Speaker 1 So the Alter Rebbe says that for Jews, it shouldn’t be that way. Why? Because “Who is like Your people Israel, one nation on earth?” That’s a verse from—where is that verse? He writes it here, brings it down below. We say it in the Shabbos Minchah prayer. And what does “Who is like Your people Israel, one nation on earth” mean? That even when a Jew, when a member of the Jewish people is on earth, occupied with earthly matters, with worldly affairs, even there he must be “one nation.” You should be able to see Hashem’s oneness in him, that he isn’t like all the other nations. That is—

11:06 Speaker 6 From Divrei Hayamim.

11:08 Speaker 1 Divrei Hayamim—he brings it down here, yes. Even in earthly matters, even in earthly matters, we must not become separated from the One Who is true, G-d forbid. In ordinary, mundane matters, we must not become separated from Him. Because if a person, when dealing with matters of this world—earthly matters, earning a living, children or health—does it for himself, then he is, G-d forbid, bearing false witness when he says Shema morning and evening. Why? When he says Shema morning and evening with his eyes closed, what does he say? “Hashem is One.” He contemplates how Hashem is One in all four directions, in the heavens and on earth, and there is nothing else besides Him. At that moment, that is what he thinks and believes. But when his eyes are opened—if he is blind, if he is one of those blind people the Alter Rebbe speaks about at the beginning—the moment he opens his eyes, the moment he takes his hand away from his eyes after saying Shema Yisroel, immediately, “You turn your eyes toward it, and it is gone.” All the contemplation he had, all the “Hashem is One and His Name is One,” “there is nothing else besides Him,” the whole world being nullified to G-dliness—he took his hand away from his eyes, and that was it. It all went away; it all dissolved. G-d forbid. That is called bearing false witness about himself. Because if Hashem is One and His Name is One, if Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates the entire world anew from nothing into existence at every moment, and the whole world is utterly nullified and nothing exists separately; if “I am the first and I am the last”; if “Hashem is G-d, and there is nothing else besides Him”—then what is this “I”? Who am I? Why do you need money for yourself? Why do you need a livelihood, health, children, for things to be good for you or bad for you, this way or that way? Who are you, and what are you? Blessed are You, Hashem our G-d, King of

13:10 Speaker 1 the universe, by Whose word everything came into being.

13:11 Speaker 7 Amen.

13:15 Speaker 1 Good evening.

13:16 Speaker 7 Good evening.

13:18 Speaker 1 In other words, that very feeling that I need things, that I work so I’ll have money, and all the personal feelings a person has—that he lives in this world, that he needs various things, that he has various wants and aspirations. We’re not talking about cravings. We’re talking about life, a life of holiness, life in the plain sense. The Alter Rebbe says: You’re blind. You’re not only asleep; you’re immersed in vanities—not just vanities, but vanities of vanities. You’re not only asleep; you’re blind. Your eyes have been bound shut, your eyelids have been stuck together with tar, and you simply cannot see where you are. Don’t you notice that while you’re saying Shema you’re one person, and then, in your own feelings, a second later—as soon as you’ve taken your hand away from your eyes—you’ve already forgotten everything? That’s it; there’s no G-d anymore. “I, and none besides me.” You’re bearing false witness about yourself. How should it be? “But this is what is fitting for us to be,” or, in other words, “When all our dealings in worldly matters are not for ourselves.” How should it be for a Jew? All his dealings with worldly matters should not be for himself. What are they for? “Rather, to sustain souls, portions of G-dliness, and to meet their needs with freely given kindness.” All my involvement in worldly matters, its entire aim and purpose, is just so I’ll have money to help another person live, to do kindness. The whole reason I go out to earn a living is so I’ll be able to give tzedakah. Otherwise, why do I need to earn a living? So that I’ll have money? Who am I? I don’t exist as a separate entity. There is nothing else besides Him. “In this we make the form resemble its Maker, Hashem is One, Whose kindness endures all day”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu performs true kindness every day. What

15:42 Speaker 1 does “true kindness” mean? What do we call true kindness?

15:45 Speaker 7 Um, caring for...

15:47 Speaker 1 Caring for the deceased. Why? Why is that?

15:49 Speaker 7 No return in exchange.

15:51 Speaker 1 That is true kindness. It is kindness where you don’t expect the person to give you anything in return afterward. But still, you could say...

16:00 Speaker 7 Artillerymen, yes.

16:03 Speaker 1 But still, you could say there’s some sense of obligation. You could give all kinds of reasons: the family, it would be unpleasant not to—I don’t know what. But when Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives life to the world, that truly is true kindness. Not because He gives life to the deceased, but because He truly has no return to expect from the world. After all, everything the world has is what He gave it. So when Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives life to the world, that is true kindness—truly, truly true kindness. And the same applies to us. What does it mean to make the form resemble its Maker? When I do kindness, when I give tzedakah to someone else, I don’t do it because Hakadosh Boruch Hu commanded it, or because giving is the right thing to do, or to fulfill a mitzvah, or to gain some of its spiritual benefits. And there are wonderful benefits, which the Alter Rebbe himself discussed at length in all the earlier letters of Igeres Hakodesh that we studied here, as well as in other letters. There are benefits. But what should my feeling be? Why do I give? Because that is what needs to be done. What else? What do I need the money for? The only reason I have money is so I can give it to someone else. The money is not mine. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave me money so I would give it to someone else. And if I give because the entire purpose of my going out to earn a living, or of my living in this world, is to make the form resemble its Maker—just so I can give tzedakah, with no other reason—then, first of all, when I give tzedakah, I don’t feel that I’m doing someone a favor, and I don’t feel that I’m looking for [unclear]. I give because that’s what... that’s how it should be. In other words, “Do what is true because it is true.”

17:47 Speaker 1 As the Rambam writes. But then, on that basis, a person shouldn’t give his family any priority over someone else. Because if the entire purpose of dealing with matters of earning a living is to give tzedakah, then I need to sustain the Divine soul of this Jew and that Jew. And I also have several Jews at home, so I need to provide for them too—yes, no more and no less than for others. The same.

18:21 Speaker 7 But they say, “The poor of your city take precedence.”

18:25 Speaker 1 The poor of your city take precedence. Fine, but there are many other Jews in my city besides my family.

18:31 Speaker 7 But still, [unclear]. Family has to come first; I’m with you.

18:38 Speaker 1 So that’s the question. That’s not the answer; that’s the question. If the reason for giving tzedakah is that the money really isn’t mine, and the whole point of my involvement in the world is simply that I should have money so I can resemble Hakadosh Boruch Hu and give freely—then there’s no difference between someone close to me and someone far away. That’s the...

19:01 Speaker 7 That means your family is still yours.

19:04 Speaker 1 Hmm?

19:04 Speaker 7 No.

19:05 Speaker 8 His question.

19:06 Speaker 7 Yes, that’s the question. I’m not putting myself...

19:08 Speaker 1 Fine, that’s no longer my calculation. What should I feel? From the standpoint of my own feelings, I should feel that I need to give to everyone equally. He immediately comments on that.

19:18 Speaker 7 It doesn’t matter to whom; right now what matters is that I’m giving.

19:20 Speaker 1 So the initial assumption is only a question.

19:22 Speaker 7 It’s a question.

19:24 Speaker 1 He immediately comments that no, that isn’t so. Why? Ah, line five. Line six. And this is what we’re talking about: “We make the form resemble its Maker, Hashem is One, Whose kindness...” Yes, it’s called true kindness. What is true kindness? “To give life to the world and all it contains at every moment.” So I should give everyone the same, as it says, and that’s how I’ll resemble Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But then—“except that a person’s wife and children take precedence over everyone else according to the Torah.”

19:56 Speaker 7 Of course, up to now, only you have what you need, and then you...

19:59 Speaker 1 Yes. As far as my feelings are concerned, everyone is equal. Hakadosh Boruch Hu commanded that when I don’t have enough to give everyone the same amount, I should first give my family what they need, and then give to others. But that is only because Hakadosh Boruch Hu commanded it; as far as my feelings are concerned, everyone is the same. And of course, when a person goes through the world with that feeling, he will give much more tzedakah. The Alter Rebbe concludes: “Therefore, my beloved brothers.” Notice that once again he says “my beloved brothers,” not “my friends.” Someone who gives tzedakah, who manages to bring himself to realize that all the money he has is really only what Hakadosh Boruch Hu entrusted to him to give to others, becomes a brother to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Not just a friend, like someone who has Ahavas Yisroel, but a brother to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “Therefore, my beloved brothers, take to heart these words, which have been stated very briefly, and, G-d willing, I will discuss them at length face to face.” So what should you take to heart? How the whole essence of serving Hashem in these times, in the footsteps of Moshiach, is the service of tzedakah. As our Sages said, now, in the footsteps of Moshiach, is the time when Moshiach is needed and the time for redemption has arrived. And about this time our Sages said, “The Jewish people will be redeemed only through tzedakah.” Ah, you have a question: our Sages said that Torah study is equal to all of them. Why are you suddenly coming along and putting this saying of our Sages on the table? There are other sayings of our Sages: Torah study is equal to all of them. Why do you say it is specifically tzedakah? The Alter Rebbe answers: “Our Sages did not say that Torah study is equal to acts of kindness”—primarily tzedakah—“except in their days.” In the days of our Sages, Torah study was their principal service, and because for them it was

22:11 Speaker 1 the principal service, they were great scholars, Tannaim and Amoraim. The fact that they were—

22:17 Speaker 9 in the world of unity.

22:27 Speaker 1 The Shulchan Aruch has laws of Torah study. Like every other mitzvah, Torah study has laws too. How do you fulfill the mitzvah? And there it details—after all, every mitzvah has a required measure, right? When you want to say a blessing, what is the minimum amount that requires a blessing before eating or an after-blessing? With the mitzvah of sukkah, how big must it be? Any smaller and it is no longer kosher. Any bigger— You come to light Chanukah candles: how many candles, and how do you light them? Every mitzvah has its required measure. So what is the measure here? How do I know that I’ve now fulfilled the mitzvah of Torah study, that I’ve studied enough Torah and fulfilled the mitzvah? There are laws about that too. So the Alter Rebbe rules in the Shulchan Aruch when a person fulfills the mitzvah of knowing the Torah. Every person is obligated to know the entire Tanach by heart—that’s clear—and the entire Mishnah, that’s also clear, and a whole list of other things, and so on. Once a person has learned all that, he has fulfilled the mitzvah of Torah study. I don’t remember the whole list, but it isn’t a short one.

23:50 Speaker 9 By heart, you mean?

23:52 Speaker 1 Of course by heart. What else? You’re traveling along, and suddenly you need to do something; some situation comes up... You don’t have a rabbi with you. What? You need to know what it says.

24:10 Speaker 9 But not word for word.

24:11 Speaker 1 Huh?

24:11 Speaker 9 The content.

24:12 Speaker 1 I don’t know. I don’t remember. The truth is, I haven’t studied those laws in depth.

24:16 Speaker 9 If someone knows all that, it isn’t such a problem for him to know the content—or, if you already know the whole... That’s more reassuring.

24:27 Speaker 1 And the Shulchan Aruch is only that—meaning, that’s the obligation in our generations, what applies to us. We’re not talking about the early generations, for whom the principal service was Torah study: studying Torah, not just knowing the required minimum. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu truly gave them intellect, minds and hearts broad enough to contain the Torah, and that is why they were Tannaim and Amoraim. So for them it was said that Torah study is equal to all of them. But for us, with what is required of us... Why don’t we have the minds and hearts of the earlier generations?

25:07 Speaker 9 The decline of the generations.

25:07 Speaker 1 Because that isn’t our service. True, there is a decline of the generations. And why, in this respect? Because it isn’t our service; it isn’t the service of our generation. If our service were to study Torah, Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not make unreasonable demands of His creations. When He asks someone to study Torah, He gives him the strength to do it. And with us, He gave us the strength to study as much as we can. But our principal service really is tzedakah, as our Sages said: “The Jewish people will be redeemed only through tzedakah.” And the service of the later generations really is the service of tzedakah, of acts of kindness. In line fifteen he continues: “Not so in the footsteps of Moshiach, when the sukkah of David has fallen as far as the level of feet and heels.” The sukkah of David is Malchus of Atzilus. It no longer shines as it did when the Beis Hamikdash stood. It fell and fell and fell, as far as the level of feet and heels, which is the level of Asiyah. So because the Divine light now shines only through the world of Asiyah, the way to cleave to it is also through action, not through study. When the Divine light shone in the world of Beriah, and the world of Beriah is Talmud, then study was primary. As it descended further, there was Mishnah and afterward Talmud. So study was primary then; cleaving to and becoming united with G-dliness came through studying Mishnah or Gemara. But when the Divine light descended to the world of Asiyah in the later generations, the sukkah of David fell as far as the level of Asiyah. The way to cleave to G-dliness is through action. What does “through action” mean? Through tzedakah. So there is no way now to cleave to it, to Malchus of Atzilus, to the Divine light in truth, and to transform its darkness into light—the darkness of this world, the vanities of this world, as he called them earlier—into its light, to transform the world’s darkness into the Divine light of Malchus. Or, according to another version,

27:24 Speaker 1 “its darkness into light,” into His Divine light, the light of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. There is no other way except through the level of action as well. Since the Divine light is at the level of action, the way to cleave to it is through action, meaning acts of tzedakah. As is known to those with understanding, the level of action in G-dliness is the bestowal and drawing down of life to the very lowest level, to one who has nothing of his own. Just as Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives to those who have nothing—the worlds—we give to those who have nothing. In this way we make ourselves like our Creator; in this way we cleave to G-dliness. And anyone who sacrifices his inclination in this—after all, a person can practice iskafya, sacrifice his inclination, in many ways, and all of them are paths in serving Hashem. The Alter Rebbe spoke about this and urged it in various places: that a person should sacrifice his inclination in Torah study, exerting himself beyond his usual capacity; in prayer, pouring out his soul before Hashem; in fulfilling the mitzvos, and so on. But the principal area in which a person must sacrifice his inclination in our generation is tzedakah. “He opens his hand and his heart, and subdues the sitra achra”—he subdues the sitra achra that prevents him from giving tzedakah. How does the sitra achra prevent me from giving tzedakah? Huh?

28:56 Speaker 10 Kindness.

28:58 Speaker 1 Does some demon come along with wings and a tongue and who knows what, and...

29:01 Speaker 10 A person has impulses.

29:04 Speaker 1 Huh?

29:04 Speaker 3 It takes hold of him. He just said that.

29:08 Speaker 10 Ah, it makes the dreams seem real. He starts calculating: who needs this?

29:12 Speaker 3 Save it, put it aside, buy all kinds of things.

29:16 Speaker 1 Yes, that’s the sitra achra. And what did the Rebbe say there in chapter six? That the animal soul and the body are sitra achra. My body is the sitra... it’s the side, the other side. It isn’t the side of holiness. Hakadosh Boruch Hu—His side is to give. A Jew’s animal soul comes from the side of the sitra achra, from kelipas nogah. Huh?

29:38 Speaker 10 That’s the body itself.

29:39 Speaker 1 The body and the animal soul both come from kelipas nogah. True, it is only kelipas nogah. You can transform it into good. Give tzedakah, and that will transform its darkness into the light of Malchus of Atzilus. But if you don’t, then in itself it is kelipah and sitra achra.

29:58 Speaker 10 How does that fit with what the Rebbe said—that a Jew’s body is a holy body?

30:03 Speaker 1 A holy body compared to what?

30:07 Speaker 10 That’s what was written.

30:15 Speaker 1 When we say “holy,” holy means set apart. The Rebbe said—it isn’t only that the Rebbe said it; it is written that my body is... this is understood. The source is in the Zohar: “Their bodies are holy.” The Rebbe quotes it many times. But in relation to what is that said? A Jew’s body is holy compared to a non-Jew’s body. A non-Jew’s body, even when he fulfills a mitzvah—[unclear]—nothing will change that. A Jew’s body is holy in the sense that it can be used; it is a vessel for matters of holiness. Holiness can be invested in it; it can be transformed from darkness to light. So it is set apart beyond comparison—or beyond comparison, I don’t know—it is set apart from the bodies of the nations of the world.

30:57 Speaker 10 But it is always connected with kelipas nogah. It’s... it’s always only [unclear].

31:00 Speaker 1 But when you compare the body with the soul, the soul is holy and the body is sitra achra. The fact that you can turn it into the Holy of Holies, and that its source is in some world—I don’t know what—but fine, that’s only its source, and only what you can turn it into. In itself, it is sitra achra from top to bottom. You can see this in practice, and everyone feels it in themselves: the body pulls them toward worldly matters. And that pull isn’t because someone came along...

31:34 Speaker 10 Hakadosh Boruch Hu דווקא in the body of... דווקא Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the Jewish body.

31:39 Speaker 1 That’s when he gives tzedakah. Only when he gives tzedakah not because he has to, but because he feels that the money isn’t his. “And whoever sacrifices his inclination in this, and opens his hand and his heart, subdues the sitra achra and transforms darkness into light—Hashem, blessed be He, dwells with him in the realm of action in the footsteps of Moshiach—then he will merit...” I don’t know what that “he will” is doing here, but the meaning, as the Rebbe explains, is that “then he will merit to see eye to eye when Hashem returns to Tziyon” in the future. Right now, we may be able to see G-dliness with the mind’s eye, to understand what G-dliness is. And someone who merits it can even come to recognize and feel G-dliness. Sometimes that’s called intellectual sight. But to see G-dliness with physical eyes, with our actual eyes—what does it mean to see G-dliness with physical eyes?

32:42 Speaker 4 To see something physical.

32:44 Speaker 1 To see G-dliness with physical eyes. For that, you have to give tzedakah, and give it with the feeling that it’s not just that I’m doing what I’ve been commanded. Rather, I feel that the slice of bread I have contains another person’s share. Everything I provide and give—even to my family, my children, and those close to me—isn’t because I feel closer to them, but because that’s what Hakadosh Boruch Hu commanded. As far as I’m concerned, everyone is the same, because the money isn’t mine at all. It’s only something Hashem entrusted to me, and He commanded me to give more to one person and less to another. But...

33:27 Speaker 4 So we ask: How can we learn [unclear] like these from [unclear]?