'Then Yehoshua Spoke: Sun, Be Still Over Givon, and Moon, Over the Valley of Ayalon' - Rabbi Asher Parkash

00:00 Today we’re going to talk about Joshua, the Book of Joshua, chapter 10. Tanach tells us what happened after the story of Gibeon: its people surrendered to the Jewish people, and then the five Amorite kings went to war against them. The people of Gibeon asked Joshua to come and help them. Tanach then tells us that Joshua son of Nun set out suddenly from Gilgal, marching all night, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu performed great miracles. “And Hashem threw them into confusion before Israel and struck them with a great blow at Gibeon.” There were great miracles, as it says here: large stones fell from the sky like hailstones, and the Jewish people pursued them, and so on. Then come the wonderful verses we’re focusing on in today’s class. Chapter 10, verse 12: “Then Joshua spoke to Hashem on the day Hashem delivered the Amorites before the Children of Israel, and he said before the eyes of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Ayalon.’” That’s verse 12. Verse 13 continues: “And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation had avenged itself upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Yashar? And the sun stood in the middle of the heavens and did not hurry to set for an entire day.” Verse 14: “And there was no day like that before it or after it, when Hashem listened to the voice of a man, for Hashem fought for Israel.” Well, these wonderful verses describe one of the greatest miracles in history, as the verse itself says: “There was no day like that before it or after it.” This miracle had never happened in history, not before and not afterward: the sun stopped. Joshua son of Nun succeeded in stopping the sun’s movement. The sun stayed in its place, and so did the moon, until they finished pursuing the Amorite kings and their people and won the war. There are a number of points about these verses that the Gemara and the Midrashim already discuss. What

02:41 exactly happened here? What exactly happened in this war? What did Joshua mean by what he said? What was the nature of the miracle? What exactly took place? There are actually many things here that are hard to understand. For example, what was the purpose of this miracle at all—“Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Ayalon”? Miracles had already happened. They had seen stones fall from the sky, and the Jewish people had succeeded in pursuing their enemies. Why was this whole additional miracle needed? Some want to say that this itself was the remarkable thing, the great miracle here. Some commentators say that although there was no need for this miracle, Hakadosh Boruch Hu performed it anyway, and that was its greatness. There had already been great miracles—which raises another question the commentators ask: How can it say there had never been anything like this? Moshe Rabbeinu had already performed tremendous miracles in the Chumash. What exactly was the great miracle here that Tanach describes as unlike anything before it? The Gemara also asks this question. But some explain that this was the great miracle: although the miracle itself wasn’t needed, it happened so that it would become known throughout the world. The commentators explain that this is also the meaning of “Is this not written in the Book of Yashar?” What exactly does that mean? The Gemara in Tractate Avodah Zarah, page 25a, explains what the Book of Yashar is. It refers to the Book of Bereishis; “Yashar,” meaning “upright,” refers to the Patriarchs, who are called upright. And it is in Bereishis that we find the blessing Yaakov Avinu gave to Ephraim. When Yosef stood with Ephraim and Menashe before his father Yaakov at the end of Yaakov’s life, Yaakov placed his right hand on the younger one, Ephraim. He said: “I know, my son, I know” that Menashe is older, but the younger one will become greater than he, “and his descendants will fill the nations.” Now, the plain meaning of “his descendants will fill the nations” is that the descendants of Yaakov Avinu—of Ephraim, I’m sorry—would spread throughout the world. And where would “his descendants will fill the nations” be fulfilled? With Joshua son of Nun in this story, when Joshua made the sun and moon stand still: “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Ayalon.” Although miracles had happened there, with stones falling from the sky, and the war itself was conducted through outright miracles, only those nearby, in the area of Gibeon where it took place, saw them. But when the sun stood still for an entire day and the moon stayed in its place, all the nations of the world—“the nations” in their fullness—the whole world could see the miracle. That was the great, unprecedented miracle: Hakadosh Boruch Hu performed a special miracle that broke the laws of nature just so the nations of the world could see the extent of the honor and the love—the affection—Hakadosh Boruch Hu has for the Jewish people. But now we’ll explain what Chassidus says about this story, about this great miracle we’re discussing. Before we get into it, there are a few more details. The words “Then Joshua spoke,” these verses, are also considered a song. The Midrash says that the Jewish people have sung ten songs throughout the generations, beginning with “Then Moshe sang,” the song of Moshe Rabbeinu, and ending with the tenth song, the new song that Moshiach will sing. Nine songs have already been sung. What are those nine songs? One of them is Joshua’s song. And what is Joshua’s song? It is this verse, “Then Joshua spoke to Hashem: ‘Sun, stand still at Gibeon,’” which is counted among the songs of praise associated with the entire history of the Jewish people. So it’s clear that there is something very deep in these verses. If we say this is one of the nine songs that have been sung, even though someone might ask: Where is the song here? “Then Moshe sang” has many verses; there is the Song of the Well; there is David’s song, which is an entire chapter of Tanach. Here he says only a few words. Where is the song? We need to understand the song’s depth, because there is a great deal of depth here. We can also see it in the fact that this song begins with “Then”—“Then Joshua spoke.” Moshe Rabbeinu’s song began the same way: “Then Moshe sang.” Here too: “Then Joshua spoke.” And Rashi, in Parshas Beshalach, when he discusses the verse “Then Moshe sang,” also cites this verse, “Then Joshua spoke.” So it follows that what is said about “Then Moshe sang” applies here as well. Rashi and the Midrashim explain that the word “then” alludes to very deep and wonderful ideas connected with the song. That same “then” applies to “Then Joshua spoke.” So what is the meaning of Joshua’s song, and especially, what is its connection to the story in

04:35 The patriarchs are called “the upright ones.” In Chumash Bereishis, in the blessing Yaakov Avinu gave Ephraim, we read that when Yosef stood with Ephraim and Menashe before his father Yaakov at the end of his life, Yaakov Avinu placed his right hand on the younger one, Ephraim. He said, “I know, I know” that Menashe is the older one, but the younger one will become greater than he, “and his descendants will fill the nations.” Now, the plain meaning of “his descendants will fill the nations” is that the descendants—the children of Yaakov Avinu—of Ephraim’s descendants, sorry, will fill the nations. That is, they will spread throughout the world. And where exactly would this promise be fulfilled? It would be fulfilled through Yehoshua bin Nun, when Yehoshua made the sun and moon stand still: “Sun, stand still in Givon, and moon, in the Valley of Ayalon.” There were other miracles there, with stones falling from heaven, and the battle itself was conducted through outright miracles. But only those standing nearby, in the Givon area where it happened, saw those miracles. When the sun stopped for an entire day and the moon stood still in its place, all the nations of the world—“the nations” in their fullness, the whole world—could see the miracle. That was the great miracle that took place. Nothing like it had happened in this way: Hakadosh Boruch Hu performed a special miracle that broke the laws of nature just so the nations could see the great honor and love—the affection—that Hakadosh Boruch Hu has for the Jewish people. Now we’ll explain what Chassidus says about this story, about this great miracle we’re discussing. There are a few details to consider before we get into it. There is also the verse “Then Yehoshua spoke”—the significance of these verses,

06:42 These words, these verses, are also considered a song. The Midrash says there are ten songs sung by the Jewish people throughout the generations, beginning with Moshe Rabbeinu’s song, “Then Moshe sang,” and ending with the tenth song, the new song that King Moshiach will sing. So nine songs have already been sung. What are those nine songs? One of them is Yehoshua’s song. And what is Yehoshua’s song? This verse: “Then Yehoshua spoke to Hashem: ‘Sun, stand still in Givon.’” It is counted among the songs of praise associated with the entire history of the Jewish people. From this we understand that these verses contain something very deep. If we call this one of the nine songs that were sung, someone might ask: Where is the song here? “Then Moshe sang” has many verses; there is the Song of the Well; there is David’s song, which is a whole chapter in Tanach. But here he says only a few words. Where is the song? We need to understand the depth of the song, because there is great depth here. We can also see it from the fact that this song begins with “then”: “Then Yehoshua spoke.” When Moshe Rabbeinu began his song, he too said, “Then Moshe sang.” It is the same here: “Then Yehoshua spoke.” And Rashi, in Parshas Beshalach, when he discusses the verse “Then Moshe sang,” also cites this verse, “Then Yehoshua spoke.” So it follows that what is said about “Then Moshe sang” applies here as well. Rashi and the Midrashim explain that the word “then” alludes to very deep and wondrous things connected with the song. That same “then” is used regarding “Then Yehoshua spoke.” So what, really, is the content of Yehoshua’s song, and especially, what is its connection with the story of

08:47 the Book of Joshua? As we discussed in previous classes, Joshua son of Nun had a special mission. His mission was to bring the Jewish people into Eretz Yisroel. This meant not only bringing them into the place called Eretz Yisroel, but also introducing a new kind of avodas Hashem, a new way of serving Hashem: how a Jew lives in Eretz Yisroel while knowing and recognizing Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s control over the workings of nature. That was really what Eretz Yisroel was all about. All of this is found in the story of “Then Joshua spoke.” There is a very interesting Midrash on the words “Sun, stand still at Gibeon”: Why did he use the word dom, “be silent,” rather than “stand still”? The Gemara brings this in Tractate Avodah Zarah, and Midrashim in several places discuss it too. Yalkut Shimoni gives more detail. Why does he say dom? It means silence, quiet. Since he made the sun stand still, you would think he should have said, “Stand still.” The Midrash says that Joshua son of Nun told the sun, “Be silent. Stop singing.” Every day, from the time the sun rises in the morning until it sets in the evening, the Midrash says, it is constantly praising Hakadosh Boruch Hu. It never stops singing. The sun, like all created things—as we know from the Midrash Perek Shirah, all created things sing to Hakadosh Boruch Hu—also sings. “From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of Hashem is praised”: from the time the sun rises until it sets, it constantly sings, praises and glorifies Hakadosh Boruch Hu with songs of praise. There is even an entire chapter in Tehillim, chapter 19: “The heavens recount the glory of G-d, and the sky declares the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech.” There, too, it says, “For the sun He placed a tent in them,” and it

10:54 “Like a bridegroom emerging from his chamber”—there, too, it is speaking about the song of the sun. The sun travels along, praising and extolling Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and through that praise and song, it moves. As the Gemara in Bava Basra says, the sun is constantly moving. The sun’s swift movement is itself a kind of song. By singing, it moves, and that movement is a kind of bowing: it travels westward because the Shechinah is in the west. That is according to the Gemara in Bava Basra and according to Kabbalah. The west is connected with the sefirah of malchus. We won’t go into the details of why right now. But the Shechinah is in the west, and the sun travels westward, toward the Shechinah. That is the sun’s bowing. It travels, sings, and bows to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and this itself brings about the movement of all the celestial spheres and stars, the entire movement of the heavenly host. It is all connected with “the host of heaven bows to You,” which is connected with song. And then Yehoshua bin Nun comes and says, “Sun, stand still in Givon.” He tells it to stop singing; he wants to stop it. To stop it, he has to stop the cause. To stop the sun, he has to stop the reason it moves. And the reason the sun moves, as we said, is its song. So he stopped the sun’s song. He told it, “Be still”—be silent, stop singing. And once it stopped singing, it stopped moving, and that caused the sun to stand still. Ah, the question... That is what the Gemara says. The Midrash goes on to explain that the sun said to him: If I stop singing, who will sing in my place? So Yehoshua bin Nun

13:05 told it: You be silent, and I will sing in your place. The Midrash also says that Yehoshua showed it the book of Mishneh Torah, showed it the book, the Torah scroll, and that caused the sun to fall silent. He said, “I am greater than you,” and so on. That is the Midrash. So we need to understand what exactly this exchange between the sun and Yehoshua bin Nun was about. What was going on here? Why did Yehoshua bin Nun do this? We need to understand the root of the matter. This was not simply, as the commentators say—as we mentioned here from Metzudas David, and as the commentators who explain the plain meaning say—that he wanted to finish the battle while it was still light, so he asked the sun to stop. From the Midrash, we understand that there is something deeper here. There is a dispute between them about stopping the song. What exactly did he want to accomplish? After all, if he wanted miracles, miracles could have happened in other ways. There had already been many miracles, and there would be more afterward. Hakadosh Boruch Hu could have done this differently. The battle could have gone quickly and ended before the day was over. Hashem has many ways to bring about miracles. Why was this necessary? On the plain level, it is not clear why it had to happen this way, but this Midrash shows us that something deeper is involved. The question is: Why exactly did Yehoshua want to silence the sun, and what exactly was the sun’s argument? We also need to understand what the sun was objecting to. The sun says: You need to sing, and I need to sing too. But what exactly was the sun’s argument, and what

14:48 was Yehoshua’s answer? “I will sing in your place.” Surely Yehoshua was singing to Hakadosh Boruch Hu all along. But every created being has its own unique song. How does it help for Yehoshua to sing? All created beings sing, and each one has its own unique song, connected with its particular qualities and its particular mission. So how does Yehoshua’s singing answer the sun’s objection? The sun is saying, “I need to sing my song.” How does that help? And what does Yehoshua show it? He shows it a Torah scroll. How does that explain it? By showing it the Torah, he caused the sun to fall silent. What exactly was the message of all this? To understand it, we’ll begin with what is explained in Chassidus. This is really connected with the whole subject of Yehoshua and the Book of Yehoshua, as we said. The whole purpose, as we’ve been discussing in the Book of Yehoshua—and we’ve spoken about this in previous classes too—is that Yehoshua bin Nun brought the Jewish people into a new situation. In the time of Moshe Rabbeinu, there were great miracles in the desert, but the desert was an entirely different situation. The Jewish people in the desert were in a place cut off from nature, cut off from the world. Their entire reality was completely different: the manna from heaven and Miriam’s well. They were entirely separate from the world. But here a new era began. They entered the Land of Israel, where they would have to “sow your field for six years and prune your vineyard for six years”—to live within the natural order, while at the same time having the clear recognition that there is nothing besides Him. A clear recognition that nature has no independent standing, and that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is not only revealed in miracles above nature; He is present within nature itself. And in the language of

16:52 Chassidus, this is the concept of “Hashem is Elokim”: revealing Hakadosh Boruch Hu, His boundlessness, not in a way that breaks nature, but in a way that nature itself, in its entirety, is governed by G-dliness. In fact, throughout Yehoshua’s wars against the nations during the seven years of fighting described in the Book of Yehoshua, there were two aims. On the one hand, to go into the details, one aim was to break the kelipah, to break the materialism of the nations of the world, to show them that nature has no power of its own. Before the Jewish people entered the Land of Israel, there were seven nations there—and not only seven nations, but thirty-one kings. It was a magnificent land, with nature and all the wonderful features of the Land of Israel, which is why everyone wanted to live there. It was a special place, with the beauty of the whole world, and so the material aspect of nature was very powerful there. They had to break the materialistic view of nature held by the nations of the world. They saw nature as a powerful reality, something to bow down to, something they granted importance to. That was the general force of idol worship in the world. So there were two aims here. One was to break the power of idol worship. The other was to show the Jewish people the true reality: that Elokim has the same numerical value as hateva, “nature,” and that “Hashem is Elokim”—that nature is entirely about G-dliness. The joining of nature with what is beyond nature. That is really the foundation of the whole story. So when Yehoshua bin Nun said to the sun and moon, “Sun, stand still in Givon,” this aim was fulfilled in both directions. The first point was to show the nations of the world the truth, to break their way of looking at things, which was

18:52 for them until now by stopping it. He said, “Sun, stand still in Givon.” He stopped the influence that comes from the stars and constellations. The nations of the world bowed to the sun and the moon because they thought the sun had a special power. The sun and moon move and turn, and through the movement of the heavenly spheres come heat and cold and everything in the world. That is how all the influence of nature comes into the world. Plants, fruit, trees, food, and all the abundance in the world come from the movement of the sun and moon. When Yehoshua bin Nun revealed that the whole of nature is in the hands of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—“Sun, stand still in Givon”—he revealed the deeper truth: the entire life of nature exists only because the sun and moon sing praise to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is their true reality. It is only through their song that they move, and all their movement is bound up with their submission to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Then they move, and all growth and abundance come about. But the moment that is missing, they no longer have any existence. So this reveals the true reality: there is nothing besides Him; nothing exists apart from Hashem. As we said, two things happened here. He broke the materialistic outlook of the nations of the world and revealed to the Jewish people the true outlook: a Jew must know that all of nature is nothing but song to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Everything in the world, and every influence in the world, comes through the song the sun sings to Hashem. Through that, it bows down, and through that, all its movement and every detail come about. With that in mind, let’s go on and see exactly what the exchange, the argument, between Yehoshua bin Nun and the sun was.

20:48 In general, we know—what was the sun claiming? “Must I stop singing?” Yehoshua told it, “I will sing in your place.” We asked: What does the sun’s song have to do with Yehoshua’s song? What exactly was their exchange? Chassidus discusses this in general. The Alter Rebbe speaks about it in Likkutei Torah, in a maamar on the psalm for Chanukah: there is the song of created beings, and there is the song of souls. These are two broad kinds of song. As we said earlier, song in general is connected with life and with the flow of sustenance. We see that when a person sings, singing lifts him up. It stirs something within him, raises him to a higher place. That is the power of song: a person becomes connected to something more spiritual. The song of created beings is their connection with the source of their life. There is a great deal to say about song, and we’ll speak about it in the future, but for now let’s discuss the general idea. When created beings sing to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, they receive their life through it. As we said, there are generally two kinds of song. There is the song that all created beings sing to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, called the song of nature, the song of creation. And there is a special song, the song of souls, which belongs to the souls of the Jewish people. What is the difference? Broadly speaking, it reflects the difference between two kinds of influence that Hakadosh Boruch Hu bestows upon the world. There is the life that Hakadosh Boruch Hu bestows through the ways of nature. That is the song of creation as a whole, the Divine life-force—“And You give life to them all”—

22:54 as we say. Hakadosh Boruch Hu enters into creation: the Divine life-force enters each individual created being and gives it its particular life, through which it lives and continues to exist. This is the Divine life-force that flows into creation, into reality itself; nature’s connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is the order of nature. But there is a special order associated with the Jewish people, one that is above nature. A Jew is above the world: “For Hashem’s portion is His people”—connected with the Divine Name Havayah. A Jew’s connection is with what is above nature. As it says in the Midrash—and we’ll come to this—the Rebbe explains it in several places. There is a difference between the month of Nissan and the month of Tishrei: Tishrei represents the order of nature, while Nissan represents a miraculous order. The Jewish people are a people of miracles, and Hashem’s conduct toward them is miraculous. So the song of souls is connected with a song that is above the world. This explains an interesting point the Alter Rebbe makes: Why do we find the song of created beings, even angels, in the Midrashim, in verses, in Tanach—there were prophets who heard the angels singing, “Holy, holy,” and “Blessed be the glory”—yet the song of souls is not mentioned anywhere in Tanach? The Alter Rebbe says: Not because souls do not sing. Of course they do. Their song is on such an exalted level that it has no garment, no vessel. It cannot be grasped through hearing. The soul, as it exists Above, is literally a part of G-d Above, and its song is so lofty, so subtle, so spiritual that it cannot be contained in any vessel. That is why even the prophets could not hear it. Angels, by contrast—even the loftiest angels—have a certain kind of body, a refined, subtle, spiritual body. So their song can ultimately descend into a sound that a prophet can hear.

24:47 He hears it. In any case, the song of souls is something very lofty. When the soul enters a body, its song descends here into this world. But in essence, the soul’s song is an extraordinarily deep song, a much loftier song. And that was the exchange between the sun and Yehoshua bin Nun. Yehoshua bin Nun came and said, “Sun, stand still in Givon,” telling the sun to be silent, to stop singing. The sun said to Yehoshua bin Nun: “Your song is indeed very great, but who will sing my song? You have your song, the song of souls, a very lofty song. But the song of nature, which brings life into creation, is a song of its own. Who will sing the song of nature? How will nature continue to function if I fall silent and stop singing?” Yehoshua bin Nun told it, “I will sing in your place.” What does that mean? It means that, ultimately, the song of a Jew, the song of the soul, also contains the power to affect nature. The two songs are not disconnected from one another. Rather, a Jew has the power, through his song, to affect the order of nature as well, in the absence of evil. Nature submits to the Divine light that is above nature, and then influence flows into nature too, in a much deeper, far more exalted way. That is what Yehoshua bin Nun told the sun: “I will sing.” And what did he show it? He showed it a Torah scroll. Look—the Torah is above the world. Torah is something immense. The song of Torah is the loftiest song. But when I sing, the world will not lose out. On the contrary, through it the world will be uplifted to a far loftier place,

26:39 So even the way nature operates becomes more refined, more G-dly, more elevated. With this, we can understand the full depth of the story the Tanach tells here. When the kings of the Amorites came to fight Givon, it was essentially a war against the Jewish people. There were tremendous miracles, as the Tanach relates: stones fell from the sky, hail, and so on. Enormous miracles took place. But Yehoshua bin Nun wanted to accomplish something much deeper. That was the message here—the broader message, preparing the Jewish people to enter Eretz Yisroel. It was a message both to the nations of the world and to the Jewish people. That is the meaning of “Sun, stand still at Givon, and moon, in the Valley of Ayalon.” Through the sun’s standing still, its silence and its submission to Yehoshua’s song, the song of the Jewish people, the inner meaning and depth of “Havayah is Elokim” was revealed: all of nature submits and lends its support to the Torah and mitzvos and to the conduct of the Jewish people. On the one hand, it showed the nations of the world that nature has no power of its own. And it showed the Jewish people that when a Jew lives with Torah and mitzvos, nature itself is elevated. That is why this is called Yehoshua’s song. This is true song. “Then Yehoshua sang,” “then Yehoshua spoke”—the same word, “az,” that is used of Moshe Rabbeinu. Chassidus explains that the word “az” is made up of alef and zayin, and so is “az yashir,” “then he sang.” Zayin is seven, representing the natural order. Alef represents the Master of the World, Who is above nature. Together they make eight, the concept of a miracle. With Moshe Rabbeinu, it was “Then Moshe sang.” At the Splitting of the Sea, the alef, which is above the seven, was revealed: the Master of the World was revealed above nature

28:40 and brought about the miracle of the Splitting of the Sea. That was the nature of that miracle. But the Splitting of the Sea was a miracle that broke through nature. It, too, revealed the G-dly power above nature, but the emphasis was more on nature’s submission. This was before the giving of the Torah, before they entered Eretz Yisroel, while they were in the desert and so on. Yehoshua bin Nun carried on Moshe Rabbeinu’s work, but he had to bring it into Eretz Yisroel. So he continued in the same direction: the alef together with the zayin, joining what is above nature with nature itself. But with Yehoshua, it happened in a much more inward, much deeper way. The sun and moon themselves—the forces of nature—submitted and revealed that their entire existence is bound up with song to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And once there is the Mishneh Torah, the power of Torah that is above nature, nature submits to what is above nature. In this way, they revealed that nature itself assists; it is a vessel that lends its support to a life of Torah and mitzvos. The Rebbe notes here, in passing, that this entire episode with Yehoshua bin Nun took place on Gimmel Tammuz. That is what it says in the Midrash Seder Olam: “Sun, stand still at Givon, and moon, in the Valley of Ayalon” happened on Gimmel Tammuz. What is the significance of Gimmel Tammuz here? In Chabad history, Gimmel Tammuz is the day the Frierdiker Rebbe left prison. There, this miracle—the joining of the miraculous and the natural—was visibly apparent. The Communists were the ones who had imprisoned him, and at that time they were at the height of their power. Yet they used that very power to release the Rebbe from prison. After that came the continuation of the liberation on 14 Tammuz.

30:38 The joining of the miraculous and the natural was visibly apparent. Nature did not merely cease to be an obstacle; it helped. That was what happened in Yehoshua’s miracle: the sun’s standing still gave the Jewish people the ability to keep fighting and win completely. Nature helped them achieve their victory. The same was seen with the Frierdiker Rebbe. And through this, chassidim today can understand Gimmel Tammuz as it relates to the Rebbe, the leader of our generation: here too we see the joining of what is above nature with nature itself, the song of the souls with the song of creation, and the joining of the two. This is one of the most fundamental, central themes we see in the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. In every maamar and every sicha, he instilled this point, this true way of seeing things: a Jew is not intimidated by nature. On the contrary, he knows the truth—that nature itself is entirely connected and devoted to the Torah and mitzvos. And therefore, Havayah and Elokim are entirely one.