Parshas Lech Lecha 5786 - "Echad Haya Avraham" - The Oneness of Avraham Avinu

00:00 There is a story chassidim tell, and the Rebbe tells it several times in his sichos, sometimes with one set of names and sometimes with another. In one version, it is about the well-known chossid Reb Binyamin Kletzker, who was among the great chassidim of the Alter Rebbe. His business was, Heaven help us, trading in timber—the name “Kletzker” is connected with wood. Sometimes they say his business was in hides. Either way, he was a great chossid, deeply learned in Chassidus and devoted to serving Hashem, while also engaged in business. He was among the Alter Rebbe’s first students. They say that once he had to prepare an accounting for his business, an overall account of the entire enterprise, and all the figures were written down. When they reached the end and only had to write “Total,” he wrote: “Total—there is nothing besides Him.” That is the story. We see that this total can encompass everything—the entire business and all the affairs of the world—and our total is that we have nothing here in this world besides Hakadosh Boruch Hu: there is nothing besides Him. There are several versions of this story, with different details; some add details to it. But when chassidim saw this, it struck them as a little out of order. Because, as is known among chassidim, [unclear] external matters, [unclear] dealing with the outside world and worldly affairs. But chassidim said: How could one simply cast aside what he had done, such a great order of holiness? Others said it should not be cast aside. Either way, the story continues with Reb Binyamin explaining the point to them: If, during the recitation of Shema, during “Shema Yisroel,” thoughts and worries about Kletzker and his business can intrude, then surely

02:12 the reverse is also possible: when one turns to business, one must bring into it the thought and feeling of Hashem’s oneness. The story is told in several versions and with different details, but that is its point. It is a story the Rebbe tells many times, with wonderful, profound explanations of the foundations of Chassidus. This relates to the fact that in Parshas Lech Lecha we learn about Avraham Avinu. Of Avraham Avinu, the verse says: “Avraham was one, and he inherited the land.” It says of Avraham Avinu, “Avraham was one”: he stood alone, one and singular, “and he inherited the land.” Chassidus says that “Avraham was one” means that “the One” was revealed in Avraham. To Avraham it was clear, self-evident, that there is one G-d—Hashem’s oneness. On “And Hashem said to Avram: Go forth from your land,” the Midrash explains the whole process through which Avraham Avinu came to recognize Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The Midrash gives a parable: A person was walking and saw “a palace ablaze.” He saw a building, a house, a palace, on fire. He said, “Could this palace have no one in charge?” Surely that could not be. “The owner of the palace looked out at him”—the owner looked out of the window and said, “I am the owner of the palace.” The Midrash gives this parable about Avraham Avinu, who went in search of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. As the sequence of events is known from the Midrashim, [unclear]. Avraham went about thinking; he saw the sun, saw the moon, thought by day and thought by night, “and his mind wandered in search,” in the Rambam’s words. He searched and searched and searched, until at last he came to recognize the truth; the owner of the palace revealed himself to him. He understood and saw that the palace has an owner, that there is a G-d in the world,

04:31 and this was Avraham Avinu’s essential journey. In other words, Avraham Avinu came to this recognition through the things of the world. He looked at the world, saw the world, saw things in it, and gradually reached the conclusion, the understanding, that “this palace has an owner.” That is “Avraham was one”: Avraham Avinu came to recognize Hashem’s oneness, the truth that “there is nothing besides Him”—that there is a G-d in the world and nothing besides Him. He reached this through evidence and proofs from the things of the world themselves. This is one central aspect of Avraham. And then Avraham Avinu went further and did not keep it to himself: “and he inherited the land.” Avraham Avinu himself went and proclaimed the name of Hakadosh Boruch Hu before all the people of the world. On the verse “And he called there in the name of Hashem, El Olam,” the Midrash relates that Avraham Avinu traveled from place to place, “journeying onward,” and wherever he went and wherever he arrived, he spread the name of Hakadosh Boruch Hu: that He is not only “the G-d of heaven” but also “the G-d of the earth,” so that everyone would learn the truth, so that all people would know and understand that there is nothing besides Him. This was his purpose, his mission, his very essence. So much so that, as they say about “And he planted an eshel in Be’er Sheva,” when he was among people, among the shepherds in Be’er Sheva, he stayed there and gave food to every traveler. All of this was “And he called there in the name of Hashem, El Olam”—to illuminate and bring to everyone’s awareness

06:15 that he brought awareness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu into the world: “El Olam.” And Chassidus explains: What is meant by “El Olam”? These are not two separate things. Chassidus explains that “olam” means not only eternity, but also the world in its plain sense. This is the foundation: “olam” refers to this world too, and it means that Avraham brought the entire world to know that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the G-d of the world. This is the precise wording discussed in Chassidus, as the Rebbe says in his first maamar, “Basi Legani,” 5711, the first maamar the Rebbe delivered: It does not say “El ha’olam,” as though the world were one thing and G-dliness another, with Hakadosh Boruch Hu the G-d of the world, one thing presiding over another. Rather, it says “El Olam”—it is all one. The world and G-dliness are one and the same. This was Avraham’s recognition of G-dliness, and this was what he spread and brought to the awareness of the whole world. On the other hand, when we look at the parsha, we see that Avraham Avinu had another, distinct aspect. In Avraham Avinu’s life there was the service of trials. As the Mishnah says: “Avraham Avinu was tested with ten trials.” And Parshas Lech Lecha, from beginning to end, is full of trials. Starting with the first trial, “Lech Lecha”—there are several opinions about what the first trial was: whether the Binding of [unclear] is counted as the first trial, whether it was his being taken out of Ur Kasdim, or whether “Lech Lecha” was the first trial.

07:53 Then came the descent to Egypt, another trial. After that, the trials continued with Sarah Imeinu, the war of the kings, and Lot. That is how events unfold. To a great extent, the events of the parsha, one after another, are trials: “Avraham Avinu was tested with ten trials.” This, too, is one of the ways our forefather’s greatness is expressed: he went through many trials and withstood them—“and he withstood them all”—and, indeed, even grew through them. The question is: What do these two aspects have in common? What is the shared point, the connection between the two things we find in Avraham Avinu—the fact that he came to recognize G-dliness and made it known in the world, and the fact that the service of trials was such a central part of his service? In the introduction to Chassidus, this is a central, foundational matter in the revelation of the Baal Shem Tov’s teachings, in the teachings of Chassidus, and it stands out very clearly in Avraham Avinu, as Chassidus explains. It is the matter of Hashem’s oneness. As is known, the holy Baal Shem Tov came into the world and prepared it for the revelation of Moshiach. And what does the revelation of Moshiach mean? “The glory of Hashem will be revealed, and all flesh together will see that the mouth of Hashem has spoken”; “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea”; and “Hashem will be King over all the earth; on that day Hashem will be one and His name one.” What does this mean? Moshiach will come, and in the Geulah, Hashem’s oneness will be revealed in the world. Then it will be evident that the entire world is one, wholly one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is the revelation of “there is nothing else” and “there is nothing besides Him.” And we find this throughout the teachings of Chassidus, discussed at length and in depth—it is all there in Chassidus. What are the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov? The Baal Shem Tov revealed a foundational principle, as is known, and the Alter Rebbe cites it

09:50 In Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah. And the fundamental teaching revealed by the Baal Shem Tov is: “Forever, Hashem, Your word stands firm in the heavens.” The word of Hashem stands at every moment, bringing all of existence, everything, into being and sustaining it. Every detail of creation is permeated by the word of Hashem; that is its entire existence, and this continues at every moment. If the eye were permitted to see, we would truly see that there is no reality other than Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself; everything we see is only the Divine power flowing into it at every moment. This foundation of Chassidus, the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov, was subsequently explained in all its aspects, through different approaches, analogies, and examples, in the teachings of Chassidus—from the Alter Rebbe onward, by our Rebbeim. Each Rebbe in his generation adds ever deeper insight into the revelation of the oneness of Havayah. And this is the point; this is the essential innovation. The essential innovation in the oneness of Havayah, revealed by the Baal Shem Tov and subsequently explained throughout the generations of Chabad Chassidus, is the revelation of the oneness of Havayah: “There is nothing else” and “There is nothing besides Him.” In other words, this is not a revelation of the oneness of Havayah that comes through a miracle, through a revelation from Above. It is a revelation within the natural order; it is not a revelation in which the world—this is not a miracle that nullifies all of reality, so that one then sees “there is nothing besides Him.” There was Egypt, the Splitting of the Sea, and the Giving of the Torah, where such a revelation appeared in full force, and people saw that there is nothing besides Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But the main intent, the ultimate purpose, and the essential innovation are not for the oneness of Havayah to be revealed through a miracle or, in the language of Chassidus, from Above downward. The intent is for it to enter the world, for it to come through the world and from within the world itself. What does that mean? The world itself—“And all flesh shall see.”

11:52 So a feeling that comes from the “I,” and from breaking down the world, is not the point. The world itself is connected to G-dliness. In our avodah—and this is a directive—when the teachings of Chassidus are revealed, they explain the oneness of Havayah from within the world itself. The world is an analogy for G-dliness. We grasp that G-dliness is revealed from within the world itself, because the world itself demonstrates it: you look at the world, and from within the world, from within tangible existence, from within reality, from within the world itself, this truth cries out. But this needs some explanation. And here lies the depth of the oneness of Havayah. Why? Because the world itself is not an independent existence; its very nature cries this out. This is the true depth of the oneness of Havayah, and it comes from “the One,” from the Essence and Being of Hashem. When you say that you want to reach the oneness of Havayah through a miracle, through breaking down the world, consider this: that is not the true meaning of oneness. It implies that the world and G-dliness do not go together. It means distancing yourself from the world, leaving the world, leaving the world. It is a movement of negation, of removal, of departure. But true oneness is just the opposite. As the Rebbe says, it is essential oneness. Essential oneness means that nothing can possibly exist apart from Him. It is not that something exists and that the world itself is already separate from that oneness, so we have to leave it. Rather, from within the world itself we arrive at the truth. That is the true depth of the oneness of Havayah, and it comes from the Essence and Being of Hashem. The same is true of a Jew’s own soul, through the yechidah of the soul. Through the yechidah of the soul, because the yechidah of the soul corresponds to the One of the universe. A Jew’s soul has five names: nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, and yechidah. Chassidus explains that it is specifically the yechidah—“the one to unite with You”—through the yechidah of the soul, because

13:53 the yechidah of the soul corresponds to the One of the universe. So for a Jew, this is the depth of the oneness of Havayah. But when the yechidah of the soul shines, there is no need to break down the world. On the contrary, the truth of Havayah then descends into the world, into the world itself, so that one can experience the oneness of Havayah. You look at the world: the world itself, nature itself, cries out, “Havayah is Elokim.” Nature itself cries out that the world is G-dliness, that there is nothing besides Him. And this is the deeper explanation of the level of faith that Avraham Avinu attained. Avraham Avinu did not come to recognize G-dliness through a miracle, but through nature. He saw a palace—the world itself. He saw the sun and the moon, and by contemplating the world itself, he used his wisdom to reach the conclusion, the truth of “One.” In other words, recognition of G-dliness came from within the affairs of the world itself. And of this it is said, “The Master of the palace looked out at him.” “The Master of the palace looked out at him”—Chassidus explains that this means the revelation of the yechidah. The yechidah was revealed in Avraham Avinu. “Looked out at him”—it was revealed in the yechidah of his soul. And precisely because he looked at the world, contemplated the world itself, and searched for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “the Master of the palace looked out at him.” Through the revelation of the yechidah, he saw that the world itself, in its very natural workings, that nature itself, cries out the truth of “One.” From here we understand the connection between the two matters: it concerns recognizing G-dliness and making G-dliness known, and it is also what enabled him to withstand all the trials. Why? Chassidus explains the nature of a trial. What is a trial? A trial is a storm, a storm that covers and conceals the truth until you see nothing but the trial. You cannot see any light. It is such a storm that the whole situation is

15:59 opposed to G-dliness. And it seems there is no way out. This is where the revelation of the yechidah comes in. To face a trial, Chassidus says, a Jew can do so only by delving deeper into the yechidah of the soul and relying on his inner strength. This comes from that inner bittul, from the strength of the yechidah of the soul. When he sees that the yechidah of the soul is shining, he realizes that there is no reality that can oppose G-dliness, and that the whole apparent reality of opposition is the very opposite of the truth. This was Avraham’s strength: he withstood all his trials. For him, “the Master of the palace looked out at him,” and the yechidah of his soul shone. This is the precise meaning of “Avraham was one.” Avraham was the one: the yechidah of his soul shone openly. Therefore, he also saw Havayah in the world, together with the world, through the world. And so it was absolutely clear to him that nothing could conceal G-dliness. Wherever he went, wherever he stood, in everything he saw its Divine purpose, and so he could break through every trial. And this is a path for each of us. It was in 5710, immediately after the passing of the Frierdiker Rebbe. The first letter the Rebbe sent after the passing, thirty days after 10 Shvat 5710, a month after the passing on 10 Shvat of

17:29 the Frierdiker Rebbe. It was such a rich letter that the Rebbe printed then. As the Rebbe had done even before the passing, he would occasionally print the maamarim of his father-in-law, the Frierdiker Rebbe. On every special occasion, every Yom Tov, a maamar would come out together with a sicha. After the passing, the Rebbe was truly [unclear]. On Purim 5710, the second part of the maamar “Basi Legani” was published. They had begun printing it before the passing, as is well known—“Basi Legani” of 5710. And on Purim, several more chapters came out. Along with them, the Rebbe printed a sicha of the Frierdiker Rebbe from Purim 5704. That sicha quotes a saying of the Tzemach Tzedek from 5628. The Tzemach Tzedek said: “Avraham was one. The ‘One’ shone in Avraham, and he was ‘one’ in essence.” What is the explanation of the Tzemach Tzedek’s words? The Frierdiker Rebbe repeats this saying. On 11 Adar 5710, the Rebbe wrote a letter. The Rebbe used to write letters—general-personal letters, that is. This means the same letter was sent to a number of chassidim. It was a general letter sent individually to chassidim to whom the Rebbe was writing at that time. In that letter, the Rebbe writes

19:00 A complete, very rich explanation of this wording, of the repeated expression: “Abraham was one”—the “One” shone within Abraham, and he himself was “one” in essence. The Rebbe explains that there were two levels, two stages in Abraham’s life. At first, when Abraham began his service of coming to know Hakadosh Boruch Hu and believing in Him, the “One” shone within him. In other words, he was still an entity in his own right, and the “One” shone within Abraham, as one thing shines within another. The teachings of the Torah had not yet permeated him so deeply that he himself had become one with them. But through his service, his toil and his trials, and everything he went through, he reached a deeper level: he became “one” in essence. In other words, the “One” permeated him completely, until he and the “One” truly became one. The Rebbe explains this beautifully, based on the Rambam’s words. The Rambam says in Hilchos Dei’os that a wise person is recognizable by the way he eats: “Just as a wise person is recognizable by his wisdom and his views,” and so on. Yes, and the full wording is: “So too, a wise person is recognizable by his eating and drinking, his business dealings, his manner of walking and his speech”—the Rambam goes on at length. The Rebbe explains the idea: there are two levels. There is a state in which G-dliness, faith in Hakadosh Boruch Hu, shines within a person. But when it shines throughout his entire being, that is a deeper level: everything becomes one.

20:34 But the Rebbe writes there, in closing, that this was what our Rebbeim wanted. This was what occupied them and what they hoped for: to educate and guide the chassidim of Anash—men, women and children, each in their own family—so that [unclear]. A person should not merely be someone who has faith and, in addition, is a chossid, as a separate matter. Rather, that is the whole point: Chassidus and the chossid become truly one. This is “Abraham was one”: not only did the “One” shine within him, but he became “one” in essence. May we be chassidim in a way that becomes our entire life; may the things Chassidus teaches and our lives themselves become one. And this is the parsha we learn this week, the first parsha in which we learn about the first Jew, Abraham our forefather—Parshas Lech Lecha. Abraham our forefather is the example of “Abraham was one,” of becoming “one” in essence. A Jew should be permeated with the oneness of Hashem in a way that it becomes his entire being. And that is the story of Binyamin Kletzker: it was not while he was standing in the beis midrash, amid [unclear]. Nor was it that he was a businessman who did not do calculations. He was a businessman, and that was how he lived. On the contrary: he was a businessman, a man of calculations, and he made a calculation. That is, he was in the world and fully engaged in it. And yet, precisely there he [unclear]. In other words, to be within the world, within everyday life—that is the truth,

22:02 the “all your deeds should be for the sake of Heaven” and the “know Him in all your ways”: that the oneness of Hashem should be present there, in daily life, in everyday matters, in material matters, in the affairs of the world; that there are not two worlds here. In his eating, his drinking, his business dealings, his strolling and his walking—that is the truth: here a chossid walks, here a chossid eats, here a chossid sleeps, here a chossid lives. Chassidus permeates him even in his ordinary affairs, in daily life. And this is the true preparation, the most immediate preparation, for the revelation of Moshiach. Then there will be the true revelation of Hashem’s oneness in the world—“The earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea.” And with it, truly, “The glory of Hashem will be revealed, and all flesh together will see that the mouth of Hashem has spoken”—the revelation of Moshiach, whom we should merit to see with our physical eyes, this very day.