Explanations of the Prayer - Ashrei - Part 7

00:01 In Hayom Yom it says that “zecher” should be pronounced with a segol. That’s what it says in Hayom Yom, but the Rebbe would say—the Rebbe would say... People would hear the Rebbe say it here, so each person has to be clear about it. He can tell you. Hm? The Rebbe said there is a Mishnah where it says “zecher.” There is such a reading. Hayom Yom says to say it one way, but the Rebbe would say it another way. So that’s another example. There are a few other things the Rebbe... By the way, this verse, “They shall speak of the remembrance of Your abundant goodness, and sing of Your righteousness.” In the Alter Rebbe’s siddur, if I look at the siddur, at this verse, there is a very long maamar by the Alter Rebbe. The Mitteler Rebbe delivered this maamar in six installments. It was a maamar he said on six occasions, and that became the maamar “Zecher Rav Tuvcha.” There is a story that after the Alter Rebbe delivered the maamar, he asked the great chassidim to write explanations of it. Each of the chassidim wrote an explanation. The Mitteler Rebbe did, as did the other chassidim—Reb Aizik, Reb Aizik, and many of the chassidim who were with the Alter Rebbe. Each wrote an explanation, and the maamar received a great deal of attention for a long time. This maamar is the foundation of the entire subject in Chassidus that is discussed at length in many maamarim and series of maamarim: the subject of or and shefa, light and flow. That whole subject of or and shefa has its foundation in this maamar of the Alter Rebbe, “Zecher Rav Tuvcha.” It is one of the more extensive subjects in Chassidus, and its foundation is in that maamar of the Alter Rebbe. There is also an explanation of it by the Mitteler Rebbe, which one can... Reb Elchanan Feinstein[?] also has an extensive discussion. Reb

02:54 Elchanan Feinstein[?] addresses the basis of the pronunciation. So Reb Elchanan Feinstein[?] has an extensive discussion of this subject. And among the Rebbeim, there is the Rebbe Rashab. He has several series of maamarim on this subject. The discussion of or and shefa is well known. It appears in several places, and also in a Purim maamar—the well-known maamar from 5669[?], 5679. This is the foundation of many maamarim from that year, 5669[?], and of several other Purim maamarim that discuss or and shefa. It all rests on this maamar. What connection do those maamarim have to this verse, and what is the point here? First, the verse itself. Its simple meaning—I’m not going into the subject of or and shefa now, chas v’shalom; hopefully, with Hashem’s help, we’ll have plenty of time. Just the main point, so we can reach the true meaning of “They shall speak of the remembrance of Your abundant goodness.” The simple meaning of “They shall speak of the remembrance of Your abundant goodness, and sing of Your righteousness” follows what we have been discussing here in Ashrei: how created beings, all created beings, praise and extol the One who gives them life. How they sense that their entire existence is sustained by Divine vitality. In Chassidus this is called song and melody. There are the heavenly chambers and... the created beings praise Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Yes, at its root, this is also what we said about the sefirah of Malchus. It is connected with the sefirah of Malchus, the source of all created beings. It too seeks to ascend further in quality and stature, and uses the means through which they praise Him. So what does the verse say, following what we said earlier? It says, “They shall speak of the remembrance of Your abundant goodness.” In a straightforward translation, “they shall speak” means to reveal. “They shall utter speech”—the language of telling and expressing. That is, “They shall speak of the remembrance of Your abundant goodness”: the created beings speak. What do they express? What do they reveal? What do they praise? The remembrance of Your abundant goodness. That means they

05:09 mention it in the full sense of the word: they speak of Your abundant goodness, of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s great kindness and goodness, through which He gives life to all created beings. So they tell of it; they talk about it. “And sing of Your righteousness”: they sing joyfully, praising and singing of the kindness Hakadosh Boruch Hu shows them by giving them life and all good things. That is perhaps the simple translation of the verse. But then there is repetition in the wording. That is what it would seem from the doubled expressions. What is the difference between “Your abundant goodness” and “Your righteousness”? They seem to be the same thing. “Your abundant goodness” is a great deal of good, and “Your righteousness” is kindness. Kindness is good. It is good for his family. Fine. What is the difference between them? And between “they shall speak” and “they shall sing”? As we discussed, when it comes to the sefiros, each thing has its own particular terminology, especially the different kinds. So what is the explanation in terms of the sefiros in this verse? Very briefly, the main point of the explanation is this: the first half of the verse speaks about the sefirah of Yesod. The second half speaks about the sefirah of Malchus. “The remembrance of Your abundant goodness” refers to Yesod—goodness is Yesod—and “Your righteousness” is Malchus. So the two parts of the verse speak about two different sefiros: one about Yesod and one about Malchus. Regarding Yesod it says, “They shall speak of the remembrance of Your abundant goodness”; regarding Malchus it says, “And sing of Your righteousness.” Now, a student asked me: What does this have to do with davening? He’s talking about holiness; he says this is a certain level, a certain sefirah. What does that have to do with davening? What is the point here? There isn’t time now to go into all these matters. So let’s give just one explanation, one of the main points: the difference between the sefirah of Yesod and the sefirah of Malchus. There is the story about Rabbi Rabba[?] and the Rabbi of Karlin.

07:32 That is really the key to understanding the verse. The Alter Rebbe had a friend known as the Rabbi of Karlin. The Rabbi of Karlin was the opposite of the Alter Rebbe. That is, both were students of the Maggid, but their approaches were different. The Rabbi of Karlin’s approach involved wonders and miracles, while the Alter Rebbe’s approach was Chassidus: it had to be a matter of understanding and comprehension. There were many matters between them, all kinds of stories. One thing was that the Rabbi of Karlin performed wonders on an extraordinary level, tremendous wonders. At one point there were so many wonders, and very great ones too, that the whole world, the whole country, was abuzz with the wonders of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. So someone once mentioned to the Alter Rebbe that Reb Nachman of Breslov performed such great wonders. He was almost challenging the Alter Rebbe: everyone knew the Alter Rebbe was a tremendous genius, but why didn’t they see such things from him? The Alter Rebbe said, “Performing wonders is not such a great thing. People regard performing wonders as something remarkable, but it is not greatness.” Why not? Because a Jew who stands a handbreadth above the ground can sweep the world with a broom. That was the Alter Rebbe’s expression. When a person stands just one handbreadth above the earth, he can do whatever he wants with the world. But making chassidim—that takes work. Making a person G-d-fearing, that is greatness. In any case, the Tzemach Tzedek said about this expression that it is the difference between Yesod and Malchus. The ground is the sefirah of Malchus. Earth, earth—that is Malchus. Malchus is what gives vitality,

09:33 and that is the idea of earth. A handbreadth above the earth is the sefirah of Yesod. Yes, a handbreadth above the earth corresponds to Yesod. Yesod is one sefirah above Malchus; it is a handbreadth above the earth. So when a person stands a handbreadth above the earth, that is the level of a tzaddik. A tzaddik stands a handbreadth above the earth: the sefirah of Yesod. Yes. A tzaddik, Yesod—“the tzaddik is the foundation of the world.” The level of a tzaddik is the sefirah of Yesod, and therefore he can do whatever he wants with the world. According to this, what is the difference between the sefirah of Yesod and the sefirah of Malchus? The sefirah of Malchus gives vitality to created beings. What kind of vitality does it give? Vitality according to the natural order. Yes, the chain of spiritual worlds is the realm of nature, the emergence of the natural order. The sefirah of Yesod, by contrast, brings down things that transcend nature—miracles, a manifest revelation of what is beyond nature. That is the difference between “Your abundant goodness” and “Your righteousness.” “Your abundant goodness” is a manifest revelation of what transcends nature. The sefirah of Yesod is called “good,” and not just good; that is why the verse says “abundant goodness.” Abundant goodness is more than good, because “good” means bueno. “Abundant goodness” means mejor. Yes—good, the very best. Abundant goodness is on a higher level. That is why it says “Your abundant goodness,” not merely good: not “Your goodness,” but “Your abundant goodness.” That means goodness on the highest level—goodness beyond nature, something truly great. And from this come revelations into the world that transcend nature. So, “They shall speak of the remembrance of Your abundant goodness”—only the remembrance of it. That is, we created beings receive only a remembrance of Your abundant goodness. Then comes “Your righteousness.” “Your righteousness” is what is contracted; the revelation comes by way of contraction. Yes, this is then called righteousness, true righteousness, because it comes by way of contraction and careful measure, through being enclothed within something, and that is the idea

11:34 Of the sefirah of Malchus. That is why “Your righteousness” is also in the feminine form, as though the flow comes through tzimtzum, contraction. “Then they will sing.” Yes, that is what we sing about—meaning the response it arouses in created beings: they sing and offer praise. Yes, that is what we said earlier about this song. It is not the waters themselves; the point has to do with the sefirah of Malchus. Yes, there is also a story about the Rebbe Maharash connected with this verse. We’ll leave that for the next class, because we’re already running short on time.