Explanations of the Prayer - Ashrei - Part 5

00:01 The passage before—before it speaks about all the requests concerning the sefirah of Malchus and asks for “A praise of David,” or about Malchus wanting to come to the matter of kingship, its connection to kingship—first describes Malchus’s connection. “Fortunate are those who dwell in Your house; they will praise You forever. Fortunate is the people for whom this is so; fortunate is the people whose G-d is Hashem.” It speaks about longing, about being fortunate, about settling oneself. Through settling oneself—which is connected with longing—one can come to a revelation of Malchus that can encompass the entire world. There is another point we haven’t explained: the wording “A praise of David.” We came to discuss—a great matter is being discussed here: the revelation of Malchus, the revelation of the King in the sefirah of Malchus. The whole point of the King’s revelation is, after all, the entire sefirah of Malchus. So everything the king prays for is connected with Malchus. He asks that there be a revelation of Malchus, which will consequently bring about the rectification of the world, because Malchus is what exerts influence in the world. Why does it say “A praise of David”? Because we already explained last week that Malchus is connected with prayer. Yes, prayer—the matter of prayer, persistence, and Malchus’s desire to connect with the reality above. But it doesn’t say “A prayer of David” here. It says “A praise of David.” Sometimes it says “A prayer of David,” and sometimes “A praise of David.” Here the wording is “A praise of David”—the matter of praises. Here the vessel is not a vessel of prayer; it is a vessel of praise, aspiring upward. What does the word “praise” mean? First, “tehillah,” praise, also has a sense of revelation, as in the verse, “When His lamp shone.” It has to do with light and revelation. So “A praise of David” actually means revelation in Malchus. That is what “A praise of David” means: this prayer is about revelation. The whole purpose of Ashrei is that there should be revelation in Malchus. Malchus on its own, “[unclear],” has no entry of light into it; it is darkness.

02:37 That is the great secret [unclear]. Malchus itself is a matter of concealment and obscurity. Since Malchus exerts its influence in the worlds of Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah, that too comes through concealment and obscurity, [unclear]. This brings concealment and obscurity into the world; that is the matter of darkness. So the whole point here is “A praise of David.” When a Jew reflects on the verse as he recites Ashrei, he contemplates the matters written in it, which speak about all the movements of the sefirah of Malchus, Malchus’s connections, and all these matters. Through this, one brings about “A praise of David”—revelation and rectification in the sefirah of Malchus. Then it continues: “I will exalt You, my G-d, the King, and I will bless Your name forever and ever.” We explained last week that the verse has two parts: one moves from below upward, and the other from above downward. First comes the matter of elevating Malchus. What does it mean to elevate Malchus? Since Malchus descended—“her feet descend to death”—it became darkness, concealment, and obscurity. Malchus concealed things from those below, descended lower and lower, and became enclothed in the world as “a head for foxes”; it became enclothed among the nations. So Malchus must be elevated and connected with its source, which is the light of Ein Sof, as we just said. Thus the first thing is “I will exalt You”: elevating Malchus from below upward. After that comes “and I will bless Your name forever and ever.” Once Malchus has been elevated to its source, the task is to draw it back down. “I will bless” also has the sense of drawing down—bringing it down here below. In fact, many maamarim that discuss this explain in detail that “I will exalt You” itself has two aspects. In the sacred texts, the wording

04:54 “I will exalt You” can be understood in two ways. It can mean exaltation—elevating Malchus from below to its source of revelation, as we said. But “I will exalt You” can also be understood in its plain sense: drawing down the exalted state. Not elevating Malchus from below upward, but the opposite. The plain meaning of “I will exalt You” is that Malchus’s exalted state should be brought down, connected, and revealed, so that it does not remain above but is revealed here below. That is also how it is explained. In other words, both interpretations are present in the same revelation: both Malchus’s ascent to its source and the drawing down of the lights here below. Both things. Regarding the words “and I will bless Your name forever and ever”—and in the next verse it also says, “Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever”—what does “forever and ever” mean? On this, Rabbi Yoel [?] [unclear] Rabbi Yoel [?] l’chaim. What does it mean? “And I will bless Your name forever and ever,” and then, in the next verse, “and I will praise Your name forever and ever.” What does “forever and ever” mean? King David lived only seventy years. What did he mean by “I will bless Your name forever and ever” and “I will praise Your name forever and ever”? What does that wording mean? Is it meant literally, that a person feels he will go on without end? It is like when we say, “May the king live forever.” There it is meant literally: Moshiach will come and live eternally. That is the meaning of “forever and ever.” But in these verses, when he says, “I will bless Your name forever and ever,” that is not what he means. This is the explanation. Here it does not mean

07:15 that he means he will reach a birthday and [unclear]. Rather, the explanation is this: “Olam” refers to place, and “va’ed” refers to time. Now, we said, “Hashem will reign forever and ever.” The intention is to draw it down. We said that “will reign” has the sense of drawing down, and revelation, of course, has the sense of revealing: to draw down and reveal the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the blessed Ein Sof, within place and time. That is, revelation in the lower realms is the entire ultimate purpose. The entire purpose of the revelation of G-dliness that we seek and speak of in prayer is not a revelation of G-dliness that comes about by nullifying the world—meaning that the world would cease to exist and be nullified. Without the vav. Rather, the intention is to draw a revelation of G-dliness into the world, so that it enters and permeates the world’s own bounds. This is the intention throughout... It is a general principle that applies whenever this wording appears in verses. The phrase “forever and ever” appears many times. So here “forever and ever” means, as the Rebbe Rashab explained in several places, drawing it down into the world and into time. “Olam” refers to worlds, and “va’ed” refers to time: this revelation should extend into the bounds of time. In other words, the intention is not to nullify the world, but to draw G-dliness into its bounds. The same applies to “Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingship forever and ever,” and to Shema Yisroel. That is what we say in Shema Yisroel: “Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingship”—that it should be drawn down into the world. There is also an explanation in a sefer that “forever and ever” can refer to eternity. The verse says “forever and ever,” meaning eternity. Yes, but he does not mean that he himself will pray “forever and ever,” that he will bless Hashem “forever and ever.” The intention is that the revelation of G-dliness in Malchus should be “forever and ever”—without change, in an eternal manner. That is, sometimes it can

09:31 There can be a revelation of G-dliness, but that revelation comes only at a certain time; it is temporary. At a particular time there is a desire, it is revealed, and then it goes away. Things can change. But in prayer we ask for G-dliness to be revealed in the world in a way that is “forever and ever”—a permanent, eternal revelation, without change. There is a parable about this in the Midrash. It is brought in a number of places, concerning Moshe, “the man of G-d.” What were Moshe Rabbeinu’s qualities? Moshe was wealthy. I didn’t understand this at the time, and I’ve gotten mixed up about it several times, but Moshe was wealthy and [unclear]. Now, the parable about Moshe is of a king who had a province, and that province lay in ruins. The king came and said that everyone could ask for whatever he wanted. One asked for this, another asked for that, until it was the turn of the king’s beloved friend, the one most loyal to him. He came before the king and said, “I ask for nothing for myself. There is a province of yours that lies in ruins. Decree that it be rebuilt—not just for the moment, but as an everlasting edifice.” There are many sources for this. The Midrash applies the parable to Moshe Rabbeinu, and there is material from the Rebbe about it as well. Moshe is speaking with Hashem, and this subject appears in several places. What is the point here? What does the Midrash mean? It means that Moshe Rabbeinu is asking on behalf of malchus. Moshe Rabbeinu was

11:52 wealthy; he himself experienced a revelation of G-dliness. But Moshe Rabbeinu asks on behalf of the sefirah of malchus—Knesses Yisroel. That is, he asks on behalf of malchus above, which is connected with the souls of the Jewish people below. Moshe Rabbeinu loves the Jewish people, so what does he ask for? He asks for that one province, the sefirah of malchus. This is understood in connection with “Your kingship is a kingship over all worlds.” It is a province that lies in ruins. What does “in ruins” mean? The sefirah of malchus is in a state of concealment because of the kelipos. As explained in Chabad texts concerning concealment, the Shechinah is in exile; the sefirah of malchus is in a state of ruin. And it belongs to the king. What does that mean? The source of malchus is higher than all the sefiros. As we said, its source is within, [unclear]. So it is specifically malchus that is his, connected with Atzmus more than any of the other sefiros. Moshe asks that the House be rebuilt. He is not asking for a revelation of malchus that could later be followed by another destruction, as happened in the time of the Beis Hamikdash. There was a revelation of G-dliness in malchus, but it lasted only a short time—four hundred years. Four hundred and ten. Four hundred and ten. After that, there was destruction again. His request, though, is for the House to be rebuilt. When King David likewise asks for malchus to be built up, for G-dliness to be revealed to Knesses Yisroel and the sefirah of malchus, he asks that it be eternal, for every generation. So let’s continue. “Throughout the days of Your reign” ... “from generation to generation.” I mean, what does “throughout the days of Your reign” mean? We’ve spent all day on just one verse. We’re never going to move on! I’d like to, though. It is written that I said to the Rebbe that if a person wants to daven the entire prayer in order, he could spend several months on it and still be saying just one prayer. He says a teaching, one prayer; he doesn’t stop—he has so much to say. So come on, let’s begin. “Every day I will bless You.” What does “every day I will bless You” mean? The blessing he asks for every day—he has already said that. What is he adding here with “every day I will bless You”? All right. One of the explanations brought in the Alter Rebbe’s Siddur addresses this. It is a very interesting explanation. [unclear] But the Alter Rebbe says: What is the meaning of “every day I will bless You”? A person gets up in the morning and sees that the day has been renewed. He reflects on the day itself. It was night, and now it is day. You went to sleep last night tired, right? You’re still tired because you slept so well last night. Not just you—all of us. A person goes to sleep at night tired. If he was dancing, he’s even more tired, weak, without strength. But he is sure that if he sleeps a few hours and gets up in the morning, he will wake up healthy and renewed. And yes, he gets up in the morning and feels healthy, renewed. What happened here? He went to sleep. A person went to sleep with the strength he had, and [unclear]. Take a table, for example. This table will get weaker and weaker every day. Look, it’s already broken here, broken there. Letting a night pass won’t help; it won’t be any better tomorrow because of that. But with a person, you see that he is renewed. In truth, the whole world is like this. There is this idea of morning—

14:16 If he went through the entire davening in order, he could be davening for months and months. And he says just one prayer. He says a teaching, one prayer. He doesn’t stop; he has so much to say about it. So come, let’s begin. “Every day I will bless You.” What does “Every day I will bless You” mean? The blessing he asks for every day—he has already said it, G-d forbid. What is he adding here with “Every day I will bless You”? Well, one of the explanations brought in the Alter Rebbe’s Siddur also offers an interpretation. It’s very interesting. This is what brings us closest to the Rebbe. This song brings us closer and closer to the Rebbe—really, to say this explanation. But what does “Every day I will bless You” mean? When a person gets up in the morning and sees how the day is renewed, he thinks about what a day is. It was night, and now it’s day. You went to sleep last night; you were tired, right? You’re still tired because you slept well last night. Not just you—all of us. A person goes to sleep at night tired. If he was dancing, he’s even more tired, weak, with no strength. But he’s sure that if he sleeps for a few hours and then gets up in the morning, he’ll wake up healthy and renewed. Yes, he gets up in the morning and feels healthy, renewed. What a relief, what fresh air—what does it do to him? What happened here? He went to sleep. A person went to sleep with his strength depleted, and it came back. Now take a table, for example. This table will get weaker and weaker every day. Look, it’s already broken here, broken there. Letting a night pass won’t help it; it won’t be any better tomorrow because of that. But with a person, you can see that he is renewed. The truth is, the whole world is like that. There is this phenomenon of morning.

16:56 morning. A person reflects on “Every day I will bless You.” In other words, the “I will bless You” comes from contemplating “every day.” You see that each day has a morning: at night the vitality withdraws, there is concealment, a state of darkness. Then in the morning the vitality is renewed. This awakens a person to see creation ex nihilo; it makes him aware that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives life to the world at every moment, and therefore truly renews the world at every moment. But we can see it with our own eyes each day. That evokes the response, “I will bless You”: a desire to draw a revelation of Divine power into the world. So this is what the Alter Rebbe says about “every day.” By contemplating the fact that each day is new, with a new point of revelation and its own particular vitality, “I will bless You.” I bless Hakadosh Boruch Hu—that is, I reveal Him and draw Him down. But “I will praise Your name forever and ever.” I ask that “I will praise Your name”—the revelation of G-dliness we discussed earlier—be “forever and ever,” that it not enter a state of tzimtzum again. In other words, we are not asking for a revelation for a while followed by its disappearance. We ask that this revelation—“I will praise Your name,” drawing down the revelation of Divine power above—last forever and ever. As we said, because of the tzimtzumim there are times of revelation and times when it is absent. We ask that “I will praise Your name forever and ever”: that this revelation of Divine power be complete, as we discussed earlier. There is another explanation of “Every day

18:52 I will bless You.” Very briefly, of course, it relates to the subject of blessings. As it says, “There is nothing else besides Him,” and [unclear] every day. One of the verses cited in this connection is “Every day I will bless You.” Here we are not taking up the matter of [unclear]; we are taking from this verse the basic idea that there must be blessings every day. There are lengthy and profound explanations of blessings in [unclear], but the central point is that blessings draw down and connect the transcendent light with the immanent light, the Creator with the created being, and nothingness with existence. They draw the light of sovev kol almin and the light of memalei into the world. This is the meaning of “Every day I will bless You.” Each day is a distinct measure, a division within the kingship over the world. “Every day I will bless You” means drawing down the transcendent light spoken of in the previous verse, “I will exalt You.” And this continuation brings it into malchus, connecting it with malchus. So “Every day I will bless You” means drawing it into memalei, drawing it down inwardly. “And I will praise Your name forever and ever.” When the transcendent light is drawn into memalei—which is the whole purpose of blessings—then afterward [unclear], and consequently [unclear]...