Shiurim on Kuntres Ha'avodah - Part 6

00:00 Speaker 1 So let’s start this way. Now he has come to the subject of the ladder. A ladder has four rungs. That is the picture of the ascent. In the soul, these are nefesh, ruach, neshamah, and chayah; and in prayer, there are four corresponding levels of the soul. So he explained the picture of the ladder: even when you ascend to a higher rung, you don’t leave the previous rung behind. The previous rung rises too, though it remains on a lower level. That needs explaining. At the bottom of page five, he began explaining that within each of the levels of nefesh, ruach, and neshamah, there are all three. The overall picture is that each one contains the entire structure. In other words, even nefesh includes contemplation. It is not as we might have understood earlier—that nefesh is only the faculties of action, ruach only the emotions, and neshamah only the intellect. Each contains all three. The difference is what is primary and what is secondary. At the level of nefesh, as we discussed, what matters most is what comes out of the contemplation. A person contemplates, and love and awe are awakened within him. But that love and awe are not consciously felt in his heart; they remain hidden in the recesses of his heart. That also shows that the contemplation was not complete. The Rabbi’s view is that if the love and awe did not become feelings in the heart, the contemplation was not complete either. Still, contemplation was certainly present. The contemplation took place, love and awe were awakened, and the main result was in practice: he actually fulfills what he needs to do. That, generally speaking, is the level of nefesh. Now he is going to explain ruach and neshamah. So—

02:07 Speaker 1 I just want to say that each of them has a complete structure: intellect, emotions, and action—a beginning, middle, and end. The question is what is primary here, where the main emphasis lies, which level is most prominent. Now he will explain in detail the difference between ruach and neshamah. First he will explain the level of ruach in the worlds of Hashem, and afterward the level of neshamah. He continues inside on page six: “There is love and awe felt in the heart that come from contemplation of the greatness of Ein Sof, and there is love and awe hidden in the recesses of the heart.” We spoke earlier about the latter; that is nefesh. Now he explains love and awe felt in the heart. This love and awe come from contemplation of the greatness of Ein Sof. It is a real longing felt in the heart. A person loves Hakadosh Boruch Hu and truly wants to cleave to G-dliness. He senses G-dliness and feels that this is what he wants. It is not merely what we said before—that he understands this is what he ought to do. Before, he did not feel it; he only wanted to want it. Here he actually feels love and awe, and wants to cleave to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is the level of ruach. As we said earlier, each level has a complete structure, and that is true here too. How does a person reach this love and awe? Through contemplation. There is a kind of contemplation that leads a person to love and awe: contemplating G-dliness that can be grasped intellectually, matters of G-dliness that can be understood. What does that mean? [unclear] He contemplates matters—

04:23 Speaker 1 —of G-dliness that can be understood. This means G-dliness as it is invested within the world: the G-dly life-force that is invested in the worlds and gives them life. [unclear] Contemplating this can awaken the feelings of the heart. In other words, we are speaking about the light of memalei kol almin, the aspect of G-dliness invested within the world. [unclear] All of this can be grasped. A person can understand such matters fully. Since we are speaking about G-dliness as it is invested throughout the world, a person can understand it. That is, [unclear]. We have a conception of these matters; a person can understand them. [unclear] There is knowledge of them. What does that show? The Rebbe distinguishes between knowledge and faith, and between two verses. If you want to know what falls under knowledge: there is knowledge, and there is faith. The Rebbe explains this there. [unclear] Some people think that believing the world exists and that everything in it functions as it does is a matter of faith. People call that faith, but that is a mistake. It is not faith. You do not need faith for that. A person can understand it. [unclear]

06:27 Speaker 1 This is a matter of seeing. You do not need faith for it, or even much intellectual reasoning. It is more immediate than something we merely know: you can see it. But it is also something the mind can know. Beyond this, we come to matters that do require faith: G-dliness above the worlds. To contemplate such matters, a Jew already needs faith. [unclear] But for the basic concept of memalei kol almin, one does not need faith beyond the intellect. So, as the Rebbe writes here, what kind of contemplation awakens love and awe so that they are felt in the heart—the subject we are discussing? Contemplation of matters of G-dliness that a person can understand, get a sense of, and engage with. Effort is the key: working to understand these matters. What does he have to work at? A person can learn about memalei kol almin and still have no love or awe. We see this plainly. You can study explanations that bring all kinds of proofs and analogies for memalei kol almin, and then say, “Yes, I understand, but what does it mean to me?” The point is the effort. Where must that effort be directed? Here a person must exert himself with effort of both soul and body. That is the secret of contemplation. And this itself is only contemplation of memalei kol almin. But to reach that contemplation, and to know and grasp these matters, first I would have to—

08:17 Speaker 1 To understand them. Simply to understand every detail. Not just to understand each concept in general, not to be satisfied that you know, in general, what the Rebbe means, but to delve into the details of the subjects, to break them down in your mind, into their many particulars. If you’re going to do it, that is. Knowing the details is depth. I’m saying several things here. First of all, every subject is a whole world. How? You have to bring it down to its particulars, and also delve into it deeply. These are different things. One is breadth and the other is depth. Knowing the details is depth. Depth means grasping the truth of the matter. Yes. To grasp a subject in the depth of its truth. And within depth itself, there is also depth. There is depth on the part of the person, and depth in the subject he is delving into. Yes, there is a difference. It cannot be merely superficial. A pnimi is someone who puts himself entirely into the subject. You can think about something, but generally, you’re only thinking about it; you aren’t immersed in it. You can think about the subject without being fully immersed in it. That is depth on the part of the person. And then there is depth in the subject. Even when you delve into a subject, you might delve only into its more external aspect, rather than its depths. Both for the person grasping it and for the mashpia, the point is to truly enter the depth of the subject, its finer, deeper, truer aspect. The true depth of the subject we have learned must be absorbed by the mind, and it must be something you are firmly immersed in. It should be felt so strongly that there is nothing like it, until the thing you are contemplating becomes your own feeling. You should feel it as something real. Then that is the secret of love coming to light. All of these are the things that make contemplation truly give a person the secret of

10:32 Speaker 1 true love of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He should truly want G-dliness, with a palpable yearning. It should be revealed specifically in the heart; it should awaken in him a genuine feeling for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, a real yearning to connect with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and [unclear]. Yes. So all of this is the subject under discussion here. Yes, this too is among the things the Rebbe discusses. And this itself—contemplation must be entirely one’s own—involves several details. Yes. I’m saying that effort itself consists of effort of the soul and effort of the flesh. So what are effort of the soul and effort of the flesh? I don’t understand it at all. But when it comes up in Tanya, the plain meaning is effort of the soul and effort of the flesh. But here in Tanya, the point is the soul. That’s what is meant: the soul. It means that a person can keep his mind focused on a subject for a long time. That is effort of the soul. He has to exert his soul, to focus for a long stretch of time each day on [unclear]. He has to train his soul to be able to focus on it. There are several chapters of Tanya that [unclear]. That is why there is the flesh. So I’m talking about exertion. What does Tanya mean by effort of the flesh? Refining [unclear] is called effort of the flesh. That is what the Alter Rebbe calls effort of the flesh. It involves [unclear]. Yes, what he explains is in the kuntres... And you have to make the body yield so that it does not interfere. For that purpose we have effort of the flesh: to reduce the body’s materiality, even through discomfort and self-denial. And the Rabbi also says and writes here that the plain meaning of effort of the soul and effort of the flesh is this: effort of the soul is to awaken [unclear].

12:43 Speaker 1 [unclear]. Effort of the flesh is to remove the blemishes in a person’s physical nature. Effort of the soul is to work with the intellect, both in general and in detail. But the Alter Rebbe also says this in Tanya. First, though, what is he saying here? His main point here is that to awaken from this exile requires effort of the soul, effort of the flesh, and contemplation. And this itself involves several things. Knowledge cannot remain merely general; it must be detailed knowledge. First of all, you need the individual details. Second, it must be done through deep concentration: grasping the subject in its depth, as deeply as you can. Yes. And at the same time, you must attach yourself firmly to the subject, be immersed in it—not just once or twice, but genuinely return to it again and again. That is what firmness means. For example, the Rebbe says—and our discussion here is not a commentary on Tanya—I don’t understand the wording here: persistence. The Rebbe adds “firmness and persistence.” Persistence means over time: returning to a subject and thinking about it, thinking about it, until it awakens a genuine feeling of love in a person. All this belongs to the level of ruach. This is the level connected with Geulah. It is still not neshamah; it is ruach. Now why is it ruach? The question arises: the person is contemplating, so there is intellectual comprehension here. And not just any comprehension—comprehension of all the details. So surely this is already a matter of mochin, of intellect, and mochin is neshamah. Why do we say that it is not called neshamah, but only ruach? There was comprehension of every detail here. Why is it called this level? That is what the Rebbe now comes to explain. And [unclear] mochin enters into it. So it is true that we are speaking here about a level of

14:53 Speaker 1 mochin, but nevertheless it is ruach. Why ruach? Ruach is the middos, the emotions. The Rebbe explains that what he is discussing here is fundamentally the emotions of the heart. The person’s aim here is to awaken the emotions, and his intellectual comprehension serves that purpose. Since that is what he wants—he wants the emotions—even though he is using his intellect, his intellect here is for the sake of the emotions. The goal of his contemplation is to awaken the emotions within himself. So even though there is intellect here, it is considered part of the emotions, something that serves them. He explains that even when one reaches into the deeper [unclear], that level of mochin is still considered ruach. It is not considered neshamah; it is considered part of the emotions. What does [unclear] mochin mean? [Unclear] in the garments of the intellect. What does that mean? It means mochin that come clothed in the garments of intellect—intellectual faculties that relate to the emotions. This belongs to the emotions; it is not intellect in its own right. This is the point of what is written in the Siddur, in “Shabbos Baruch She’amar.” “Shabbos Baruch She’amar” means the section of the Siddur added on Shabbos, from “Lamnatzeiach,” “Hashamayim Mesaprim,” until [unclear]. That entire section is called “Shabbos Baruch She’amar.” Here it says [unclear]. But elsewhere it says that it is the entrance gate [unclear], and he wrote that this is what people used to call it. That was the name they used for all the additions to the Shabbos davening, from “Lamnatzeiach,” “Hashamayim Mesaprim,” until [unclear]. They called it “Shabbos Baruch She’amar.” That is what it was called. I won’t explain why, but that is what they called this part of davening.

17:02 Speaker 1 Yes, from “Hashamayim Mesaprim” until [unclear], you get there. This entire section added on Shabbos is called “Shabbos Baruch She’amar,” as though these are parts of the Baruch She’amar prayers specifically associated with Shabbos. Why, in fact, do we add all of this on Shabbos? Because Shabbos is connected with song. Shabbos is a time when malchus ascends. Yes, so there is [unclear] throughout this section, and the entire sequence there, from “Lamnatzeiach” and “Hashamayim Mesaprim,” deals with song and praise, and that is on Shabbos. [Unclear] song, and likewise all the [unclear] about the heart and so on, about the tzaddikim. All of this continues a subject that the Alter Rebbe explains in his Siddur. So there, in the section of Baruch She’amar, at “Hashamayim Mesaprim,” he explains that there are mochin, the beginning of mochin, [unclear] mochin; there are mochin that belong to the emotions, and there are mochin in their own right. And that is what is written [unclear]. He also discussed this [unclear]. He points here as well to an earlier passage in the continuation of [unclear], where he likewise presents these different levels of mochin: mochin that belong to the emotions, and mochin in their own right.

18:22 Speaker 2 No.

18:23 Speaker 1 As you heard, this is one of the proofs ... that the Rebbe Rashab, uh, when he finished writing it—the continuation of Hemshech 5666—at least he wrote this. But it also says ... “according to what will be after my passing.” We spoke about ... “whoever is not here,” but here we see that he identifies where their continuation belongs. And the bittul here is the bittul of ... middos. Not only ... this, so that what emerges is the intellect of the middos; the bittul here, too, is the bittul of middos. Why did we explain that it is the bittul of middos? That is, bittul hayesh. It was not the bittul of intellect, which is above bittul hayesh altogether. The bittul here is the bittul of middos, making it bittul hayesh, not the bittul of intellect—of intellect entirely. It is bittul of one’s very existence. Yet later on here, he does not say “bittul of one’s very existence”; he says that consequently ... there is no such “yesh” there, not bittul of one’s very existence. Because in truth, even ... is also not bittul of one’s very existence. That is the bittul, the concept of bittul of one’s very existence, bittul of one’s very existence. Actually, that too is difficult. So we can understand it based on the maamar we learned about whistling. If you remember the maamar we learned once, the maamar about ... whistling ... There the Rebbe explains that “bittul of one’s very existence” has two meanings. There is bittul of one’s very existence ... where one’s entire existence ... with bittul; or the bittul of one’s very existence is total bittul, because ... the bittul comes from above, not from the lower being. And that is the whole difference between the bittul of intellect and the bittul of chochmah. Chochmah is ..., yes, the whole bittul of chochmah is ..., yes, those are the three levels. The bittul of a middah is bittul hayesh. In other words, he is a yesh, but in practice he is not there. So the bittul

20:13 Speaker 1 of dechilu u’rechimu that we are discussing here, which is something belonging to the middah, is of a kind that becomes enclothed, called “in the vessels of Yetzirah.” But it does not enter Yetzirah. So the Rebbe brings ... and says, “I don’t have it as a yesh,” but ultimately that, too, is not specifically in a serious way, because it seems ... to do it. By contrast, the bittul of ... has no place. ... I speak with him all the time. Yes, but we at least have to finish this part. Yes. So you’re asking what he is explaining here? He is explaining why, even though there is intellect here, as we explained, it is nevertheless called middos. It is not called intellect; it is called feeling. It is not called ... yes. Why? Because the point here is not the intellect but the middos, and your intellect is ... He gave several details. Yes. He says that he means three different points. First, he says that the aim is not the act itself. The aim is that they should draw close to Him and fear Him—that is one. Second, he says that even at the level of the ... it is not intellect in its own right; it is the outer edge of the intellect’s aim, what is called the intellect of the middos. Therefore, overall, it falls into the category of middos. And the third thing, he says, is that even the bittul of ... is not bittul. It is not the bittul of intellect; it is not intellectual bittul. It is an expression of yesh and the bittul of intellect. That is the whole point here, to finish the verse. What is the connection? In this regard, this is the service of the heart. The level we are discussing here is the level about which it is said that there must be service of the heart. That is to say, in avodah, this particular level is the level. Uh, uh, [unclear]. In other

22:03 Speaker 1 words, in avodah, it is specifically this work that is required—not the level before it or the one after it. In other words, in avodah, what is required of every person ... is to reach this level. Now, one could argue ... that His will is not so. The fact is that when we speak of love and fear, we mean this level of ruach. The love that ... the heart: the mitzvah of love and fear is not about ... The Torah wanted every person, every Jew, to have love of Hashem. ... the picture of fear ... The mitzvah of love and fear means love and fear that are felt in the heart—not the earlier love and fear, which are only ... and are not yet the main fulfillment of the mitzvah, and not the love and fear that we will study afterward either. That does not rule out their being a higher level; it is just not as relevant to this picture. The mitzvah means love and fear that come through effort, through avodah and daas, and so on. It means this level of ruach. Not only that—there is another point. He says there is another advantage here, connected with the fulfillment of the mitzvos. ... Apart from the fact that this is what the Torah means by the mitzvah of love and fear, there is another advantage: this brings one to fulfill the mitzvos. This particular love and fear are the love and fear best suited to bringing about actual practice. And the purpose of love and fear, as we learned in Tanya, is that they serve as wings. Yes, that is what is needed. They are like wings ... to bring life into the mitzvah. ... means this particular love and fear. So there are ... and several things he sees ... as they explained in the Shabbos sicha. Another thing, a third advantage of this love and fear, is that it refines the animal soul. Specifically this avodah

23:51 Speaker 1 of ruach brings about the refinement of the animal soul. At the first level, because it reaches only the very edge, the animal soul is not refined by it. It remains as it was in practice. At the third level, the animal soul is already nullified. That is not refinement; it is a matter of the animal soul ... being nullified, as we will learn later. Specifically this level, which penetrates the animal soul and is felt in the heart, is the level at which the main refinement of the animal soul takes place. ... of the animal soul. The Rebbe Rashab says this too. You reach its world, and therefore this is the main refinement of the animal soul. So these are three advantages found specifically in the love and fear we are discussing here. ... And because of this, as long as ... cannot be ... for me, then love and fear come through effort, and so on. Besides, this is relevant to everyone, right? In other words, these are levels relevant to everyone, and everyone can attain them. Because effort, and so on—[unclear]—refinement of the animal soul. It does not quite come through, because what is called ... This level is relevant to everyone, and everyone can attain it; indeed, this is what the Torah commands us to do. So here, in parentheses, the Rebbe Rashab gives special attention to this particular level, yes? Because it is the main foundation, and so on, with all the advantages it has. But in a moment he goes on to discuss a higher level. We will see there what he goes on to say.