Shiurim on Kuntres Ha'avodah - Part 1

00:01 Speaker 1 In the introduction to the kuntres, there is an introduction by the Rebbe. He notes there that the kuntres is dated 5671, but inside it is also marked 5670. The Rebbe adds that apparently the Rebbe Rashab began writing it in 5670 and finished it in 5671. But when you look at the Rebbe Rashab’s letters, you see that he finished it in 5671. So it was only in 5671 that the Rebbe Rashab finished writing Kuntres HaAvodah. The Rebbe adds that he first delivered it orally, at the beginning of 5671. And only at the beginning of 5671 did the Rebbe Rashab give it to Reb [unclear] to print and distribute among the students, the Temimim. From this we understand that, at this point, it has only been a hundred years since this kuntres was published. So there is something special about it, a special significance. We are therefore learning the kuntres from the beginning. And... we just need to take another two pages. Kuntres HaAvodah: concerning the service of the heart in prayer—to draw one’s soul close to G-dliness and attach it to G-dliness, and to refine and purify the animal soul. Of this it is said: “Know this day and take it to your heart.” This is the meaning of “You shall love Hashem your G-d with all your heart”—“with all your heart,” with both your inclinations, and so on. When we come to the service of the heart in prayer, there are two aspects. One is to draw one’s soul close to G-dliness and attach it to G-dliness. As we will see later, this is the aspect of prayer that relates to the G-dly soul. But there is another aspect: refining the animal soul. In other words, there are two aspects to prayer. We will soon see how he explains this at length. Yes, in the service of prayer, we accomplish this in both ways: by drawing the G-dly soul close to G-dliness and also by refining the animal soul. He cites the verses “Know this day and take it to your heart.” And afterward

02:32 Speaker 1 he also cites the verse “You shall love Hashem your G-d with all your heart”—“with all your heart,” with both your inclinations. These are the two verses he brings. One verse mainly emphasizes the work of “know,” the idea of contemplation. He will explain at length later what contemplation is. Yes, and the second verse places more emphasis on love—the commandment to love, the love that comes through contemplation. Through this, we bring about the refinement and purification of the animal soul, as well as drawing the soul close to G-dliness. And both verses emphasize “your heart.” The verse “Know” says “your heart,” and “You shall love” says “with all your heart.” Here they bring the interpretation of our Sages: “With all your heart”—with both your inclinations. From this we understand that in the other verse, “take it to your heart,” too, “your heart” means not only the G-dly soul but also the animal soul, the evil inclination. In other words, the goal of the service of prayer is to affect both: the G-dly soul and the animal soul. So he says that the purpose of Kuntres HaAvodah is to explain this subject, the service of the heart in prayer. Now, in general, it is known that the Rebbe Rashab wrote several kuntresim. As far as we know, in chronological order, the Rebbe Rashab first wrote Kuntres HaTefillah. He wrote Kuntres HaTefillah in 5661. Why open the window? That too—that’s a shame for me. So we’ll continue a little more, a little more. We still need more. Let’s sit down. No, all right, all right, just a moment. Let’s go back. I hope that was right. In any case, the Rebbe Rashab wrote Kuntres HaTefillah in 5661. It was the first kuntres he wrote. After that he wrote Kuntres U’Maayan. He wrote Kuntres U’Maayan in 5663. After that came Kuntres Eitz HaChayim. Kuntres Eitz HaChayim

04:54 Speaker 1 he wrote in 5664. And Kuntres HaAvodah he wrote last, as we learned, in 5671, 5671. So that is the order of the kuntresim. Now, he wrote Kuntres HaTefillah right at the beginning of Tomchei Temimim. In other words, it is a kuntres the Rebbe Rashab wrote when the Tomchei Temimim yeshiva was starting out. Tomchei Temimim was founded at the end of 5657. The Temimim arrived in Lubavitch only in 5659—at the beginning of 5659 or the end of 5658. Then, the following year, in Sivan 5661, the Rebbe Rashab delivered the sicha and edited Kuntres HaTefillah, and then Kuntres HaTefillah was printed. That is the kuntres we have. In other words, it was the first one. The next kuntres, Kuntres U’Maayan, was not so directly connected with Tomchei Temimim, though there is a connection between the kuntresim. The Frierdiker Rebbe relates at length that Kuntres HaTefillah caused a great stir throughout the world, in the places where chassidim lived in Russia and elsewhere. And the chassidim began asking: they wanted Chassidus; they wanted to understand Chassidus. So the Rebbe Rashab established an association, a group called Chevras Machzikei Hada’as—da’as spelled with an ayin. Yes, meaning Chassidus—to begin establishing Chassidus classes everywhere. And then he wrote Kuntres U’Maayan. In other words, Kuntres U’Maayan was written primarily for Anash, for the householders who had asked to learn Chassidus and wanted something basic to study. Afterward he wrote Kuntres Eitz HaChayim for Tomchei Temimim, once again. Kuntres Eitz HaChayim was written in 5664. There he explained what Tomchei Temimim is about and what subjects they wanted to study there. He wrote it specifically for Tomchei Temimim. That is why people say—[unclear]—that he called it Kuntres Eitz HaChayim. There is a vort chassidim say about why the Rebbe Rashab called it Kuntres Eitz HaChayim: [unclear]. But the Temimim, who do not have

07:01 Speaker 1 [unclear], have the kuntres, so they have a connection to [unclear]. This is said by way of a vort. In any case, he wrote Kuntres Eitz HaChayim especially for Tomchei Temimim. Later, over the years, the Rebbe Rashab saw that the bochurim needed something beyond Kuntres HaTefillah. What is the difference between Kuntres HaTefillah and Kuntres HaAvodah? In Kuntres HaTefillah, the Rebbe Rashab set out the overall structure of prayer. That is, he gives advice and guidance on how the service of prayer should be carried out, and especially on the manner of contemplation. In other words, it lays out principles relating to the service of prayer: preparation for prayer and prayer itself. But he does not discuss what to contemplate. That is, there he does not discuss the content; he discusses the principles of how to do it—how to contemplate and how not to contemplate, different kinds of contemplation, and when contemplation takes place. Beforehand, there is preparation for prayer. There needs to be preparation for prayer and various other things, but he does not explain there what one should contemplate. That is what the Rebbe Rashab wrote Kuntres HaAvodah specifically to address. Its main purpose is to explain which subjects one should contemplate and what the goal of contemplation should be: to attain love, awe, and all these details. It is true that here, too, he discusses some principles of contemplation toward the end. But the main difference between Kuntres HaTefillah and Kuntres HaAvodah is that Kuntres HaTefillah speaks more about the general principles governing the service of prayer, not its content. What should one contemplate, and what should contemplation aim to achieve? Which emotions of the heart should it arouse? Kuntres HaAvodah focuses more on this: what one should contemplate, and which emotions

09:01 Speaker 1 of the heart should be aroused by each kind of contemplation. That is the main point, the central purpose of Kuntres HaAvodah. The Rebbe Rashab explains here: “All the service, the effort of the service of prayer, is directed toward the attribute of love.” The entire goal of the service of prayer is to attain love. What does that mean? The Rebbe Rashab specifically emphasizes love here, rather than awe. In other words, the main goal of the service of prayer is specifically to attain love. That is so even though we always discuss in Chassidus—and the Rebbe explains at length in Tanya, in chapters 41 and 42, which we are learning right now, and in the chapters that follow—that serving Hashem requires both love and awe. Love has its advantage, awe has its advantage, and there are all the ideas we learn in Tanya: love and awe are the two wings through which all the... they give vitality to all of one’s service of Hashem. It says:

10:01 Speaker 2 “Torah without awe and love does not ascend on high.”

10:04 Speaker 1 There has to be both d’chilu and r’chimu, both fear and love. The Rebbe explains this in Tanya: love is the root of “do good,” and fear is the root of “turn away from evil.” Nevertheless, here in Kuntres HaAvodah, the Rebbe Rashab emphasizes that when it comes to the avodah of davening, the main point, the aspiration, is specifically love. Why love specifically? Does that mean fear is not so connected to davening? Of course, Chassidus has much to say about fear, as the Rebbe Rashab will explain later in the kuntres. Nevertheless, fear is not the focus of the avodah of davening. Fear comes before davening or after davening, but davening itself is primarily meant to arouse love. Why love specifically? Let me explain now. The Rebbe explains that davening is meant to accomplish two things. In other words, when Chassidus speaks of its “purpose,” it means its goal, its function. What is davening meant to accomplish? Two things. One is to connect the soul to G-dliness and bring it into cleaving with G-dliness. Here, “soul” means the divine soul. The first purpose of the avodah of davening is to bring the divine soul into a state of cleaving with G-dliness. Even the divine soul needs to cleave to G-dliness, despite being a divine soul. After all, it descended here below: “You created it, You formed it, You breathed it into me.” It descended into this world, so the divine soul needs avodah in order to reach that state of cleaving. That is one purpose of davening. This is why tefillah means “connection.” What does the word tefillah mean? It comes from a word meaning “joining,” as in “one who joins pieces of earthenware.” Where do we find this meaning of joining in the word tefillah? As in—

12:03 Speaker 1 the expression “one who joins pieces of earthenware.” In other words, what does tefillah have to do with joining? It means the soul’s attachment and connection to G-dliness: the divine soul attaches and connects itself to G-dliness. On the plain level, tefillah means making a request. That is the straightforward meaning of the word. We find this language in various places, such as “he shall submit it to the judges” or “Pinchas stood up and prayed.” Tefillah comes from pilul, which in Lashon Hakodesh is a term for making a request. On the plain level, then, tefillah is about asking. This accords with the revealed dimension of Torah, where davening means asking for one’s needs: a person asks Hakadosh Boruch Hu for what he needs. That is the plain meaning of tefillah. Chassidus, however, teaches that tefillah also means “joining.” It cites the expression from the Mishnah, “one who joins pieces of earthenware.” If you look, the usual version spells the word with a tes, not a tav. But there are versions that spell it with a tav, and the version of the Mishnah we are using here has it specifically with a tav. The expression means that someone takes pieces of broken earthenware and joins them together. That is called tofel, with a tav. But, as I said, there are also versions with a tes. Another proof brought in several places in Chassidus is the verse, “With great struggles I have struggled.” This verse provides evidence that a word related to tefillah means joining. In the word “naftulei”—“With great struggles I have struggled”—Rashi says, “I joined.” So we find a verse supporting the idea that tofel, with a tav, means joining.

14:00 Speaker 1 Nevertheless, Chassidus cites not the verse but specifically the expression from the Mishnah. As we said, although the prevalent version of the Mishnah has it with a tav, Chassidus prefers to cite the Mishnah specifically. The Rebbe once explained in a sicha that there is an added quality in this Mishnah, in its reference to earthenware. Earthenware expresses bittul: broken earthenware, “like clay in the hand of the potter.” It emphasizes earth and bittul. Since cleaving to G-dliness in davening is achieved through bittul, the Rebbe Rashab specifically cites the Mishnah’s expression about joining pieces of earthenware. It is not just the word tofel, but also the overall content of the expression. In any case, what do we learn here? Tefillah means joining. Joining what? The divine soul with G-dliness. And that is why davening is called a ladder. The Rebbe Rashab says that this is also why we find in Chassidus, based on the Zohar, that davening is called a ladder: “a ladder set on the earth, with its top reaching heavenward.” The Zohar states, “The ladder is prayer.” The ladder refers to davening. It says that sulam, “ladder,” has the same numerical value as kol, “voice.” When sulam is written with a vav, its numerical value is 136, the same as kol. “Voice” refers to the voice of davening, which brings the soul to cleave to G-dliness. So the Zohar says that the ladder refers to the voice of davening, which brings about this cleaving. Through the ladder of davening, the soul’s nefesh, ruach, and neshamah—the levels found in every Jew—ascend. How far? Until “its top reaches heavenward.” How far do they ascend?

15:54 Speaker 1 They ascend until “its top”—whose top? As he explains here, it does not mean the top of the ladder. It means the “head” of the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah: the head of the soul reaches heavenward. This means that the essence of the soul, the soul’s very core, becomes connected. What is the essence of the soul? The level called “the soul of the soul,” known in Chassidus as chayah and yechidah. The essence of the soul also connects with the source of its life and essence—sorry, with Hakadosh Boruch Hu—during Shemoneh Esrei. This happens within davening itself, at the stage of Shemoneh Esrei, and the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah are included in this connection too. It is not only the essence of the soul that connects during Shemoneh Esrei; through that connection, the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah connect as well. The Rebbe Rashab states several points here very briefly. What is he saying? This is all about the first purpose of davening: the divine soul’s connection to, and cleaving with, its source and root. Within that, he makes several distinctions. The divine soul has different levels. There are its nefesh, ruach, and neshamah—the revealed faculties. Nefesh relates to the garments of the soul, as we just discussed, to malchus; ruach is the emotions; and neshamah is the intellect. So, in one sense, nefesh, ruach, and neshamah are the revealed faculties. Then there are chayah and yechidah, another level, what we call “the soul of the soul.” The avodah of davening, the ladder, applies to all these levels. The nefesh, ruach, and neshamah ascend through the voice of davening and are connected to G-dliness. This is what “set on the earth” means: it includes the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah, because they are the ones

17:43 Speaker 1 When they descend and become clothed in a body, that is called “to the earth.” Then there is “head”—the head of the soul, meaning chayah and yechidah, which never descended. They are not clothed here. Chayah and yechidah always remain as encompassing levels and do not connect with one another—nevertheless, through prayer they too are elevated. That is the significance of Shemoneh Esrei: it brings even chayah and yechidah into connection with the root and essence of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In other words, this itself has several details. Even within this point about prayer—when we say that prayer affects the G-dly soul—there is what prayer accomplishes in the nefesh, ruach and neshamah of the G-dly soul, through the three parts of prayer before Shemoneh Esrei. That is, Pesukei Dezimra and Shema affect the nefesh, ruach and neshamah of the G-dly soul. Then comes Shemoneh Esrei, which affects chayah and yechidah. He then adds another point: through Shemoneh Esrei, chayah and yechidah connect with the root, source and Essence. So it is not only chayah and yechidah that connect; through this, he says, the nefesh, ruach and neshamah are also included in that connection. Now there is a parenthetical passage here, and it is a very long one. The Rebbe Rashab explains this whole subject in detail. With Hashem’s help, we will learn it, but I want to skip over the entire parenthetical passage for a moment so we can see what the second aspect of prayer is. He says there are two aspects to prayer. He began the first one and then went into a long parenthetical passage, all the way to page ten. So open to page ten for a moment, just to see what the two aspects are. On page ten, the parenthetical passage ends with the words “for the soul, etc.” That is the end of it. Yes. The Rebbe Rashab continues—and this is after he has explained the whole first aspect of prayer. He

19:31 Speaker 1 says: “And this is also why prayer is called the pouring out of the soul.” This aspect of prayer is also why prayer is called the pouring out of the soul. As it says, “And I poured out my soul before Hashem”—before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The soul is drawn toward Him and pours itself out to His Essence, may He be blessed. We will get to this parenthetical passage too. It is not for now. With Hashem’s help, we will come back to it later. Just to finish the point: this is the yearning, longing and thirst to be absorbed into the Essence of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is an aspect of prayer: a Jew is stirred to cleave to Him, to yearn, long and thirst to be absorbed into His Essence. All of that is the first aspect of prayer. The Rebbe continues: “And the second aspect of prayer is the refinement and purification of the animal soul.” What is the second aspect of prayer? It is the refinement and purification of the animal soul. That is why prayer takes the place of offerings, as it says, “When a person from among you brings an offering to Hashem”—the offering of the animal soul. The second aspect of prayer is that it refines and purifies the animal soul. That is why prayer is connected with the service of the offerings. Offerings involve an animal, and this is a form of service. The second aspect of prayer is to bring about refinement in the animal soul. As he will explain later, both aspects—the effect of prayer on the G-dly soul and its effect on the animal soul—are accomplished specifically through love and not through awe. That is why he began by saying that the main purpose of the service, love in the service of prayer, is specifically to reach the service of love. For both the [unclear] of the G-dly soul [unclear] and the refinement of the animal soul are accomplished specifically through the service of love, not through the service of awe. He will explain that later. There is also a sicha of the Rebbe here on this whole subject. Volume

21:18 Speaker 1 35, Parshas Vayeitzei. There the Rebbe explains at length—and it is very interesting—that there are two ways of ordering the service of prayer. In one, Maariv comes before Shacharis: Maariv, Shacharis and Minchah. There is another order of prayer: Shacharis, Minchah and Maariv. There the Rebbe also connects this with the two aspects of prayer. If the service of prayer is meant to affect the animal soul, then the order is first Shacharis, then Minchah, and afterward Maariv—like the order of the offerings, the morning tamid and the afternoon tamid. The Rebbe explains there at length the two orders of prayer and how they relate to two different approaches. The Rebbe also connects this with the dispute in the Gemara over whether the prayers were instituted corresponding to the offerings or were instituted by the Patriarchs. The difference between the Patriarchs and the offerings is that the Patriarchs—Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov—are connected with the G-dly soul. They were the ones who drew down the G-dly soul. Offerings, by contrast, involve an animal, so they are connected with the service of the animal soul. These are the two aspects of the service of prayer. Just the name.