https://youtu.be/KzJ9ib_UPk8?feature=shared

00:00 The Gemara in Kiddushin, 40b, tells an interesting story. There was a debate among the Tannaim in Rabbi Akiva’s time: Rabbi Tarfon, Rabbi Akiva, and the elders were sitting in an upper room in Lod, debating a fundamental question. What is primary, and what is greatest in Judaism? Is study greater, or is action greater? We know that in Judaism we have two main things. There is Torah study—and Torah study is not just a mitzvah; it has value in its own right. To learn, to know, and to increase one’s knowledge and wisdom. There are many verses and teachings of our Sages praising Torah study. “Torah study is equal to them all,” as we also say in the morning blessings. The Mishnah at the end of Pe’ah says, “And Torah study is equal to them all.” So is study the greatest thing, or is action greater? Action means observing the mitzvos, bringing what we learn into practice. That was the debate. The Gemara says Rabbi Tarfon said action is greater. Rabbi Akiva said study is greater. In the end they reached an interesting conclusion: Study is greater, because it leads to action. Fine. There are many explanations of this from the commentators, including Rashi and Tosafos. The Gemara also discusses it in Bava Kamma, 17a, where there is Rashi and Tosafos. What exactly does it mean? In the final conclusion, is study greater? Even with this—what you might call play on words—“Study is greater, because it leads to action,” you are still left with the question: Does that mean study is greater, or action is greater? Is study great only because it leads to action, or does study have value in its own right? There are many explanations. What emerges, generally speaking, is that Torah study really does have a special importance, and action has a special importance, and each has its own greatness. In other words, when you examine

02:23 each one on its own, there is greatness—meaning importance, something distinctive—to Torah study, even as a value in its own right. Learning is a wonderful thing. And action also has value in its own right; it is something distinctive and has a special importance. But the final conclusion, “Study is greater, because it leads to action,” means that when you have study, it contains the value of both. Study itself has value, and when you study, it will lead you to action. So you will have both. As the early commentators say, both study and action are included here, because study will lead you to action: you have both in hand. There are other explanations here too. But generally, we hear in the Gemara an interesting debate between these great Tannaim. We hear Rabbi Akiva say study is greater, and Rabbi Tarfon say action is greater. And in the final conclusion, we hear that study has a special greatness. True, part of its greatness is that it leads to action. That is the Gemara. Now we are trying to understand what the whole debate is really about. What exactly is the question of whether study or action is greater? What is the conclusion, “Study is greater, because it leads to action”? What exactly is being concluded? What does it mean? And here there is another wonderful point, a major innovation from the Alter Rebbe. In one of his maamarim from 5567, the Alter Rebbe, author of Tanya, discusses the verses of Shema Yisroel. He points out something interesting. In the first paragraph of Shema, it first says, “You shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them”—Torah study—and afterward it says, “You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes”—the practice of mitzvos. So

04:43 in the first paragraph of Shema, Torah study comes before doing mitzvos, before action. In the second paragraph, “And it will be if you listen,” the order is reversed. First it says, “You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes”—the mitzvah of tefillin. After that it says, “You shall teach them to your children.” Torah study comes after doing mitzvos. The Alter Rebbe says something remarkable. He brings the Gemara’s teaching, the dispute between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon, and says that the Gemara’s conclusion—“Study is greater, because it leads to action”—is expressed in the first paragraph of Shema. First comes study: “You shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit in your home, when you walk on the way, when you lie down, and when you rise,” which refers to the mitzvah of Torah study. That comes first, because study leads to action. Then comes, “You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand.” The Alter Rebbe says that this is what the Tannaim decided and ruled for the present time. Now, at this time, that is how it is: Study is greater, because it leads to action. But in the future, when Moshiach comes, the conclusion will be that action is greater. Then, says the Alter Rebbe, the wonderful power hidden in action will be revealed, and the conclusion will be that action is greater. This is a remarkable idea, but that is what the Alter Rebbe says. What does it mean? So we are hearing several things here. First, we hear that study has a special importance as a value in its own right, and action has importance as a value in its own right. That was the subject of the debate between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon. On the other hand, we hear the conclusion that study is greater because it leads to action. And then we hear something new and remarkable: that this decision, this conclusion, applies only at the present time. In the future, action will be greater. What does that mean? What does it mean that, at the present time, study is greater because it leads to action?

07:02 And what exactly will happen in the future that will make action greater than study? To understand all this, today we will discuss the explanation of this teaching of our Sages, the debate, and its conclusion. We will explain both sides: the value of study and the value of action. We will also try to understand the conclusion—why we say, and what the Alter Rebbe means when he says, that now, at the present time, study is greater because it leads to action; and what exactly will happen in the future, in the days of Moshiach, when the advantage of action will be revealed. The subject of action especially concerns us, because we know that particularly in our time, in the latter years, in the last generation, the emphasis is specifically on action. We saw this emphasis all the time, especially from the Rebbe. He repeated it constantly. One of the phrases we heard most often from the Rebbe in his sichos—in thousands of sichos, at almost every farbrengen—was repeated again and again: “Action is the main thing.” Seemingly, that is Rabbi Tarfon’s position. Or we could say that it follows what the Alter Rebbe said, that in the future the advantage of action will be revealed. On that basis, the Rebbe kept saying, “Action is the main thing.” Where do those words come from? We could say they come from the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos. At the end of the first chapter, the Mishnah quotes Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel: “All my days I grew up among the Sages, and I found nothing better for a person than silence.” And there he says, “It is not study that is the main thing, but action.” So the expression “Action is the main thing” apparently comes from those words: “It is not study that is the main thing, but action.” That means that in Pirkei Avos, too, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel really rules like Rabbi Tarfon: action is the main thing, not study. What

09:31 What is this whole subject really about? The Rebbe once gave a wonderful explanation in connection with the weekly parsha, and this brings us to a very interesting subject: the meeting between the brothers and Yosef in Parshas Vayigash. There we find the historic encounter between Yehudah and Yosef: “And Yehudah approached him and said, ‘Please, my lord.’” The explanation of this whole point lies in their story. Torah study and action: on the one hand, Torah study is greater; on the other, action is greater; then there is the view that Torah study is greater because it leads to action; and in the future, action will be the main thing. So let’s look at the story of Yehudah and Yosef. In the weekly parsha, Yosef is at the center of events. Yosef is second to the king, and Yehudah comes to him. Yehudah bows to Yosef, just as all his brothers do. “And Yehudah approached him”—although Yehudah speaks forcefully and stands before him with all the gravity of the situation, to explain that Yosef is not going to do what he wants and take Binyamin. That’s the whole story. But in practice, who is sitting on the throne? Yosef. And Yehudah addresses him as “my lord” and pleads for mercy. That’s in the weekly parsha. In the haftorah we read this week, there is a wonderful account from Yechezkel. Hashem tells the prophet Yechezkel to take two pieces of wood and write “Yehudah” on one and “Ephraim, Yosef” on the other. Something remarkable happens in that prophecy. Hashem tells Yechezkel: Until now there have been two kingdoms. As we all know, after the time of King Shlomo, in the time of Rechavam, the tribes of the Jewish people split into two groups: the kings of Yehudah and the kings of Yisroel. The kings of Yisroel began with a king from the tribe of Ephraim, from the house of Yosef—Yeravam ben Nevat—and afterward came the line of the kings of Yisroel, ruling over the Ten Tribes,

12:14 while on the other side were Yehudah and Binyamin, the group ruled by the kings of Yehudah. That continued for a long time. For almost the entire First Beis Hamikdash period, there were two kingdoms: the kingdom of Yehudah and the kingdom of Ephraim. Hashem tells the prophet Yechezkel, who was a prophet at the time of the destruction, between the First and Second Beis Hamikdash, to take two pieces of wood, one for Yehudah and one for Yosef, join them together, and make them one piece of wood. He tells him that until now there have been two kingdoms, but in the future Moshiach will come. A time will come when there will no longer be two kingdoms, “nor will they be divided into two kingdoms again.” “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd.” From the time Moshiach comes, the king Moshiach, from the house of David, will be king. “My servant David will be king”—he will come from the house of Yehudah and be the sole king over the Jewish people. All the Jewish people, all the tribes together, will be under King David. So here we see something astonishing. In the weekly parsha, we learn about Yosef as second to the king, the one in charge, whom Yehudah approaches. Who is at the center? Yosef, and Yehudah must humble himself before Yosef and plead for mercy. But the haftorah—we know the Sages instituted the haftoros with care, so that each haftorah relates to the parsha. As is explained in detail, the reason the haftoros were instituted was that there was once a decree forbidding the reading of the Torah, so they read a passage from the Prophets related to the parsha. And the haftorah chosen tells us the opposite: a time will come when Yosef will humble himself before Yehudah, and there will be only one king. Who will that king be? “My servant David will be their leader forever.” Chassidus explains the deeper meaning here. What exactly does Yehudah represent? What exactly does Yosef represent, and how does it connect with

14:29 everything we discussed earlier? That is really the disagreement. The question is whether action is greater or Torah study is greater. To understand what Yosef and Yehudah each represent, we can look at their names. Yosef represents Torah study. Yehudah represents action, and we can understand this from their names. The name Yosef comes from the word meaning “to add”: “May Hashem add another son for me.” Yosef means addition. Addition means growth—not standing in one place, but adding strength to strength, moving forward, rising, advancing, growing, maturing and developing. Yosef’s theme is connected with Torah study. When a person studies Torah, he does not remain in one place. The study of wisdom—wisdom is something in which a person learns something new every day. Whatever I learn, I later discover greater depth in it. I ask questions, find answers, delve deeper, and learn more and more. “Days will speak, and many years will reveal wisdom.” In learning, a person is constantly growing. That is the nature of learning, and learning demands growth. Learning itself brings about growth. That is the idea of... And that is what the name Yosef represents: the power of Torah, the power of learning, through which a person continually grows and goes from strength to strength. The name Yehudah comes from the word for acknowledgment or thanks: “This time I will thank Hashem.” Right? When Leah named her son, she said, “This time I will thank Hashem.” Acknowledgment. The word for acknowledging means precisely the opposite of understanding. When a person acknowledges something, it usually involves lowering his head. “I acknowledge that you are right.” I may have understood it differently and may think differently, but I acknowledge it. I acknowledge that you are right. Acknowledgment is a kind of self-nullification, in which a person sets aside

17:01 his own opinion in favor of someone else’s. The same is true, on a deeper level, of saying thank you. When a Jew gets up in the morning, he says Modeh Ani—“I acknowledge You.” Saying “I acknowledge You” means, in a sense, lowering your head and saying, “I am Yours.” It is devotion. When a Jew gets up in the morning and says Modeh Ani, it is not only saying, “Thank You, Hashem, for giving me life.” It is much more than that. Chassidus explains the deeper meaning of Modeh Ani as the Jew’s devotion: when he gets up in the morning, he tells Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “I am entirely Yours.” This acknowledgment, this self-nullification, is connected with the power of action, because it is hard to speak of growth in action. Action means doing what I am commanded to do. When we speak of action, of observing mitzvos, we say, “Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us.” A Jew must follow the Shulchan Aruch exactly as Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. “Do not add; do not subtract.” If a person feels like making his tefillin contain more than four passages, that is forbidden. If you want to add and grow, that belongs in Torah study. Observing mitzvos is kabbolas ol of the Kingdom of Heaven: submitting to the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu and doing what He wants. That self-nullification is the acknowledgment represented by Yehudah in the observance of mitzvos. So Yosef represents the view that Torah study is greater, and Yehudah represents the view that action is greater. Now we can also understand the reasoning on both sides. Why does it make sense to say that Torah study is greater, and why does it make sense, on the other hand, to say that action is greater? On the one hand, you say: learning and growth are the wonderful gift Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave human beings. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us intellect. That is the unique quality of a human being, distinguishing him from all animals and from all other created beings—the inanimate, plants and animals. The speaking being

19:20 He has the advantage of intellect. Intellect can grow and develop, going from strength to strength, and that is the main advantage of a human being: the mind. So when Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us His wondrous wisdom, and a person studies, using the power of his intellect to connect his mind with the Divine wisdom of the Torah, there is nothing greater or more wonderful than that. Study is greater. So Yosef comes and says, “Study is greater.” And Rabbi Akiva, Akiva ben Yosef, adopted that approach. He says study is greater, because in Torah study you find the most wondrous thing: the deepest connection between a Jew’s mind and the Divine wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. On the other hand, action is greater. What is there in action? Self-nullification. It’s true that intellect is the most wonderful thing in a person, and there is nothing more wonderful than connecting your mind with Divine wisdom. But there is something deeper in a Jew: a Jew is literally a part of G-d above. A Jew has the power of self-nullification. He doesn’t think about where he can grow or develop, but rather: What does Hakadosh Boruch Hu want from me? What does Hakadosh Boruch Hu want from me? It is the ability to set himself aside, even the most wonderful things about himself, and think about the Divine will. The Alter Rebbe explains this to us in Tanya. There is something remarkable we see in Tanya. In its opening chapters, when the Alter Rebbe discusses Torah and mitzvos, he explains in chapter 5 the extraordinary greatness of Torah study: when a Jew studies Torah, he becomes one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In the words of Tanya: “This is a wondrous union, the like of which, or anything comparable to it, is not found at all in the physical world—to become one and united from every side

21:29 and angle.” You want to become united? There is no more wondrous way than for my mind to unite with Divine wisdom. You don’t have that with any other mitzvah, as the Alter Rebbe explains there at length. But later on in Tanya, in chapters 36 and 37, the Alter Rebbe says: After all these wonderful things, when a Jew looks at the Torah and thinks about what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants, he comes to the well-known teaching of our Sages that Chabad Chassidus discusses so often: “Hakadosh Boruch Hu desired to have a dwelling place in the lower realms.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants this physical world specifically to become His dwelling place. And to make the physical world into a dwelling place, Torah study does not accomplish that fully. Torah is something spiritual; it is intellect. It is still not the lower realm, still not the physical. It is still not taking the materiality of the world and bringing Hakadosh Boruch Hu there. That is what we achieve through the actual performance of mitzvos. That requires self-nullification, because action, for a person, is a kind of descent, a kind of lowering himself. Dealing with technical actions—tefillin, tzitzis, the restrictions, the halachos, the physical details—and doing them specifically this way, at this time, in this place, according to these rules, being so deeply involved in physical things: for a person, whose strengths are intellect, emotion, and spirituality, suddenly descending into the world of action is a kind of descent. And that is where self-nullification comes in. Yehudah—“I acknowledge.” It isn’t about what I understand or what I feel. I acknowledge; I set aside my own opinion for the Divine will. Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants me to act, and when I set myself aside for the Divine will, there is nothing greater than that. So that, essentially, is the question here: Is study greater, or is action greater? What does the Gemara conclude? It says: Study is greater, because it leads to action.

23:44 In other words, in our time, as we said—and as the Alter Rebbe says—the halachah has been decided: study is greater because it leads to action. “In our time” means that we are still before the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. We still do not see the perfection of creation, which is the purpose of creation. When Moshiach comes, the depth of these things will be revealed. We say that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has a desire, an innermost will, for the physical world to be a dwelling place, the place where He will be revealed. Right now, we cannot understand or see that. On the contrary, from the way we see things, from a person’s straightforward understanding, as we said earlier, intellect is the wonderful thing. Spirituality is the great thing. Physicality and action are a kind of descent. So we say that in our time, study is greater, because that is what we can see: study, growth, understanding. And we are talking about the true greatness of study—my wisdom, my mind, uniting with the supreme wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But what else are we told? Study is greater because it leads to action. Study brings you to act. That means self-nullification is present here too. When a Jew studies—and the more you study, provided the study is genuine—it means I am not studying because I want to say what I think, show how I understand things, or display my wisdom and show that I understand more than someone else. We are talking about genuine study, when a Jew truly studies. So why does he study? Because he wants to know the Divine will, what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. Then study will lead you to action. When a person studies in the right way, with genuine study, that study will bring him to act. It will bring him to the self-nullification through which he recognizes

25:56 that Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants deeds. That is what we see when we study Torah, and the study will indeed bring you to action. But the action comes as a result of the study, because in our time we are not yet capable. That is, we cannot yet see, absorb, and understand the depth of it: what is truly so deep and so important about action that it is the greatest thing? So study is greater. But we are told that study itself will bring you to action. Action, then, is an expression of study. When Moshiach comes, the truth will be revealed. When Moshiach comes, we will see the physical world and understand what is truly hidden within the physical, within this physical world. As explained at length in Chassidus, it is in physicality that the deepest expression of the oneness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is found, more than in all the higher worlds. That is what we spoke about earlier: the dwelling place of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Where is the essence of Hakadosh Boruch Hu found? Specifically in this physical world. Here we connect with the greatest thing. In the language of Chassidus, the higher something is, the lower it is revealed. The deepest and greatest thing is found precisely in the lowest thing—in action, in the physical. When Moshiach comes, we will see the physical world and truly recognize that here, in physical reality, the truth of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is found in its deepest form. And this is brought about through the mitzvos we perform throughout all the generations. Then we will see and understand it, and that is why action will be primary. Then we will understand the great value of our actions. And that is what we mean when we say: Yehudah—Moshiach will come specifically from the tribe of Yehudah. This is the story of Parshas Vayigash, the parsha in relation to the haftorah. When we read the parsha, the story is presented as it is in our time.

28:12 Yosef is at the center; he is second to the king. Here, Torah study is greater, and Yehudah approaches Yosef and receives from him. When you learn, your learning brings you to action, and then the virtue of action is revealed—but it comes as a result and expression of learning. So Yehudah has to ask Yosef, “Please, my lord,” because that is where he will receive his strength. But then comes the haftorah, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells Yechezkel: The time will come when there will no longer be two kingdoms, and then the truth will be revealed. What is the truth? “And My servant David will be king over them forever.” Notice something interesting: “My servant David.” In the haftorah, King David is called “My servant”—a servant. Because that is where the whole point lies. King David: What was his extraordinary greatness? What was the quality we see in King David that we did not see in anyone else? King David had this quality of tremendous self-nullification before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “My servant”—a servant. David was a servant despite all his greatness. David was a king, a mighty king. Yet what do we see throughout the accounts of King David? His servitude, his absolute self-nullification before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Throughout the Tehillim that King David composed: “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.” “Surely I have stilled and quieted myself”—“quieted” in the sense of being inanimate, like a stone. I am nothing. “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” was said about King David. In King David we find this theme of self-nullification, of servitude. “And if He says, ‘I do not desire you,’ here I am.” And as is well known, this was one of the reasons the kingship was taken from King Shaul and given to King David: Shaul wanted to understand. He could not understand why—why kill all of Amalek, why kill the sheep? That was the source of his whole mistake, and that is why King Shaul lost the kingship. With King David, there was

30:25 kabbolas ol malchus Shamayim—accepting the yoke of Heaven. “The words of David son of Yishai, the words of the man raised on high”: he established the yoke of Torah; he established the yoke of teshuvah. The yoke, the yoke—that self-nullification, the yoke of Heaven. That was King David. And so, when Moshiach comes, we will see that action is the main thing—not only as a result of learning, but because the very source of action will be revealed. The source of action is far above, where the supreme will is found at its deepest and loftiest level: specifically here below, in this physical world, is where the very essence of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is found, as explained at length in the teachings of Chassidus. The Rebbe spoke about this at a Chanukah farbrengen that I had the privilege of hearing at the time, on Zos Chanukah 5742. The Rebbe explained this point in a most wonderful way: the whole story of Yehudah and Yosef, the question of action and learning, and the secret the Alter Rebbe revealed—that in the future, action will be the main thing. Because we are in the later generations, close to the coming of Moshiach, the time has come to prepare for that era. That is why Chassidus revealed the power of action specifically in recent times. And that is why we see that in the later generations, more and more with each passing generation, the tzaddikim and sages emphasized the extraordinary power of action. And in our generation especially, the power of doing things in practice: seeking out one more Jew and then another, putting on tefillin with him, bringing him a mezuzah, helping him fulfill a practical mitzvah. Finding one more Jew, and another, and another, and connecting each of them to actually fulfilling mitzvos. The actual performance of mitzvos—because we are close to the complete Geulah, when we will truly see this: “And David My servant will be king over them forever, and he will be a prince for them all.” The source of action will be revealed. Then we will see that it is precisely in the physical that the essential power of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is found. That is why, now, so much emphasis is placed on how important

32:50 it is to invest in doing. Certainly we must study Torah, and Torah study has supreme value; Torah connects you with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But at the same time, in this recent period, there is tremendous emphasis on the principle that action is the main thing. That is why we heard so much about it, as we discussed. The Rebbe spoke about it so often at the farbrengens: things must not remain only on the level of ideas, reasoning, thought and outlook, but must be carried out in practice. Go out into the world and do it. Bring Yiddishkeit into practice at the most tangible level. And this, too, will bring us to merit the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu very soon, in the most tangible way. At that same farbrengen, when the Rebbe spoke about this subject, he related a story about an interesting exchange between the Tzemach Tzedek and his son, the Rebbe Maharash. The Rebbe Maharash said to his father, the Tzemach Tzedek, that a certain year had been expected to be the year of Moshiach Tzidkeinu’s coming, but the year had passed and Moshiach had not come. So he asked him, “What happened? Why didn’t Moshiach come?” His father told him, “That year, Likkutei Torah, a book of Chassidus by the Alter Rebbe, was printed, and it speaks a great deal about the revelation of Moshiach. So, in effect, we received a taste of the days of Moshiach.” That was the Tzemach Tzedek’s answer. His son, the Rebbe Maharash, replied, “But we want Moshiach in actuality.” The Rebbe spoke about that same point: there is the greatness of study, and there is the greatness of action. Studying about Moshiach, preparing for Moshiach, knowing what will happen in the days of Moshiach—that is the study side of it. But a Jew cries out and asks: We want Moshiach in actuality. It must not remain only an idea, or something we study. We want to truly merit Moshiach in actuality, here in this physical world, and to merit the complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu this very day.