Explanation of the Concept of Hiskashrus - Part 2

00:06 Speaker 1 Well, since we’re now in the days close to Yud-Beis–Yud-Gimmel Tammuz, today we’ll discuss the Tanya lesson and come to the subject of hiskashrus, since it’s discussed in Tanya. Generally speaking, there are three places in Tanya where the Rebbe discusses hiskashrus, or, in other words, the relationship between a Rebbe and chassidim. The first is in chapter 2 of Tanya. There, the Alter Rebbe explains the role of the heads of the Jewish people. He explains the G-dly soul: every person has a G-dly soul, and that soul is literally a part of G-d above. But when the G-dly soul comes to be joined with a person, there are different levels among souls, from the head of all levels to the tail of all levels. Through the soul’s descent, some souls come to be on the level of the heels, while others are the heads of the Jewish people, and so on. So for the entire Jewish people, with all their different souls, to be connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that connection comes through the tzaddik. In a person, all the limbs of the body receive their nourishment and life through the brain, and the child’s brain is what connects him with his father’s brain. In the same way, all Jewish souls are connected through the “brain”—the Rebbe, the tzaddik, the head of the Jewish people. Through attachment and cleaving to him, they receive all their nourishment and life from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is why he cites the teaching of our Sages on “and to cleave to Him”: one who cleaves to a Torah scholar is considered as though he cleaves to the Shechinah. Cleaving to a Torah scholar means cleaving to the head of the Jewish people, and through that one cleaves to the Shechinah, because that is how a Jew receives his connection to G-dliness: through his connection to the head, to the brain, which is

03:24 Speaker 1 the tzaddik. That’s chapter 2. The second place is chapter 42. There the Alter Rebbe writes about the idea of ra’aya meheimna, the faithful shepherd. In chapter 42 of Tanya, the Alter Rebbe discusses fear of Heaven. He says that every person can, and every person must, work on fear of Heaven. This is a form of avodah that applies to everyone. It is “the beginning of avodah, and its essence and root,” as the Rebbe discussed in chapter 41. In chapter 42, the Alter Rebbe explains in this light what our Sages say about the verse, “And now, Israel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you, other than to fear Him?” Hakadosh Boruch Hu asks every person to have fear of Heaven. The Talmud asks: “Is fear, then, a small matter?” How can you say, “What does Hashem your G-d ask of you, other than to fear Him,” as though it were a small thing? Is fearing Hashem a small thing? The Talmud answers: “For Moshe, it was a small matter.” So the Alter Rebbe asks: What does that mean? How is that an answer? The verse addresses “Israel”—all of Israel. How does it help to say that for Moshe it was a small matter? The Rebbe explains that every Jew has an aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu within him. Moshe Rabbeinu is ra’aya meheimna. What does ra’aya meheimna mean? Moshe Rabbeinu’s soul is of the level of daas, and he draws down daas to the Jewish people. Through the daas that Moshe Rabbeinu draws down to them, he gives them vitality and G-dliness, enabling them to serve Hashem and to awaken love and fear. The Rebbe continues that this is not only true of Moshe: in every generation, sparks of Moshe Rabbeinu are clothed in the bodies and souls of the sages of the generation—the “eyes of the congregation.” They give every Jew vitality and G-dliness, the quality of daas: both knowledge from teachers and books, the knowledge conveyed through the Torah they teach, and daas as a faculty, which is what the Rebbe

05:46 Speaker 1 goes on to explain: every Jew has the power of daas, and through contemplation can awaken within himself fear of Heaven. That is the point of chapter 42. Incidentally, this is the place to note that the explanation of ra’aya meheimna here in Tanya, chapter 42, is not the same explanation given in Ve’atah Tetzaveh. At first glance, it looks as though they are discussing the same thing. Here he speaks of drawing down daas, and similarly, the Rebbe also describes how Moshe Rabbeinu brings emunah into the inner dimension of daas. But there is a difference; it is an entirely different explanation. In the maamar Ve’atah Tetzaveh, the work of ra’aya meheimna is to nourish and sustain emunah. In other words, Moshe Rabbeinu’s role is to work with emunah. Meheimna is related to the word emunah. Every Jew has emunah, but it is present in a transcendent way. Moshe Rabbeinu is ra’aya meheimna because he brings emunah inward. How does he do that? By awakening the essence. That is the whole explanation the Rebbe gives in Ve’atah Tetzaveh. Is that what’s being discussed here? No. Here in Tanya, chapter 42, the Alter Rebbe is not discussing emunah at all. He is discussing fear of Heaven and daas. To attain fear of Heaven, one needs daas. Moshe Rabbeinu is the level of supernal daas, so he draws down daas and G-dliness and thereby imparts fear of Heaven. Here in chapter 42, the Alter Rebbe does not discuss emunah at all. Here—and this is the precise point—Moshe is called ra’aya meheimna in connection with daas. Moshe Rabbeinu is ra’aya meheimna, and his own level was daas, supernal daas. Moshe Rabbeinu had a soul of daas; in him there was supernal daas and G-dliness. So Moshe Rabbeinu

08:00 Speaker 1 is called ra’aya meheimna. What does ra’aya meheimna mean? A faithful shepherd. Here, ra’aya meheimna does not mean what it means in the first explanation the Rebbe gives. It means a faithful shepherd. He takes his own quality and uses it to nourish others. That, too, is his role, but it is not about emunah. His quality is daas. Moshe Rabbeinu brings daas, his own quality, into the Jewish people. He gives it to all of Israel as a shepherd, in a manner of... So this is an entirely different explanation. In other words, in the maamar Ve’atah Tetzaveh, the emphasis in ra’aya meheimna is that he is the shepherd of emunah. Emunah is the main point, and he is its shepherd. In chapter 42 of Tanya, the main emphasis is that he is a shepherd: he nourishes, he makes it possible... he gives daas to each and every Jew. A shepherd. What kind of shepherd? A faithful one. But meheimna here does not mean emunah. These are different explanations. If you notice, in the maamar Ve’atah Tetzaveh, when the Rebbe mentions in chapter 6 that Moshe Rabbeinu draws down daas, he gives a reference below to Likkutei Torah, Parshas Mishpatim, and then writes, “See also Tanya, chapter 42.” There’s a copy of Ve’atah Tetzaveh on the table. So he writes it this way. He writes... have a look. All right, never mind where. Look at the footnote. He cites Likkutei Torah and then writes “See also,” as if it’s... Is that a good sign or a bad sign? Why think about it? We can’t find the reference. It’s all here. Parshas Mishpatim and in several other places, footnote thirty-four: “See also Tanya, beginning of chapter 42.” What’s the significance of that wording, “See also”? It means exactly what we said: this is not the same

10:29 Speaker 1 explanation. “See also”—daas is discussed there too, but that is not the Rebbe’s primary reference. The Rebbe does not cite chapter 42 directly in the first instance, because the explanation there is actually different. Notice that. All of this is about chapter 42 of Tanya. So what is the point of Moshe Rabbeinu being of the level of daas? By giving daas to all of Israel, Moshe makes fear a “small matter”: with the daas Moshe gives us, every person can attain the avodah of serving Hashem with fear, with fear of Heaven. In any case, look at the text. The third place is in Igeres Hakodesh—the well-known letter in which the Alter Rebbe discusses how a tzaddik continues to influence his chassidim even after his passing. He explains at length how the tzaddik influences his chassidim. Good. He explains that the tzaddik’s life is not physical; it is not the body. For him, life means emunah, fear, and love. That is what life means for him. Even while he was alive in the flesh, his life was not the flesh. His life was emunah, fear, and love. In other words, the definition, the very essence of life for the tzaddik—always, even while he lives in a physical body—is emunah in Hashem, fear of Hashem, and love of Hashem. That is what life means for him. So in this respect, nothing changes for the tzaddik between living in the physical world and no longer living there. That life of his is eternal life; it truly lasts forever. What, then, is the difference? As long as he lives in a body, there is a limitation. The body is a limiting vessel, a physical place that confines all of the tzaddik’s feeling—his holiness, his soul, his emunah, fear, and love—to a physical place. As a result, only a light from them shines, only a glimmer. So when there is the

13:15 Speaker 1 At the time of histalkus, a tzaddik rises to a level where the vessel no longer limits him. Consequently, he can be everywhere—with every chossid, with every one of his students—not merely in the form of a ray of his light, but in his very essence. The tzaddik himself, his essential power in all its strength, can be revealed to every one of those connected to him. And the more one loves the tzaddik, the stronger one’s feeling of connection and love, the more this makes one a vessel to receive the essence of his teacher’s spirit. That means the very essence of his teacher’s spirit: his faith, awe, and love. One only has to toil, as the Alter Rebbe says, with great effort. But the essence of his teacher’s spirit, in all its strength, is present with every one of those connected to the tzaddik and the students who receive from him. The Alter Rebbe then goes on to say what else there is. This is part of Igeres Hakodesh, epistle 27. What does the tzaddik impart? His faith, awe, and love, which every chossid can receive through connecting to the tzaddik. He then says that there is another way the tzaddik influences his students, the chassidim and those connected to him, and everyone in the generation—not inwardly, but in an encompassing way. Faith, awe, and love are an inward influence. You learn Chassidus; you learn the tzaddik’s teachings. You live with the tzaddik—with his guidance, with the events and stories of his life. Through that, you receive faith, awe, and love. That is the tzaddik’s inward influence. The point is that after his histalkus, even this can be more powerful. But there is another kind of influence that comes from the tzaddik, an encompassing influence. What does that mean? Since the tzaddik performed much Torah study and many mitzvos during his lifetime, through his service he accomplished something: he sowed seeds... He brought forth many illuminations in the order of hishtalshelus, in the world

15:21 Speaker 1 —offspring. And from the seeds the tzaddik sowed through his service, something continues to grow for all his students and their students, awakening them to teshuvah. In other words, today a chossid, a student, someone connected to the tzaddik, to the Rebbe—and indeed anyone in the generation—can experience thoughts of teshuvah. A person becomes stirred to them naturally. This comes from what the tzaddik accomplished through his service, whose effects continue afterward as well. Even after his histalkus, growth continues to come from him—further growth, as he puts it. It produces an awakening in the service of Hashem, to the point that people become baalei teshuvah through the awakening brought about by his service. That is very, very powerful. In other words, all the service of Hashem we have today—look, all sorts of things in serving Hashem, thoughts of teshuvah, thoughts of doing good deeds, and all the ways a person is stirred to serve Hashem—these are offspring of the tzaddik’s service, which is still having an effect today. It has an effect. The tzaddik continues to bring forth growth upon growth among his students and chassidim. He gives an analogy from the sun’s light: even at night, the sun’s light spreads through the stars. As is known, the light the stars have actually comes from the sun; the sun’s light is reflected by the stars, giving us light at night. Similarly, the lights of Moshe Rabbeinu spread to the six hundred thousand Jews and all their generations. That is the point of epistle 27. Continuing from there, we will speak about histalkus. There is also the epistle in chapter 28, where he speaks about the tzaddik as well, but there he primarily explains the passing of the tzaddik. He does not speak so much about the tzaddik himself. He speaks more about the day—the day of the yahrzeit, the day of the tzaddik’s histalkus

17:30 Speaker 1 —and explains that on that day there is a special power. All the service and all the actions, everything the tzaddik worked on throughout his life, reach completion on the final day. Everything he did throughout his life is then gathered together, becoming an extraordinarily powerful force that acts—“works salvations in the midst of the earth”—bringing salvation and atonement for the most profound matters, even matters involving impurity from contact with the dead, as with the red heifer. This is actually the connection to today’s reading. Yes, this is what we are reading now in the weekly parsha. There is the red heifer, and after the red heifer it says, “And Miriam died.” From there we learn that the passing of tzaddikim is like the red heifer. Just as the red heifer atones for impurity from contact with the dead, which is the most severe kind, so too the tzaddik, through his passing, atones for the gravest matters, even matters involving impurity from contact with the dead. That is epistle 28. In any case, we are talking about the relationship between a chossid and his Rebbe, the chossid’s connection to his Rebbe, and what the Rebbe imparts to him. The foundation for this is found in these three places in Tanya: chapter 2, chapter 42, and Igeres Hakodesh, epistle 27. Now.

19:03 Speaker 2 When was this—after the histalkus, or before it as well? Afterward.

19:08 Speaker 1 Before as well—both before and after. One second. And of course, each of these passages has something to consider. That is, this is not just about a Rebbe; it is not... Each place in Tanya, each of these three places, makes a particular point. There is the general question that everyone asks himself: What is the significance of a chossid’s connection to the Rebbe? Of course, for chassidim this is self-evident. A chossid knows that without a Rebbe, a chossid has no life. The connection of a chossid to the Rebbe. Nevertheless, we need words for it. We need an explanation. We need to explain it. We need a deep explanation, especially when we are in a time of concealment and cannot see the Rebbe with our physical eyes. Then one can sometimes come to a conclusion, [unclear]. At times we are indeed in a world of concealment, a world of darkness, and we cannot see the Rebbe with our physical eyes. So we need all the more to reflect on this, study it, delve into it, and understand how much it matters in everyday life. Tanya is not a book about connection to the Rebbe. Tanya is a foundational book on the service of Hashem. Tanya is a book for beinonim. The Alter Rebbe’s aim in Tanya was to explain how, for each and every person, “the matter is very near to you”—it is within his power to do it. That is Tanya. So if the Alter Rebbe explains the concept of a Rebbe in Tanya, it must be essential. It is not incidental. The Alter Rebbe is not explaining things in passing; rather, this concerns [unclear]. In other words, the Alter Rebbe is telling us: If you want to be a Jew and serve Hashem in the way described in the Book of Beinonim—because for each and every person the matter is very near, within his power to do—so that you can serve Hashem fully in thought, speech, and action as you should, something that concerns everyone, then this must

21:43 Speaker 1 be through connection to the Rebbe. So first of all, chapter 2. Chapter 2 is the beginning of Tanya. The Alter Rebbe has not yet begun discussing the struggle. The Alter Rebbe has not yet begun discussing... Chapter 2 is the beginning of Tanya. The Alter Rebbe has only just started Tanya. He has told us just one thing: that every Jew has two souls. That is what you know. You study chapter 1 and learn about the animal soul. You reach chapter 2 and learn about the G-dly soul, and then the Alter Rebbe introduces the need for a Rebbe, for the leaders of the Jewish people. What does that mean? It means that in chapters 1 and 2, the Alter Rebbe is laying the foundation. He is not yet speaking to an individual about his personal service. The Alter Rebbe is beginning at the very beginning of the work. He is dealing with the foundation. He is coming to explain to us what a Jew is. That is what the first chapters of Tanya are about. The Alter Rebbe is coming to explain what I am, what the essence of a Jew is. So he says that every Jew has two souls, a G-dly soul and an animal soul. And right there, while explaining the foundation—even before he has discussed the ten powers of the soul, before you know about intellect and emotions, or about thought, speech, and action—he has only told you that a Jew is a person with two souls. And immediately the Alter Rebbe says: There is such a thing as a Rebbe. This tells us—it is not... In Tanya everything is precise, every word. The order is precise as well. In other words, he is telling us that at the most basic level, just as you need to know that a Jew has two souls, to know the foundation of what a Jew is, you also need to know that your connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, as a

23:45 Speaker 1 A Jew has to connect through a leader, a Rebbe. That is the meaning of “the heads of the Jewish people.” What does that mean in practice? There are two points here. First, it concerns the G-dly soul. As the Tanya says plainly at the beginning of chapter 2: “The second soul in a Jew is truly a part of G-d above.” A Jew is a part of G-d above. That is a Jew’s true distinction: he has another soul. A non-Jew also has an animal soul; in fact, the animal soul of a non-Jew is discussed in chapter 1 of Tanya. A Jew has a G-dly soul, a part of G-d above. That is your true distinction as a Jew. Do you want to live with it? Do you want to reveal it? Do you want to be a Jew? To bring out your Yiddishkeit, to live with your Yiddishkeit, to be a Jew as a Jew should be, you first have to know that, for you to be a Jew as you should be—for your second soul to be revealed—you need the heads of the Jewish people. Without that, you have not even begun. You need it to begin being a Jew. That seems to be the plain meaning of Tanya. There is also a thought I heard from chassidim. I heard it from Mizrachi. I don’t know whom he quoted, but he shared this thought. I think he attributed it to earlier chassidim. I’ll ask him. It’s a beautiful thought, and it fits well here. Why, he asks, does the Alter Rebbe introduce the subject of a Rebbe in chapter 2 of Tanya? A chossid starts learning Tanya, and the Alter Rebbe tells him that everyone has two souls: an animal soul and a G-dly soul. So he has a split personality! The Alter Rebbe has just revealed to him that things are complicated, that he isn’t

26:00 Speaker 1 one person—he is two people in one. So one must go to the Rebbe. You have to go to the Rebbe, because otherwise how will you know how to handle two souls? You need the Rebbe, or you will be completely confused. That works there. Rabbi Yosef of Vizhnitz. This comes up a little earlier as an aside, but we’ll get to it. That is at the beginning of Tanya. In chapter 42, the Alter Rebbe speaks more about how a person feels. It comes down to avodah in practice: how do you bring this into actual avodah? Fear of Hashem. The Alter Rebbe is speaking about how a person can be G-d-fearing. That already concerns a person’s own avodah. The beginning of avodah is to be G-d-fearing. The Alter Rebbe began that... earlier. Yes, so the Alter Rebbe says that even in a person’s own avodah, when it comes to actually being G-d-fearing—the foundation of all service of Hashem—you need a Rebbe. Because a Rebbe gives you daas, and through daas you can become G-d-fearing. In other words, the difference between the role of a Rebbe mentioned in chapters 1 and 2 and the role mentioned in chapter 42 is this: In chapters 1 and 2, the Rebbe is connected to the essence of life itself—to your Yiddishkeit coming alive, to your being able to identify with your source, with who you are as a Jew. To awaken your Judaism, your Yiddishkeit, your second soul, you need a Rebbe. Chapter 42 deals with how the Rebbe’s influence finds expression in practical avodah: becoming G-d-fearing so that we can fulfill Torah and mitzvos properly, from a place of fear of Heaven. For that, too, you need hiskashrus. This is the daas that the Rebbe gives. There is much more to discuss here. It is explained at length, but we’ll leave it here. At another opportunity, we’ll continue

28:35 Speaker 1 with a few more points. What is the point of chapter 27? Let me just finish with one thought. When we get to chapter 42, there is a powerful thought. I think the Rebbe brings it. It appears in Lessons in Tanya. In chapter 42, the Alter Rebbe writes: “In every generation, sparks from the soul of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him, descend and become clothed in the body and soul of the sages of the generation, the eyes of the community.” The point is that the Alter Rebbe mentions the body first and then the soul. Seemingly, the order should be reversed: the spark becomes clothed in the soul, and through the soul, in the body. The spark of Moshe would seemingly become clothed in the tzaddik’s soul. But the Alter Rebbe writes “body” first, and then “soul.” The explanation, quoted in the name of the Rebbeim—I don’t remember exactly—is that this emphasizes something new: the Rebbe’s connection with Moshe Rabbeinu, the idea that the Rebbe is an extension of Moshe, is not only in his soul but also in his body. And it is not merely that the body is a vessel for the soul, so that because he has a soul connected to Moshe, his body is connected too. There is something in the tzaddik’s body itself, in the form of his face: a spark of Moshe Rabbeinu is present in the very body of the tzaddik. From this follows something mentioned there in Lessons in Tanya, which was edited by the Rebbe. It says that this is the basis for the chassidic practice of looking at a picture of the Rebbe, of looking at the Rebbe’s face. Looking at the tzaddik’s body matters because the body itself contains a spark of Moshe Rabbeinu. So simply looking at the tzaddik’s body has significance. That is why it says there, “One can look and look at the tzaddik”—you never get your fill of it. For everything the Alter Rebbe says there about supernal daas and so on is present in his body

30:36 Speaker 1 too. It is not only a matter of the soul; it is also in the tzaddik’s body. That is the thought quoted there.