Explanations of the Prayer - Ashrei - Part 11

00:01 Another point: the continuation of the verses here, the second part of Ashrei, is discussed in the writings and explained in several places in Chassidus. The sequence of ideas in this second part begins with the verse, “Hashem supports all who fall and straightens all who are bent over.” It is one continuous explanation of how the Jewish people bring about the extension of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kingship. After all, the whole idea of serving Hashem has to be kabbolas ol of the Kingdom of Heaven. A person, a Jew, has to accept Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kingship upon himself, and through that he serves Hashem. Kabbolas ol is the root and the very beginning of all service. That is what the earlier verses were discussing: all the verses about Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kingship, up to “Your kingship is a kingship for all worlds, and Your dominion endures throughout every generation.” Those verses spoke about the extension of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kingship over the created beings, and [unclear]. After that comes a state of falling. We spoke about the missing letter nun in Ashrei: nun alludes to falling, to a person falling in his service of Hashem. Falling means wrongdoing, committing a transgression; that brings about a state of falling. There are those who fall and those who are bent over—different kinds of falls. One person actually falls, while another does not fall completely but bends over. In other words, there has been a decline in him, though he is still behaving as he should, and so on. But in his mind he has already bent over. In other words, his kabbolas ol has become deficient; that is the point. Afterward, there has to be teshuvah.

02:02 That is the continuation of the verses: “Hashem supports all who fall”—this is the strength Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives a person. Yes, “Hashem supports all who fall and straightens all who are bent over”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives a person the strength to do teshuvah and once again accept the Kingdom of Heaven upon himself. Then it continues: “The eyes of all look expectantly to You, and You give them their food in its time.” Because Hakadosh Boruch Hu supports and helps all those who have fallen or bent over, He awakens a new desire in them. “They look expectantly to You” means that a person is stirred with hope and with an inner desire. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives him “their food in its time”; He provides nourishment. In the simple sense this means physical food, but in Chassidus it also means spiritual nourishment, food for the soul: that the soul should have vitality in G-dliness and a desire for G-dliness. Hakadosh Boruch Hu grants this to a Jew when he does teshuvah and returns to Him, awakening in him anew a desire for G-dliness. The verse then continues, “You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu opens His hands. We said that “Your hand” alludes to the unification of the names Havayah and Adnai. The initial letters of “posei’ach es yadecha”—“You open Your hand”—have the numerical value of Havayah and Adnai together. From there comes the flow of blessing: Hakadosh Boruch Hu opens up and gives a person the ability, the strength, to awaken once again with a desire

03:44 for G-dliness. That is the meaning of “and satisfy the desire of every living thing”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives a Jew the desire to be drawn toward G-dliness, so that this inner desire of his will awaken. That is the whole idea of teshuvah—returning. Before he did teshuvah, his desire had turned toward material things. Instead of desiring G-dliness, he desired things down below, the very lowest things. When he returns, does teshuvah, and accepts the Kingdom of Heaven upon himself, then “You satisfy the desire of every living thing”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives each person that desire to want G-dliness again. After that the verse says, “Hashem is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives even to someone who has distanced himself from Him, to the point that he has become “living”—as we also said, like a wild animal, behaving like a beast. But when a desire for G-dliness awakens in him, Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives him that desire and the ability to draw close to Him again, by revealing that desire within him. This is the meaning of “Hashem is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His deeds.” That Hakadosh Boruch Hu is righteous—“righteous” relates to hashgachah, Divine providence. We also said that “righteous” refers to a teacher; through hashgachah, all these things are accomplished. “And kind in all His deeds” refers to Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s kindness, which descends all the way to the world of Asiyah. [unclear] Now it continues: “Hashem is close to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.”

05:21 There also has to be something on the person’s part, alongside the arousal from Above. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is always saying, “The voice of my beloved knocks: Open for me.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu awakens the person, bringing about all the things we have discussed. But the person, too, has to respond. That is the meaning of “Hashem is close to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.” We already discussed this in the classes on Pesach. “Hashem is close to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth”: the plain meaning of the verses, as explained in Chassidus, is that “Hashem is close to all who call upon Him” means any Jew who calls upon Hakadosh Boruch Hu, without limitations—whatever his situation and whoever he may be. Even if a Jew has become completely distant from everything he once had, when he returns and calls upon Hakadosh Boruch Hu through teshuvah, “Hashem is close to all who call upon Him.” Any Jew, however he calls upon Hakadosh Boruch Hu, Hakadosh Boruch Hu reveals Himself to him and draws close to him. “To all who call upon Him in truth”: when a Jew calls upon Hakadosh Boruch Hu and does so in truth, Hakadosh Boruch Hu draws close to him. So the Alter Rebbe asks a question: Seemingly there is a contradiction. The first half of the verse says, “Hashem is close to all who call upon Him,” without limitations. It says Hakadosh Boruch Hu is close to everyone. Then it says, “to all who call upon Him in truth”—not everyone, only those who call upon Him in truth. So the first half of the verse seems to contradict the second half. Chassidus explains this in several ways. Let us begin with Tanya.

07:03 The Alter Rebbe explains in Tanya, chapter 37, that the first half of the verse speaks about the service of prayer, while the second half speaks about the service of Torah study. “Hashem is close to all who call upon Him” refers to prayer: every Jew has the ability to pray, and through that he draws close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He “calls upon Him” in prayer, and so “Hashem is close.” But there is a higher level. In other words, as the Alter Rebbe explains it, these are two levels. One is “Hashem is close to all who call upon Him,” through prayer. When any Jew prays, he draws close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu draws close to him. But there is a special way of calling upon Him: “Those who call upon Him in truth.” “There is no truth but Torah.” As the Alter Rebbe explains there in Tanya, this refers to calling upon Him through Torah study. Through Torah, they draw down Hakadosh Boruch Hu in a special way. This follows his lengthy explanation there of the special quality of Torah and mitzvos: Torah and mitzvos in particular have their source in the Divine Essence, and Torah has a special quality even over mitzvos. Since Torah is Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s wisdom, through Torah He is drawn down in a loftier way—“those who call upon Him in truth.” The Alter Rebbe explains there that when a person calls out like a child calling to his father, “Father, Father,” there is an ordinary kind of calling: he calls to his father. But there is a more special way, through Torah, which draws down Hakadosh Boruch Hu in a more inward way. He cites there the verse, “Come, all who are thirsty, go to the water.” When a person is thirsty, he cries, “Water, water,” but he does not drink. So the very

08:55 Crying out is also something. But they tell him, “You have the water, so why aren’t you drinking?” In the same way, here too, the water refers to Torah. When a person calls to Hakadosh Boruch Hu through Torah, he draws down a revelation of Hakadosh Boruch Hu in a more inward and loftier way. So that is the meaning in Tanya of the two parts of the verse: “Hashem is near to all who call upon Him” through prayer, and “to all who call upon Him in truth” refers to what follows: through Torah, which draws down something loftier, more revealed and more inward. Elsewhere in Chassidus, the two parts of the verse, “Hashem is near to all who call upon Him” and “to all who call upon Him in truth,” are explained as referring to two ways of serving Hashem. Service based on reason and understanding is “Hashem is near to all who call upon Him.” “To all who call upon Him in truth” means service above reason and understanding. “Truth” means the truth of the soul, the yechidah. There is a way of serving Hashem called “Hashem is near to all who call upon Him.” Every Jew, even when he serves Hashem according to reason and understanding, draws close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And from Above, too, Hakadosh Boruch Hu draws close to him. But “call upon Him in truth” means revealing the truth of the soul, awakening the yechidah, which is above reason and understanding. Then an awakening comes from Above that is also beyond reason and understanding. Through this, the one who calls to Hashem becomes attached to Him more deeply. That comes from the bond of the yechidah, which is above reason and understanding. And from Above, too, Hakadosh Boruch Hu responds to him in kind: the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu that is above reason and understanding is aroused and revealed beyond measure and limitation, and what is drawn down is likewise beyond measure and limitation. There are several

10:36 places in Chassidus that discuss the verse “Hashem is near to all who call upon Him” at length. One of them is connected with Shavuos. Much of what is said about Shavuos begins here in the explanation, and also in the Rebbe’s maamar from 5734, “Hashem Is Near to All Who Call Upon Him,” for Shavuos. There the Rebbe explains at length that “call upon Him in truth” refers to Torah, and why Torah in particular is called “truth.” Why do I explain at length why Torah is called truth? It implies that all the other things drawn down are not considered truth. Why is what is drawn down through Torah in particular considered truth? The Rebbe explains briefly that truth means being without change: from the very highest level down to the very lowest, without any change. That is the virtue of truth, and the virtue of what is drawn down through Torah: Torah extends from the very highest level to the very lowest without change. Here below, in this physical world, you study Torah as it is clothed in physical matters, and right here the Essence is present; Hakadosh Boruch Hu is present without change. That is the special quality of something drawn down without change. It is found specifically in Torah, and that is why Torah is called truth. Why am I explaining this? What’s the connection? Oh, this is a collected teaching. So the Rebbe explains. He continues, according to what the Rebbe explains: “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them.” As we said, when a person awakens his desire for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, Hakadosh Boruch Hu consequently draws close to him: “Hashem is near to all who call upon Him.” He then goes on to say, “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him.” Through this, the person brings about that Hakadosh Boruch Hu fulfills his desire, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu fulfills the person’s desire. The plain meaning of “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him” is that Hakadosh Boruch Hu fulfills the desire of those who fear Him when the person awakens

12:24 his desire for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. A desire awakens in him, and so, “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu responds to him in that way as well, giving the person what he needs. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives him his desire. Because sometimes “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him” is explained to mean that Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates the desire within him. Not that Hakadosh Boruch Hu does what the person wants, but more than that: Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates a desire within him. “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him” means that a Jew awakens to a desire. A Jew has a desire for G-dliness. Sometimes a person, a Jew, finds himself stirred by an evil inclination, and then a desire arises in him—a desire to return in teshuvah, to conduct himself better, to learn, to daven. So “He fulfills the desire of those who fear Him” means that Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates that desire within him. In other words, the fact that I awakened to a desire for G-dliness, a desire born of fear of Hashem, or a spiritual desire, is because Hakadosh Boruch Hu created that desire in me. “He hears their cry and saves them.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu hears a person’s prayer. “Their cry” means a prayer that comes from within, from the heart. “Their cry” is an inner plea. And “He hears their cry”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu hears the prayer, the request a Jew makes. And “saves them”: He takes him out of all the undesirable situations he needs to be taken out of. It begins with physical matters. When he has undesirable physical circumstances, things that interfere with him, matters of livelihood and so on, Hakadosh Boruch Hu saves him from all these difficulties so that he can serve Hashem through his learning. And it also applies to matters on a deeper level. “Saves them” also means saving him from the yetzer hara, from all kinds of

14:05 undesirable things, from the animal soul and matters of thought—things that interfere with a person, confuse him and prevent him from drawing close to G-dliness. Hakadosh Boruch Hu helps bring him out of all these things so that he can become even more connected to G-dliness. “Hashem protects all who love Him.” He continues: “Hashem protects all who love Him.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu protects all those who love Him. “But He destroys all the wicked.” The wicked, who do not love Hakadosh Boruch Hu—He destroys them. Hakadosh Boruch Hu punishes them somehow, destroys them. That can certainly be the plain meaning: “Hashem protects all who love Him,” and “He destroys all the wicked.” A Jew loves Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu protects him. But on a deeper level, when we say “Hashem protects all who love Him,” the idea of protection is like protection in physical life. What does a guard do? A guard protects against thieves. He stands outside the building. In a person’s service, through contemplation and effort, he awakens a love for G-dliness. Through that love he can prevail: his love for G-dliness nullifies his love for undesirable things. But there are things that Chassidus calls makifim of kelipah, encompassing forces of kelipah. These are aspects of the yetzer hara that are more difficult to deal with. What does that mean? They are things a person seems to have no control over. Sometimes it is explained, for example, as all sorts of things a person does not even realize are bad. Sometimes it says, for example, regarding the matter of—it explains, for example, the matter of

16:58 Milk from a non-Jew. Yes, sometimes a person was not careful about milk from a non-Jew, or something he thought did not fall into that category. [unclear] Far from it. It says that doubts in emunah can arise from a lack of care in this matter. These are things where a person cannot see openly where the evil is coming from. It is hidden evil that comes from all kinds of distant or indirect things. That requires protection. Sometimes a person can also stumble into something forbidden when he thinks the food is one hundred percent kosher. He did not know. There can be all kinds of hidden sins like that, which a person is not conscious of. He does not see them openly; they come through the encompassing forces. So this is the meaning of “Hashem protects all who love Him.” The protection comes from outside: Hakadosh Boruch Hu protects a person from the external forces drawing sustenance, or from these hidden sins that can come through the encompassing forces of kelipah. Hashem protects him so that these things will not harm him. We have a few minutes to speak. What I simply... Yes, so, “and He will destroy all the wicked.” The wicked means the wicked, but it does not mean only wicked people in the simple sense. It refers to the whole matter of the kelipos and the sitra achra. It refers to the sparks of holiness that fell into the kelipah of the sitra achra and give the kelipos life. Where does evil get its power? By “the wicked,” we mean the yetzer hara and the sitra achra, impurity and kelipah. Where do they get their power? They have power because a G-dly spark has fallen to them.

18:47 That is what gives them life. So when “Hashem protects all who love Him,” Hakadosh Boruch Hu provides protection. He prevents the external forces from drawing sustenance. As a result, “the wicked”—the evil that wants to draw sustenance from holiness—lose all their vitality. Their life comes from the G-dly spark they receive, which the kelipos steal from all kinds of places. They enter the domain of holiness and try to steal, through inner and encompassing channels, wherever they can. They want to seize vitality, and that is how they gain influence. When “Hashem protects all who love Him,” He prevents the external forces from drawing sustenance. Then the wicked, these forces of evil, lose their vitality and cease to exist, because they have nowhere to receive life from. This is also something very special to ask for in prayer. A person can have control over the things he sees within himself, over revealed evil. He can learn, daven, and contemplate. But hidden evil, things that come from the encompassing forces of kelipah—that is difficult for me. Sometimes these things are stronger than I am. I do not know how to... We need special help from Heaven for this. That is the request in this verse: “Hashem protects all who love Him,” “and He will destroy all the wicked”—that there should be protection from these things as well. Then we conclude this chapter and say, “My mouth will speak the praise of Hashem, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.” That is, as it were, the conclusion. After speaking here about all the praises of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, everything we have discussed in this chapter, the exaltedness of His kingship—we began, after all, with “I will exalt You, my G-d, the King”—and the greatness of the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and how His kingship

20:32 extends throughout the entire seder hishtalshelus, through all the worlds, and how a Jew awakens that kingship upon himself—all that we have discussed until now—we conclude by saying, “My mouth will speak the praise of Hashem, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.” Everything we have said until now is praise of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And through our mouths, we draw these things down. That is, when a Jew thinks about them, says them in davening, and contemplates what we have discussed and this entire prayer, he draws these things down here below as well. That is the meaning of “My mouth will speak the praise of Hashem.” The word “will speak” refers to speech, but it also has the sense of “He subdues peoples beneath us”—of directing. In other words, when a person recounts all these things with his mouth, he also directs them: he draws them down and brings them into the open, so that they will be fulfilled each and every day. “And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever”—“will bless” also means to praise. It means drawing these things down here below. That concludes the chapter of Ashrei. Afterward, the Men of the Great Assembly added—or whoever composed the wording of the siddur added—a verse that is not part of Ashrei: “And we will bless Hashem from now and forever, hallelujah.” Yes, that verse comes from elsewhere in Tehillim. Yes, where is it? Yes. It is in... another chapter of Tehillim. The Sages added it here afterward to emphasize the special distinction of the Jewish people. Although we have spoken here about the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu extending through all the worlds—to angels, Shabbos, shepherds, non-Jews, Jews, everyone—nevertheless,

22:12 we have this distinction as the Jewish people: it is specifically we who “will bless Hashem from now and forever.” We praise Hakadosh Boruch Hu in every situation, always. That is why we want all this abundant Divine flow to go specifically to Knesses Yisroel, rather than to the external forces wherever they may be. It should go specifically to the souls of the Jewish people.