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00:00 The Gemara in Kiddushin, page 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 Torah study greater, or is action greater? We know that in Judaism we have two central things. There is Torah study—and Torah study is not only a mitzvah, but a value in its own right: to learn, to know, and to increase 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 Peah says, “And Torah study is equal to them all.” So is study the greatest thing, or is action greater? Action means fulfilling the mitzvos, bringing what we learn into practice. That was the debate. The Gemara says Rabbi Tarfon held that action is greater. Rabbi Akiva held that 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 among the commentators, including Rashi and Tosafos. The Gemara also discusses it in Bava Kamma, page 17, where Rashi and Tosafos comment on it. What exactly does it mean? Is the conclusion that study is greater? Despite the—what you might call—play on words in saying “study is greater because it leads to action,” it still leaves you wondering. Does that mean study is greater, or action is greater? Is study great only because it leads to action, or is study a value in its own right? There are many explanations. Broadly speaking, what emerges 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 consider

02:23 each one on its own, each has greatness—meaning importance. There is something very special about Torah study, even as a value in its own right. Learning is a truly wonderful thing. And action is also a value in its own right, something special with its own particular importance. But the final conclusion, “study is greater because it leads to action,” means that when you have study, the value of both is included in it. Study itself has value in its own right, and when you learn, that learning will lead you to action. So you will have both. As the early commentators say, you have both study and action here, because study will bring you to action: you have both in your hands. There are other explanations too, but broadly speaking, we hear in this Gemara an interesting debate between these great Tannaim. We hear Rabbi Akiva saying study is greater, and Rabbi Tarfon saying action is greater. And in the final conclusion, we hear that study has a special greatness—though, of course, part of that greatness is that it leads to action. That is the Gemara. Now we want to understand what this whole debate is really about. What exactly is the question of whether study or action is greater? What does the conclusion, “study is greater because it leads to action,” mean? What is the conclusion, really? And here there is another wonderful point, a major insight from the Alter Rebbe. In one of his maamarim from 5567, the Alter Rebbe, the author of the 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 the practice of mitzvos, before action. In the second paragraph, “And it shall 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—and afterward it says, “You shall teach them to your children after you.” Torah study is written after the performance of mitzvos. The Alter Rebbe says something astonishing. He cites 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”—corresponds to 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 house, when you travel on the road, when you lie down, and when you rise.” That refers to the mitzvah of Torah study. It comes first because study leads to action. Only afterward comes, “You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand.” The Alter Rebbe says: That is what the Tannaim decided and ruled for the present time. Right now, that is how it is: study is greater because it leads to action. But in the future, when Moshiach Tzidkeinu comes, the conclusion will be that action is greater. Then, says the Alter Rebbe, the extraordinary power hidden in action will be revealed, and the conclusion will be that action is greater. This is an astonishing insight, but that is what the Alter Rebbe says. What—this is interesting—what does it mean? We hear several things here. First, we hear that learning 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 debate between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon. On the other hand, we hear the conclusion that study is greater because it leads to action. Then we hear something remarkable and new: that decision, that conclusion, applies only in the present time. In the future, action will be greater. What does that mean? What does it mean that, in the present time, study is greater because it leads to action? And what exactly will happen in the future

07:04 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, and also what the conclusion means. Why do we say this, and what does the Alter Rebbe mean when he says that now, in the present time, study is greater because it leads to action, whereas in the future—in the days of Moshiach—the superiority of action will be revealed? The subject of action especially concerns us, because we know that, particularly in our times, in this last period, in the last generation, the emphasis is specifically on action. We saw that emphasis constantly, especially from the Rebbe. He repeated it all the time. You could say it was one of the phrases we heard most often from the Rebbe in his sichos. In thousands of sichos, at almost every farbrengen, he returned to it again and again: “Action is the main thing.” In other words, this seems to follow Rabbi Tarfon’s position—or, as the Alter Rebbe said, the superiority of action will be revealed in the future. On that basis, the Rebbe said it constantly: “Action is the main thing.” Where do those words come from? “Action is the main thing.” We could say they come from the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos. At the end of its first chapter, the Mishnah quotes Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel: “All my days I grew up among the Sages, and I found nothing better for the body than silence.” And there he says, “It is not study that is the main thing, but action.” That is apparently the source of the expression “action is the main thing”: “It is not study that is the main thing, but action.” So in Pirkei Avos too, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel seems to rule like Rabbi Tarfon: action is the main thing, not study. What is this whole subject really about? So

09:33 There is a wonderful explanation the Rebbe once gave in connection with the weekly parsha as well. And here we come to a very interesting subject connected with the meeting between the brothers and Yosef in Parshas Vayigash, where we find the historic meeting between Yehudah and Yosef: “And Yehudah approached him and said, ‘Please, my lord.’” The explanation of this whole point lies in the story of Yehudah and Yosef. Study and action: on the one hand, study is greater; on the other hand, action is greater; from a third perspective, study is greater because it leads to action; and from a fourth perspective, in the time to come, action is the main thing. So, the story of Yehudah and Yosef. If we look at the weekly parsha, Yosef is at the center of things. Yosef is the viceroy, and Yehudah comes to him. Yehudah bows to Yosef, as all his brothers do. “And Yehudah approached him”—although Yehudah speaks forcefully and stands up to speak with the full weight of the situation, to explain that what Yosef wants to do, taking Binyamin, is not going to happen. That is the whole story. But in practice, who is sitting on the throne? Yosef. And Yehudah addresses him, “Please, my lord,” and asks for mercy. That is in the weekly parsha. In the haftorah we read this week, there is a wonderful account from Yechezkel that Tanach tells us. Hashem tells the prophet Yechezkel to take two pieces of wood, to write “Yehudah” on one and “Ephraim, Yosef” on the other. And something wonderful happens in that prophecy. Hashem tells the prophet Yechezkel this: Until now there have been two kingdoms. We all know that after the time of King Shlomo, in the time of Rechavam, the tribes split into two groups. There were 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 after him came a succession of kings of Yisroel over the Ten Tribes. On the other side were Yehudah and Binyamin, who were

12:18 the group ruled by the kings of Yehudah. And so it remained for a long time. For almost the entire period of the First Beis Hamikdash, 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, and join them together into one piece. He tells him that until now there have been two kingdoms, but in the time to come Moshiach will arrive. The time will come when there will no longer be two kingdoms, and they will never again be divided into two kingdoms. “And My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd.” From then on, with the coming of Moshiach, the king Moshiach will come from the house of David—“My servant David,” a king from the house of Yehudah. He will be the king over the Jewish people, the sole king, and 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 viceroy, as the one at the head, and Yehudah approaches him. Who is at the center? Yosef, while Yehudah must submit to Yosef and ask him for mercy. But in the haftorah—and we know that the Sages established the haftoros with care, choosing a haftorah related to the parsha. As is explained in detail, why was the whole practice of reading the haftoros instituted? There was once a decree that prevented people from reading from the Torah, so they read a haftorah related to the parsha. They chose this particular haftorah, and it tells us the opposite: a time will come when Yosef will submit to Yehudah, and there will be only one king. And who will that king be? “And My servant David shall be their leader forever.” Chassidus explains the depth of this matter. What exactly does Yehudah represent? What exactly does Yosef represent? And how does this connect with everything we discussed earlier—with what is, in essence, the debate?

14:33 This is really the question here: Is action greater, or is study greater? When we speak about Yosef and Yehudah, we can understand what each one represents through their names. Yosef represents 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: adding, not staying in one place, going from strength to strength, moving forward, rising, growing, and developing. Yosef’s theme is connected with study. In Torah study, a person does not stay in one place. Studying wisdom means learning something new every day. Whatever I learn, afterward I discover a deeper level in it. I ask questions, find answers, delve deeper, and learn more and more. “Let days speak, and the multitude of years teach wisdom.” In learning, a person is constantly growing. That is the nature of learning, and learning demands growth. Learning itself brings growth. That is what the name Yosef represents: the power of Torah, the power of learning, through which a person grows and goes from strength to strength. The name Yehudah comes from the word for acknowledgment: “This time I will give thanks to Hashem.” Right? When Leah gave her son his name, she said, “This time I will give thanks to Hashem.” Acknowledgment. The word “acknowledge” 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 actually think differently, but I acknowledge it. I acknowledge that you are right. Acknowledging is a kind of self-nullification, in which a person sets aside his own opinion in favor of another’s. The same applies, on an even deeper level,

17:06 to the whole idea of saying thank you. When a person says thank you—when a Jew gets up in the morning and says, “Modeh ani before You”—the point of “Modeh ani before You” is a kind of lowering one’s head and saying, “I am Yours.” It is a commitment of oneself. A Jew gets up in the morning and says Modeh Ani. It is not just saying, “Thank You, Hashem, for giving me life.” It is much more than that. Chassidus explains the deeper meaning of Modeh Ani: it is a Jew’s commitment of himself, as he says to Hakadosh Boruch Hu when he gets up in the morning, “I am Yours, entirely.” This acknowledgment, this self-nullification, is connected with the power of action, because when it comes to action, it is hard to speak of growth. Action means doing what I am commanded to do. When we speak about action, as in observing the mitzvos, we say, “Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us.” A Jew must observe the Shulchan Aruch exactly as Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. Do not add and do not subtract. If a person feels like putting more than four passages in his tefillin, that is forbidden. If you want to add and grow, that is in Torah study. Observing the mitzvos calls for kabbolas ol of the kingdom of Heaven: submitting to the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu and doing what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. That self-nullification is the acknowledgment, the Yehudah, in observing the mitzvos. So Yosef represents the view that study is greater, and Yehudah represents the view that action is greater. Accordingly, we can also understand exactly what the debate is. Why does it make sense to say that study is greater, and why, on the other hand, does it make sense to say that action is greater? Because on the one hand, you say: learning, growth—that is the wonderful thing Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave a person. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us intellect. That is the unique quality a person has, distinguishing him from all the animals and from everything else in creation—the inanimate, plants, and animals. The human being has the advantage of intellect. Intellect has growth,

19:24 Growth, going from strength to strength—that is the main quality of a human being: the intellect. So when Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us His wondrous wisdom, and a person studies and uses the power of his intellect to connect his mind with the divine wisdom of the Torah, there is nothing greater, nothing more wondrous. Study is greater. So Yosef comes along and says, “Study is greater.” And Rabbi Akiva, Akiva ben Yosef, adopted that approach. He says that study is greater, because in 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 the intellect is the most wondrous thing in a person, and that there is nothing more wondrous than connecting your mind with divine wisdom. But there is something deeper in a Jew: a Jew is truly a part of G-d above. And a Jew has the power of self-nullification. He doesn’t think about where he can grow or develop, but about what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants of him. What does Hakadosh Boruch Hu want of me? 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’s something remarkable that we see in Tanya. In its opening chapters, when the Alter Rebbe discusses Torah and mitzvos, he explains in chapter 5 how extraordinary Torah study is: when a Jew studies Torah, he becomes one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In the words of Tanya: “This is a wondrous union, the like or equal of which is not found at all in the physical world—to become one and united from every side and angle.” You want to become united? There is no more wondrous way than to become united

21:33 when my mind becomes one with divine wisdom. This doesn’t happen with any other mitzvah, as the Alter Rebbe explains there at length. Later, though, in chapters 36 and 37 of Tanya, after all these wondrous things, the Alter Rebbe says: But when a Jew looks at the Torah and thinks about what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants, he comes to the famous teaching of our Sages that Chabad Chassidus speaks about so much: “Hakadosh Boruch Hu desired a dwelling place for Himself in the lower realms.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants specifically this physical world to become His dwelling place. And to make the physical world into a dwelling place, Torah study does not accomplish that fully. Torah is spiritual; it is intellectual. It is not yet the lower realm, not yet the physical. It is not yet taking the material world and bringing Hakadosh Boruch Hu into it. We accomplish that through doing mitzvos. That requires self-nullification, because action, for a person, is a kind of descent, a kind of lowering of himself. Dealing with practical acts—tefillin, tzitzis, the boundaries and details of halachah, physical things—and doing them precisely this way, at this time, in this place, according to these rules, being deeply involved in physical things: for someone whose strengths are intellect, emotions and spirituality, suddenly coming down into the world of action is a kind of descent. And this 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 before the divine will. Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants action from me, and when I set myself aside before the divine will, there is nothing greater than that. So that is the question here: Is study greater, or is action greater? What is the Gemara’s conclusion? The Gemara says: “Study is greater, for it leads to action.” That is, in the present time, as we said—and as the Alter Rebbe

23:49 says—the halachah was decided for the present time: “Study is greater, for it leads to action.” What does that mean? In the present time, before the coming of Moshiach, 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. This whole idea that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has a desire, an innermost will, for the physical world to be His dwelling place, the place where He will be revealed—right now, we cannot understand or see it. On the contrary, from the way things appear to us, according to ordinary human understanding, as we said earlier, the intellect is what’s wonderful. Spirituality is what’s great. Physicality and action seem like a kind of lowering. So we say that, in the present 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 mind, my intellect, becoming one with the higher wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But what are we told? That study also leads to action. Study brings you to doing. That means self-nullification is present here too. Because when a Jew studies—and the more you study, when the study is genuine—I mean, I’m not studying because I want to say what I think, show how I understand it, or display my wisdom and show that I understand more than someone else. We’re talking about genuine study, when a Jew truly studies. Why is he studying? Because he wants to know the divine will, what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. So study will bring you to action. When a person studies in the right way, genuinely, that study will bring him to action. It will bring him to the self-nullification through which he recognizes that Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants deeds. That is what we see

25:59 when we study Torah, and that study will bring you to action. But action comes as a result of study, because in the present time we are not yet capable. That is, we cannot yet see, absorb and understand the depth of the matter: what is so profound, so important, about action that it should be the greatest thing? So study is greater. But we are taught that study itself will bring you to action; action is an expression of study. When Moshiach comes, the truth will be revealed. When Moshiach comes, we will look at the physical world and be able to see and understand what is truly contained within physicality, within this physical world. As Chassidus explains at length, it is actually in the physical world that the deepest expression of the oneness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is found, more than in any of the higher worlds. It 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 what is greatest. In the language of Chassidus: “The higher something is, the lower it descends.” The deepest and greatest thing is found specifically in what is lowest, 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 present in the deepest way. And this is brought about through the mitzvos we have performed throughout the generations. Then we will see and understand it, and action will therefore be primary. Then we will understand the great value of our deeds. And that is what is meant by Yehudah: Moshiach will come specifically from the tribe of Yehudah. This is the story of Parshas Vayigash, of the parsha in relation to the haftorah. When we read the parsha, the story is as things are in the present time. Yosef is at the center; he is second to the king. The idea of

28:17 Study is greater, and Yehudah approaches Yosef and receives from him. When you learn, the learning brings you to action, and then the greatness of action is revealed—but it comes as a result and an expression of the learning. So Yehudah has to ask Yosef, “Please, my lord,” because that is where he receives his strength. But then comes the haftarah, 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 will that truth be? “My servant David will be king over them forever.” Notice something interesting: “My servant David.” In the haftarah, King David is called “My servant”—a servant. Because that is really the whole point. What was King David’s extraordinary greatness? The unique quality we see in King David, which we did not see in anyone else, was his tremendous self-nullification before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “My servant”—a servant. David had the quality of a servant despite all his greatness. David was a king, a mighty king, King David. Yet what do we see throughout the stories about King David? His servitude, his complete self-nullification before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. All the Tehillim King David composed: “But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.” “Surely I have calmed and quieted myself”—“quieted” in the sense of something still and inanimate, like a stone. I am nothing. “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone” is said about King David. In King David we find this quality of self-nullification, of servitude. “And if He says, ‘I do not desire you,’ here I am.” As is well known, this was one of the reasons the kingship was taken from King Shaul and transferred to King David: Shaul wanted to understand. He did 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, it was a matter of kabbolas ol, accepting the yoke of Heaven. “The words of David

30:29 son of Yishai, the words of the man raised on high”—who established the yoke of Torah, who established the yoke of repentance. The yoke, the yoke—this yoke, this self-nullification, the yoke of Heaven. That was King David. And so when Moshiach comes, we will see that action is what matters most—not only as a result of learning, but because the very source of action will be revealed. The source of action is exceedingly lofty: that is where the supernal will is found, in the deepest and loftiest place. Precisely in the lower realm, in this physical world, is where the very essence of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is found, as explained at length in Chassidus. The Rebbe spoke about this at a Chanukah farbrengen that I was privileged to hear at the time, in 5742, on Zos Chanukah. The Rebbe explained this point wonderfully: the whole story of Yehudah and Yosef, the question of action and learning, and the Alter Rebbe’s revelation of the secret that in the future, action will be what matters most. That is because we, in these later generations, are close to the coming of Moshiach, so 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 these later generations, increasingly from one generation to the next, the tzaddikim and sages have emphasized the extraordinary power of action—and in our generation especially, the power of actually doing something. To seek out another Jew and another Jew, to put on tefillin with him, to bring him a mezuzah, and to help him perform a practical mitzvah. To find another Jew and another Jew and another Jew, and connect each one with the actual fulfillment of mitzvos. The actual performance of mitzvos—because we are close to the complete Geulah, when we will truly see this. “David My servant will be king over them forever, and he will be a leader for all of them.” The source of action will be revealed. Then we will see how, precisely in the physical thing, the essential power of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is found. That is why now is the time when this is emphasized so strongly, and why it is so important to invest in action. Certainly,

32:53 there must be Torah study, and Torah study must be a supreme value—the Torah that connects you with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But alongside that, in recent times there has been a particular emphasis on the idea that action is what matters most. That is why we heard so much about it, as we discussed. The Rebbe spoke about it so often at 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 on the most concrete level. And this, too, will bring us to merit the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu soon, in the most concrete way. At that same farbrengen where the Rebbe discussed this, he related the story of an interesting exchange between the Tzemach Tzedek and his son, the Rebbe Maharash. The Rebbe Maharash told his father, the Tzemach Tzedek, that a certain year was supposed to have been 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, a book of Chassidus by the Alter Rebbe, Likkutei Torah, was printed, and it speaks at length about the revelation of Moshiach. So in that sense, we had received a taste of the days of Moshiach. That was what the Tzemach Tzedek said. His son, the Rebbe Maharash, replied: But we want Moshiach in actuality. The Rebbe spoke about the same point. There is the greatness of study, and there is the greatness of action. To learn about Moshiach, to prepare for Moshiach, to know what will happen in the days of Moshiach—that is the study aspect of it. But a Jew cries out and asks: We want Moshiach in actuality. We do not want it to remain only an idea, only something we study; we want to truly merit Moshiach’s coming in actuality, in action, in this physical world. May we merit the complete Geulah through Moshiach Tzidkeinu today.