Explanations of the Prayer - Ashrei - Part 4

00:00 Ashrei is part of Pesukei Dezimra. Of the six chapters in this section of Pesukei Dezimra, Ashrei is the heart of it, the most central chapter. It is, as it were, the foundation of all Pesukei Dezimra. Now let’s get to its content. As we enter the chapter of Ashrei, there’s a Gemara—we mentioned it last time as well. The Gemara says: “Anyone who recites Tehillah LeDavid three times every day is assured that he is a member of the World to Come.” So the Gemara asks: What is special about Tehillah LeDavid? At first, the Gemara suggests that it’s because it contains the entire alphabet. The chapter of Tehillah LeDavid has all the letters of the alphabet except for the letter nun, which we’ll discuss later. But apart from that, it has the entire alphabet. The Gemara says: If it’s because of the letters of the alphabet, why this chapter? There’s chapter 119, which has the entire alphabet eight times over. That would be even better—let’s say chapter 119! Imagine having to say chapter 119 every day; it would be hard to be a Jew. So what does the Gemara answer? It says no, there’s another quality: this chapter speaks about food, about sustenance. “You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” It speaks about Hashem providing for living creatures. But the Gemara asks: There’s also “Who gives food to all flesh,” in another chapter. So the Gemara answers that this chapter has both qualities together: it follows the alphabet, and it says, “You open Your hand.” Now, a question is raised about this, because there’s another chapter like it.

02:42 That’s chapter 34, which we say on Shabbos: “Of David, when he changed his behavior before Avimelech.” It, too, follows the entire alphabet. Each verse begins with the next letter, and it also speaks about sustenance, about food. What does it say there? “Young lions may lack and go hungry, but those who seek Hashem will lack no good thing.” That, too, is about food and sustenance; we say it in bentching. So the commentators explain that the difference between chapter 34 and Ashrei is that chapter 34 says, “Those who seek Hashem will lack no good thing.” It is those who seek Hashem, people who serve Hashem, who will lack nothing. But this chapter says, “You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” It sets no condition that one must seek Hashem. It speaks of Hashem providing for every living thing, giving them what they desire—every living thing, without conditions. That is why Ashrei has an advantage over the other chapters that mention this subject. So that is the chapter’s quality according to the Gemara. But we still need to understand: What is the virtue of the alphabet? The subject of food and sustenance is obviously important—it’s essential to human life. But what exactly is special about having the verses arranged in alphabetical order? On the simple level, the idea is that the alphabet contains all the letters. In other words, having all the verses in alphabetical order suggests

04:44 praising Hakadosh Boruch Hu with every kind of praise, in every way, using every letter. This is similar to something the Rebbe once explained. The Rebbe would customarily say before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, “May you become wealthy,” “may you sow,” or “may you be redeemed”—based on the Yom Kippur prayer, which lists blessings in various forms, following the entire alphabet. The Rebbe explained that the point is not to limit the blessings for the new year to those particular things. Rather, mentioning one word beginning with a given letter includes all the good things that begin with that letter. So when we use every letter of the alphabet, it encompasses every kind of blessing. We take just one as an example, but it includes all the blessings in every category and every area. That is why we specifically mention the entire alphabet: to express every kind of praise in its fullness. The same applies here in Ashrei. The verses follow the alphabet to emphasize that we praise Hakadosh Boruch Hu in every way, with every letter of the alphabet—the full range of praises. That is one of this chapter’s qualities. All this is the straightforward understanding, based on the Gemara. But according to Chassidus, there is a very beautiful explanation here, discussed in many maamarim. In general, when you study Ashrei on the straightforward level—presumably the bochurim pray with an understanding of the words, as everyone should—if you look at what the words of Ashrei mean, it can be a little hard to understand what it’s saying. What do I mean? It seems as though many verses repeat the same thing, the same

06:34 idea. The chapter of Ashrei seems to have many verses that say the same thing over and over in different words. “I will exalt You, my G-d, the King.” “Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever,” and so on. It all seems to be saying that I praise and extol Hashem, using all sorts of expressions—different words, but seemingly the same idea. Yet when you look at it according to Chassidus, you see something entirely different. In Chassidus, every verse is a world of its own. But first let’s explain the chapter’s overall theme according to Chassidus; afterward we’ll look at the details. Its overall theme is the sefirah of Malchus. That is why it begins “Tehillah LeDavid.” We know that King David was associated with the sefirah of Malchus. As a king, that was his whole nature. When we speak of the seven shepherds—Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Moshe, Aharon, Yosef, and David—David is the seventh, corresponding to Malchus. We see in many ways that King David’s soul was bound up with Malchus. Now, we know that Malchus is a distinctive sefirah. It is the source of all created beings. As we’ll see later in the chapter, “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds.” The sefirah of Malchus gives to all the worlds, all created beings, and all the angels. They all receive from Malchus; none is outside it. Malchus is the source of influence for all created beings. That is the difference between Malchus and the other sefiros: the other sefiros are, as it were, qualities and praises of Hakadosh Boruch Hu in Himself. They, too, have a connection to the world, but not exclusively. The whole concern of the sefirah of Malchus is the world. That is the whole

08:41 It’s a matter of a king. A king’s whole role is to lead the people and the country. So malchus is the source of all created beings, all the angels, and all the... the source of animals and inanimate things. All of that comes from malchus. But in the language of Chassidus, this is the “word of Hashem.” Malchus is called the word of Hashem: “By the word of Hashem the heavens were made.” Malchus is the mouth, as it says in Patach Eliyahu. The sefirah of malchus is speech. Just as a king governs his country through commands and decrees that he speaks aloud, and that becomes the way the whole country operates, so too with the sefirah of malchus. It is the word of Hashem—“By the word of Hashem the heavens were made”—from which all created beings, down to their every detail, came into being, as explained at length in Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah. It reaches the entire world, down to every detail. The souls of the Jewish people have a special connection with malchus, because, as is well known, the sefirah of malchus is called Knesses Yisroel. The Tanya mentions several times that malchus is called Knesses Yisroel, the Shechinah. Why? Because although malchus is, in general, the source of all created beings, inwardly its essential role is specifically as the source of souls. As explained in Chassidus, malchus has two aspects, called the external dimension of malchus and the inner dimension of malchus. The external dimension is malchus as speech, as the mouth: it gives life to created beings and brings them all into being—angels, inanimate things, plants, animals, everything in creation. In other words, every particular created being. That is the external dimension of malchus: speech. But there is also the inner dimension of malchus, associated with thought, which is the inner dimension of speech. That is the source of souls. As the Tanya says, “The Jewish people arose in thought.” The difference between the Jewish people and all other created beings is that all created beings come from Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s speech, the external dimension of malchus, while souls come

10:35 from the inner dimension of malchus, the aspect of thought. These are two levels within malchus. That is why malchus is also called Knesses Yisroel: because of its inner dimension, the source of souls. And King David is the collective soul of malchus. That is to say, King David was the person who revealed the sefirah of malchus. He brought it to completion, he rectified it, and he revealed it in the world. In general, as is well known, the tzaddikim mentioned in Tanach—particularly the seven shepherds we mentioned earlier—are collective souls. Each was a vehicle for a particular sefirah, and each brought a particular quality into the world. Avraham Avinu brought chessed into the world. What does that mean? Chessed exists in Atzilus, but who brought it down so that it would be present in this world? He was a vehicle for the attribute of chessed, and he brought the whole quality of chessed and compassion into the souls of the Jewish people. That was Avraham Avinu. As you see in the Tanya, we have inherited compassion and the attribute of chessed from Avraham Avinu. From Yitzchak, we have the quality of awe and fear, and so it is with each of the shepherds. From King David we have the quality of malchus. So our entire connection with the sefirah of malchus comes through King David. That is why King David wrote the book of Tehillim. The whole theme of Tehillim is connected with the praises of the sefirah of malchus, because the source of praise and song is, in fact, the sefirah of malchus. Why? What is the connection between praise and malchus? That will help us understand why the chapter begins, “A praise of David.” “A praise of David.” Praise is specifically connected with malchus. What is the connection? So, briefly, here is the central point of the explanation. What do we mean by praise and song? It’s like a person who

12:36 plays music, sings, plays, and offers praise. What is a melody, what is a song about? A melody expresses the soul’s thirst to rise higher. It’s simple. A person... Why do we sing niggunim? What is the purpose of a niggun? A niggun brings about a certain elevation of the soul. It has that effect. There are two kinds of niggunim: some bring about ascent, and some bring about a drawing down. There are both. Some niggunim are meant to lift up the soul. A person sings the niggun and feels lighter inside; he feels a thirst, a longing. That is why many Chabad niggunim are called niggunim of longing. They awaken the soul to want to leave its present state and rise higher. But there is another kind of niggun too, such as joyous niggunim, which work in the opposite direction. Their purpose is to bring things down from above, to draw down G-dliness. Again, the movement of ratzo and shov. There is the well-known explanation of the Rebbe about the tune the kohanim sing during Birchas Kohanim: it includes both movements found in a niggun. Yes, the whole Birchas Kohanim tune has two movements. One is “ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay”—that is ascent, ratzo. And the second is “ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay.” Those are the two movements. That is what the melody is about. Yes, music has movement in it. Some niggunim rise and make the soul want to leave its present state. Others are meant to draw down—to bring all the treasures, all the revelations, and all the influences from above down here. And some niggunim include both. A true niggun has both ratzo and shov. That is why many Chabad niggunim have a part expressing bitterness and a part expressing joy. These are, so to speak, the two movements found

14:33 in niggunim: niggunim that lift up and niggunim that draw down. The sefirah of malchus is the source of music. The entire concept of music and song comes from the sefirah of malchus. That is why it says, “A praise of David.” That is why praise and prayer are specifically connected with King David. Why? Because, as we explained earlier, the sefirah of malchus is the source of music. This is what distinguishes it from the other sefiros. Of all the sefiros, it is malchus whose “feet descend,” as the expression goes, downward. Malchus is in a movement of descent and lowering itself, engaging with created beings, bringing them into being, and so on. In other words, a sense of separate existence emerges from the sefirah of malchus. “There is no king without a people.” The word for people, am, is related—as the Rebbe explains in the Tanya—to dimmed coals, omemos: something without vitality, without light, without G-dliness, indicating separation and concealment. The defining character of the sefirah of malchus is concealment and distance. The other sefiros, by contrast, are characterized by closeness and attachment. That is the difference between malchus and all the other sefiros. All the other sefiros are close to G-dliness; the sefirah of malchus is distant from G-dliness. That is also why it corresponds to speech within the soul. Yes, the power of speech is a power of distance: it separates from the soul and goes out to another person. So because the sefirah of malchus is in a state of distance, separation, and descent, it has praise and song. It wants to leave its present state and rise higher. It wants this constantly. The sefirah of malchus is in a movement of ascent; it wants to rise and draw close to G-dliness, not to remain in a state of distance, descent, and lowliness. On the contrary, it wants to draw close to G-dliness and rise. That is its source. For, as is well known, the source of malchus is very high, even though here malchus has descended lower. So on the contrary, the further something descends, the more it has... malchus, which is the level

16:36 Lower down, but at its source it is actually very high—from the highest source. But that is not revealed; it is concealed. So Malchus sings and makes music because it wants to rise. That is exactly what we just brought from [unclear], which they studied here in the yeshiva. He, too, speaks about the point of kamatz. In other words, the maamar discusses this whole subject at length. So Dovid Hamelech sings and makes music. This is the song of Malchus: Malchus wants to rise to its source, to draw close to its origin, rather than remain where it is revealed. But on the other hand, it is not ratzo without shov. On the contrary, the goal is then to draw it down to the lower realms. After the ascent comes the drawing down: to bring G-dliness down, to draw down everything from its source, to reveal Malchus as it is at its source. It should not remain up there. On the contrary, the ultimate purpose is not ascent but drawing down to the lower realms—to draw down all those lofty revelations so they are revealed below. And of course, this is not only a matter within Atzilus. The main intention is here below, in Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. In other words, the effect of the song and music that Dovid Hamelech revealed reaches here as well. Its main purpose is to affect us, both among created beings and [unclear]. This is the idea of avodas hatefillah, the work of prayer. Avodas hatefillah is associated with the sefirah of Malchus. Prayer is the melody of Malchus as it reaches us. Malchus has two movements: it wants to rise to its source and then bring that down here below. From this come the two aspects of prayer within the soul. In prayer there is “a ladder set upon the earth, with its top reaching heaven.” In avodas hatefillah, a Jew stands in song. He wants to leave behind his sense of self, his earthliness and physicality, and draw close to G-dliness—to draw close and cleave to it. That is avodas hatefillah. The word tefillah conveys connection: connecting to G-dliness through ascent from below to above. So—

18:34 “A ladder set upon the earth, with its top reaching heaven.” But at the same time, the goal of prayer is that after all the ascent, there should be a drawing down below, with “angels of G-d ascending and descending on it.” Not only ascending; afterward they descend. To bring down the flow of blessing, to bring down all the G-dliness a person connected with in prayer, and then carry it into the entire day—so that the blessing is apparent in the world, so that G-dliness is revealed in the world. That is the whole point of avodas hatefillah, and the same applies to all created beings. As is known, there is a Midrash called Perek Shirah. It contains verses for all created beings: this creature sings one verse, and that creature sings another. Every creature sings its own particular verse. So there is also [unclear]. What does that mean? That, too, is Perek Shirah. Dovid Hamelech is the foundation of Perek Shirah. Why? At the beginning of Perek Shirah, it tells of Dovid Hamelech walking by a river and seeing a frog. Dovid Hamelech had been singing praise to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and he felt a little pride in his ability to sing. Then the frog said to him, “All the songs you sing do not compare to... One croak of mine is loftier than all your songs.” That is how the story appears there in the Midrash, Perek Shirah. So what is Perek Shirah about? The same thing. Created beings, too, have a kind of prayer. They, too, sing in a movement of ascent: they desire to rise upward. And they also have the movement of shov, drawing G-dliness down here below. This is connected with the angels and various details in the order described there, but this is not the place

20:22 to go into it at length. We are not discussing Perek Shirah now; I mention it only to explain the point of “Tehillah LeDovid.” That is why Dovid Hamelech is the foundation of prayer as a whole. Why? Because prayer is associated with Malchus, and prayer is the concern of Malchus. And what does that mean? As we explained, Malchus is distant; it has descended into the world. That is why Malchus has this quality of prayer: it wants to connect with the sefiros above it, and even more, with its own source—the supernal sefirah of Kesser, which is where the essential source of Malchus lies. And conversely, it wants to draw everything down here below as well. That is why Dovid Hamelech is the source of this whole matter of prayer. Dovid Hamelech, the sefirah of Malchus, is the source of the entire avodah of prayer. We can also connect this to the Rebbe’s kapitel for this year. In all the maamarim that discuss Dovid’s Malchus and avodas hatefillah, they bring the verse from kapitel 109, where Dovid says, “And I am prayer.” Yes, [unclear], “And I am prayer.” What does “And I am prayer” mean? That wording seems strange. You would expect “And I pray,” not “And I am prayer.” Prayer is a noun. After “I,” you would expect an action: “I pray,” not “I am prayer.” But the explanation is that this is precisely what it means. “I” refers to Dovid Hamelech, who says these Tehillim. The sefirah of Malchus is also called “I,” partly because “I” expresses a sense of self, which points to the selfhood of Malchus. That is why it can say “I.” And also because “I” is... Malchus has the... [unclear]. But in simple terms, it is

22:08 an extra word. In other words, Dovid Hamelech is saying, “I am prayer.” Not “I pray,” but “I am prayer.” Prayer is my very essence. That is Dovid Hamelech’s essence. His whole concern is avodah, prayer. Because prayer is yearning. That is the quality of Malchus: it constantly stands in a state of prayer and yearning, seeking to cleave to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, its source, and to draw G-dliness down below as well. That is why “Tehillah LeDovid” is the foundation of all of Perek Shirah. Since we are talking about Perek Shirah—do we have time?—here is another nice point. There is Reb [unclear] the Rebbe. They say there was once a chossid of Reb [unclear] the Rebbe whom he taught a great deal of Chassidus. He was a very great intellectual. He spoke a great deal of Chassidus, many deep concepts and an enormous amount of Chassidus. Reb [unclear] the Rebbe had been a mashpia even before he was a Rebbe. The Frierdiker Rebbe had appointed him mashpia for England. So he would discuss Chassidus with this young man. He saw that the young man was taking in only the intellectual side and lacked avodah. He was very cold, sitting there coldly, and everything remained closed up inside him. No, no—it was not apparent; you could not see the avodah in him. Once, at a farbrengen—I mean, after a little mashke—Reb [unclear] the Rebbe said to him, “Young man, Perek Shirah says: What is the donkey’s song? ‘Yours, Hashem, are greatness, might, splendor, victory, and majesty, for all that is in heaven and earth is Yours. Yours, Hashem, is the kingdom, and You are exalted above all as head.’ That is the verse the donkey says. And the Gemara says that even in the heat of Tammuz, a donkey feels cold. Even in Tammuz, when everyone is hot, the donkey is always cold. That is the definition of a donkey. It says such a verse as ‘Yours, Hashem, are greatness...’ and contemplates it”

24:03 At a verse like that, a person ought to be on fire—dancing, warm, burning with enthusiasm. But instead he remains a chamor, a donkey. He says, “[unclear],” contemplates all of this, and still remains a donkey, still remains cold. That is the definition of a donkey. It was embarrassing. [Unclear] once said to argue with him a little, to stir him up, to awaken his soul a little. Now, this principle is the point of the entire chapter of Ashrei, the entire chapter. According to this approach, it is about the sefirah of malchus. That is the subject of this chapter. Based on what we have explained, there are three points here. The whole chapter concerns the kingship of King David, which reveals the sefirah of malchus, and the praise offered by malchus. In other words, malchus stands before all created beings, praises, and speaks about matters connected with kingship. That is why all of Ashrei speaks about the sefirah of malchus, the various things malchus does, and how malchus connects with levels above it. That is one side. On the other hand, when we come to how this is expressed in avodah, the whole chapter has another dimension: what the soul receives from malchus. All Jews are children of kings; Knesses Yisroel is the sefirah of malchus, and this is expressed in the soul. All these ideas, all these verses, are revealed in the avodah of souls. Since souls receive from malchus, all the matters described in these verses are present in them too. Finally, there is an even broader, more general dimension. This does not apply only to the soul, but also to each created being. Since all created beings receive from malchus, all these matters are present in them as well. So if you look carefully at this chapter, you will see that some parts of it speak about the sefirah of malchus itself, about

25:51 the functions of malchus itself. Other parts of the chapter speak about kings and the various things that happen with them, with the soul, and with the person learning. There are also parts that speak about animals and other things, as well as particular parts that speak about the Jewish people. For all the individual created beings receive their life from malchus. They all therefore have this aspect of prayer: they want to rise toward G-dliness and also draw G-dliness down below. This explains the first verse: “A psalm of praise by David: I will exalt You, my G-d, the King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever.” This verse, the first verse of Ashrei, contains both of these movements. “I will exalt You, my G-d, the King”—“I will exalt” denotes elevation, a movement from below upward. It means elevating “my G-d, the King,” the sefirah of malchus, to its root and source. On the other hand, “I will bless Your name”—blessing denotes drawing down. These are the two movements: on one side, “I will exalt You, my G-d, the King,” elevating malchus and connecting it with its root; and on the other, “I will bless Your name,” drawing down the name, which also refers to the sefirah of malchus, and bringing malchus down here into the world.