Explanations of the Prayer - Mizmor LeToda

00:00 Speaker 1 In general, uh, this chapter speaks about the days of Moshiach, as we’ve already discussed, and the whole subject of “Mizmor Lesodah.” As the Gemara says, “Mizmor Lesodah” will not cease. All the offerings will cease in the future. And the idea of the thanksgiving offering—and, by extension, “Mizmor Lesodah” as well—will remain in the future. As we discussed earlier, the fullest realization of “Know” will be in the future, because that is when such things will be revealed. At its true, highest level, this is the idea of daas elyon: above is existence and below is nonexistence, and so on. The true revelation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu will take place specifically in the future. That is when “Know” will be fulfilled—and what does that “Know” refer to? Not only daas tachton, but daas elyon as well. That is why we say “Mizmor Lesodah.” This is what it means that thanksgiving will remain specifically in the future. There is a maamar of the Rebbe on this, “Mizmor Lesodah,” from 5717. Anyone who wants to can study the maamar “Mizmor Lesodah” from 5717. There he explains at length the connection between this chapter and the future era. We want to focus on the verse, “Know that Havayah is Elokim; He made us.” We’ve already mentioned that the Rebbe also has maamarim on this verse. There is a maamar from 12 Tammuz 5740, when it was the hundredth year since the Rebbe’s birth. They had begun studying this kapitel after the Rebbe’s birthday. So the Rebbe delivered a maamar on 12 Tammuz 5740. Kapitel 100. That’s the year 5740—uh, 5739. On 12 Tammuz 5739, the Rebbe delivered the maamar “Know That Havayah Is Elokim.” There is also a maamar of the Rebbe from an earlier year, 12 Tammuz 5731, that also begins, uh, with

01:54 Speaker 1 the words “Know that Havayah is Elokim.” In short, the point of the explanations of [unclear] is contemplation. We said last week that speaking about daas means a kind of contemplation. And what kind of contemplation is needed for there to be “Know” and rejoicing? In any case, no, no—it requires contemplation. First of all, that Havayah is Elokim. Contemplating Havayah and Elokim means that Elokim, the attribute associated with nature and so on, refers to memalei kol almin, which is invested in the world. From the perspective of the name Elokim, the world is a real existence. Havayah, by contrast, is above nature. Havayah means past, present, and future as one; it relates to the boundless light of the Ein Sof, which is above the worlds. So at first glance, they seem like two different things, two different levels. From the perspective of the name Elokim, the world is a real existence, even though from a higher perspective it is not. So we need to know that Havayah is Elokim: even the G-dliness that is invested in the world and gives life to the worlds is, in truth, the light of the Ein Sof. Havayah extends into Elokim too; the boundlessness of G-dliness is expressed even through the name Elokim. They are not two separate things. Rather, Elokim is an extension of Havayah. In other words, the light of the Ein Sof is truly present, and nature itself is also above nature. Nature only appears to operate naturally, but in essence, nature too is an expression of the boundlessness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is Havayah and Elokim: sovev and memalei are all one. This calls for a particular kind of contemplation, as explained in the maamarim, especially the Rebbe Rashab’s maamar “Veyadata,” [unclear], where he explains at length how, through avodah and tzedakah, it becomes revealed in the world that Elokim and Havayah are all one. All of that is Havayah and Elokim—how sovev connects with memalei. Then there is another contemplation: “He made us.” “He made us” is a different point to contemplate. What does “He made us” mean? “He made us”

03:40 Speaker 1 emphasizes, on the one hand, “made us”—an act of making, physical creation. Physical creation is lower than sovev and memalei. Sovev and memalei, after all, and nature and miracles, are forms of revelation. There is the revelation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the form of a miracle—Havayah—and there is the revelation of G-dliness in the form of nature, the G-dly life-force invested within the parameters of the world. But that, too, is something G-dly. “Made us,” however, refers to physical existence itself—not to its nature, its qualities, its soul, or its life, but to the very existence of the physical being. That is called “made us,” an act of making. “Making” refers to physical existence itself. So how does “made us,” physical creation, come about? “He made us.” Who is “He”? “He” refers to Atzmus. “He” is the level above Havayah and above Elokim. In other words, this makes a deeper point. When we say “Havayah is Elokim,” we are talking about revelation, memalei kol almin and sovev kol almin. We are saying that sovev and memalei, miracles and nature, Havayah and Elokim, are all one. But those are all levels of revelation: a revelation of the boundless and a revelation of the finite. Here we are saying something deeper: “made us,” physical creation, is connected with “He,” referring to the Essence above His names, above both Havayah and Elokim. This is what Chassidus explains: physical existence comes from Atzmus. The Rebbe cites this [unclear]. It is discussed at length in the maamarim: physical existence specifically derives its existence from Atzmus. Hakadosh Boruch Hu has an existence that is reflected in the physical being’s sense that it exists on its own and has no source. That can come specifically from “He,” from Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. “He”—specifically Atzmus—can create it. And so he presents it in a

05:25 Speaker 1 second way. First he says “Havayah is Elokim”—that is contemplation of the revelations. From there he reaches a deeper level of contemplation. He looks at physical existence and says that it cannot come from either memalei or sovev, neither Havayah nor Elokim, because Havayah and Elokim cannot create physical existence. Only Atzmus can create physical existence. So it becomes clear that what is at work here is not merely names, but specifically “He,” Atzmus. He is the One who made us. The Rebbe explains in the maamar how the two ideas, “Havayah is Elokim” and “He made us,” are connected. After a person contemplates that Havayah is Elokim, Havayah and Elokim still appear to be opposites. Havayah is boundlessness; Elokim is nature. You say, “Havayah is Elokim,” joining Havayah and Elokim. How can they be joined? The finite and the boundless are opposites. So that, too, is possible because there is “He”—Atzmus, above Havayah and Elokim. Through the power of Atzmus, Havayah and Elokim can be joined. That is the connection between these ideas. A person begins by contemplating that Havayah is Elokim, that G-dliness above nature and nature are one. Then he comes to a deeper understanding: “He” is Atzmus, above Havayah and Elokim, and He joins Havayah and Elokim. He alone has the power and ability to bring into being—that is “made us”—to make physical existence here below in the world. What do we say after all this contemplation of the greatness of Havayah? We say, “And not we.” After contemplating “Havayah is Elokim” and “He made us,” we arrive at “And not we.” So we said, “And not we.” There is a Midrash here; as is well known, the Midrash says that there is both a written form and a reading. In our siddurim, there is only

06:59 Speaker 1 The word “lo” with an alef. But in Tanach, there is a difference here between the written text and the way it is read. It is written “velo,” with an alef. This occurs many times in Tanach, and each time there are explanations of it in Kabbalah, in Chassidus, and in the commentaries. What does it mean? Chassidus explains why it is written “velo anachnu,” with an alef, but read “velo,” with a vav. Chassidus cites the Midrash, which says that the difference is this: “velo,” with an alef—“and not we”—means that Hakadosh Boruch Hu made us, and we did not make ourselves. That is the simple meaning of “He made us”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu made us, and we did not make ourselves. We did not make ourselves; He made us. That is the meaning of “velo” with an alef. Yes. A person did not make himself; Hakadosh Boruch Hu made him. Then the Midrash explains “velo” with a vav. What does it mean? “He made us, and we are His.” It means that we belong to Him. In the words of the Midrash, “To Him we entrust our souls, and to Him we give over our souls.” That is, a Jew gives himself over for Hakadosh Boruch Hu—“velo,” with a vav, “and we are His.” The Rebbe explains in the maamarim how these two meanings are connected. When a person comes to the realization that “He made us, and not we,” with an alef—that our entire existence does not come from ourselves—that is the meaning of “He made us.” All the abilities we have, everything we have, comes from Him. It all comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So, naturally, “and not we.” What does it mean that we did not make ourselves? Of course we didn’t. What is novel about that? Could anyone think that we did

08:45 Speaker 1 make ourselves? The verse tells us that we did not make ourselves. What is it teaching us? The point is that a person can sometimes think that his achievements, the things he does, and his abilities come from his own strength, his own faculties, and his own talents—and that this is how he got where he is. [unclear], whether in holiness, righteousness, wealth, or material and spiritual strength. A person can sometimes mistakenly think that it was through his own abilities, effort, and faculties that he got where he is. So we are told, “He made us, and not we.” A Jew needs to know that everything we do, and all our success, is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu does for us. This follows what we said earlier in explaining “Hashem is Elokim”: “He made us.” When a Jew reaches that recognition, we say that because “He made us, and not we,” with an alef, therefore “He made us, and we are His,” with a vav: we entrust our souls to Him and give ourselves over. A Jew has the strength to act with mesirus nefesh. “And we are His” means that a Jew gives himself over to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, acts with mesirus nefesh, and goes beyond his own limits and boundaries, beyond all measure. That comes from recognizing “and not we.” If a person thinks he does things with his own strength, that he has his own independent existence, then his service is governed by the limits of his abilities. Inevitably, he will encounter situations where he says, “I don’t have the strength. There are limits.” But when his recognition is that “He made us, and not we,” he can come to “and we are His”: we entrust our souls to Him, recognizing that everything we have belongs to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and that we have nothing of our own. So we act with mesirus nefesh and are ready

10:23 Speaker 1 to give ourselves over to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, beyond all measure and limitations. Along these lines, there is also an explanation from the Baal Shem Tov. The Baal Shem Tov asks what it means that Hakadosh Boruch Hu “held the mountain over them like a barrel” at the Giving of the Torah. Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu hold the mountain over them like a barrel? The Jews had already said, “We will do and we will listen,” before He did that. So if they had already said it, why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu need to place the mountain over them? The point, as explained, is that when the Jews said, “We will do and we will listen,” they said it with their own strength. The Jewish people decided, on the strength of their own resolve, to say it. But ultimately, one’s own strength has limits. There can be trials and questions, things that happen in the world that a person’s mind cannot understand, and decrees that seem impossible to withstand. Then a person says, “This is as far as I can go. I can’t do it. There is a limit to what I can manage. When I said, ‘We will do and we will listen,’ my strength had its limits. I wasn’t prepared for this.” But when He held the mountain over them like a barrel, the meaning is that we were given strength from Above. He held it over them—it came from Above—because Hakadosh Boruch Hu made us His servants. And from that standpoint, there are no limits. So in any situation, a Jew is ready to give his life to serve Hashem. It is the same here: because “He made us, and not we,” with an alef, therefore “He made us, and we are His,” with a vav. Then we conclude by saying, “His people and the flock of His pasture.” And the meaning of

11:58 Speaker 1 “His people and the flock of His pasture” is that we are now speaking specifically about Jews. After reflecting on the whole idea of “He made us,” we ask what is special about the Jewish people, more than all the other inhabitants of the world. “Hashem is Elokim; He made us” applies generally. Of course, it applies primarily to the Jewish people, but it also speaks about all created beings. Here, when we say, “We are His people and the flock of His pasture,” we are speaking about a Jew. A Jew is “His people,” the people of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and a Jew is “the flock of His pasture.” Chassidus cites a Midrash that says “His people” and “the flock of His pasture” are two distinct things: “I am your King and you are My people; I am your shepherd and you are My flock.” In other words, the Jewish people’s relationship with Hakadosh Boruch Hu is both that of a king and his people and that of a shepherd and his flock. Chassidus asks: Once we have said “His people,” why add “the flock of His pasture”? Once you describe a Jew as one of His people—the people of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—what does it add, what praise is there in adding that we are also His flock? A flock consists of animals; that seems like a lower level. Which is higher, a people or a flock? Plainly, “a people” refers to human beings. A flock seems lower. So what is the virtue in adding that we are not only the people of Hakadosh Boruch Hu but also the flock of His pasture? The maamarim give several explanations. One is that these refer to the G-dly soul and the animal soul. From the perspective of the G-dly

13:46 Speaker 1 soul, we are “His people.” The human aspect refers to the G-dly soul: “You are called adam,” and “the spirit of man ascends upward.” From that perspective, we are His people. From the perspective of the animal soul—whose form is that of an animal—we are called “the flock of His pasture.” “Flock” thus also relates to a Jew’s animal soul. A Jew’s animal soul, too, can connect to G-dliness, and in that way it becomes “the flock of His pasture.” Elsewhere in Chassidus, particularly in the maamarim for this time of year, for Parshas Vayeitzei, there are many maamarim on this subject, because the parsha speaks about flocks throughout: Lavan’s flock, Yaakov’s flock, Yaakov Avinu’s work with the flock, and Rachel coming with the flock. The whole story of the parsha revolves around flocks. There are maamarim on this by the Mitteler Rebbe, by the one whose Geulah and yahrzeit we commemorate, and the Rebbe’s maamarim for 19 Kislev that are based on them. There are many maamarim, and there are sichos too. There is a very beautiful sicha—anyone who wants can look it up in Likkutei Sichos; if I’m not mistaken, it is in volume 20. It is a wonderful sicha of the Rebbe on the weekly parsha, on the subject of flocks: Lavan’s flock, and why the work is specifically with flocks. The point is that a flock has a virtue. Beyond explaining “His people and the flock of His pasture” in an order from below upward, there is an advantage to the term “flock” over “people.” The people are human beings, after all. Both the people and the king are ultimately human beings. The people are on a lower level, of course, but there is still a certain closeness between them and the king. A flock, by contrast—there is no such relationship there [unclear]. With a flock

15:23 Speaker 1 So we use the expression “like sheep led to the slaughter,” because sheep have a natural quality of bittul. The tendency toward kabbolas ol is found in sheep more than in anything else. Yes. That is why this expression is used of the Jewish people: “like sheep led to the slaughter.” They have this kabbolas ol and bittul. The Rebbe explains that this is also the meaning of the word tzon, “flock”: it is related to the word tzei, “go out.” It is the ability to go beyond one’s limits, to go beyond oneself and all one’s calculations, and to devote oneself to Hakadosh Boruch Hu with self-sacrifice and complete bittul. That is precisely what the image of sheep conveys that the image of a people does not. So the order here is “from below upward.” First, the verse emphasizes the virtue of the Jewish people as “My people.” That is the virtue of a Jew as a human being, whose service of Hashem calls for great inner involvement. Then it goes further and says, “the flock of My pasture.” That expression emphasizes bittul even more. We are like a flock with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, like sheep following their master. We follow Hakadosh Boruch Hu without calculations, even when there is no explanation, no reason and no understanding. A Jew gives himself over to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This quality of the flock is what we see especially now, during the exile. Particularly during the exile, we see both aspects—“My people” and “the flock of My pasture.” We see the bittul of Jews: although, by reason and every kind of reckoning, there is no explanation for the exile to continue, Jews nevertheless serve Hashem with self-sacrifice and follow Him. They go all the way in being “the flock of My pasture.” The Rebbe explains this in the maamarim on Parshas Vayishlach, which discuss Yaakov’s flock: it was the flock

16:57 Speaker 1 through which Yaakov was ready to move toward the Geulah. As the Midrash says, Yaakov gained his flock while with Lavan. He therefore told Esav, “To tell my master: I have acquired oxen, donkeys and sheep.” Everything he had gained with Lavan’s flock brought him to the point where he was ready for the Geulah. The Rebbe also explains that through our service now in the manner of sheep—with bittul and the self-sacrifice of sheep led to the slaughter, dedicating ourselves to the service of Hashem with self-sacrifice and complete bittul—we will very soon merit the Geulah. Then the meaning of “I am your G-d, and you are My flock” will be openly seen.

17:39 Speaker 2 Thank you.