Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 18 - Part 4

00:00 Okay, so the Alter Rebbe explains here that “the Patriarchs are the chariot,” and therefore the Patriarchs drew down a holy soul for every single Jew. Where does that holy soul come from? It comes from the four worlds—Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah—from the ten sefiros of holiness in those four worlds. Yes. The Alter Rebbe says that every single person has a holy soul. Even someone who is the lowest of the low, or one of the sinners of Israel: through the union of his parents, a soul was drawn into him, even if it comes from the lowest levels. It may come from the nefesh of the nefesh of Malchus of Asiyah, the very lowest level in the order of hishtalshelus. Nevertheless, it is holiness. And because it is holiness, the Alter Rebbe says, it has the quality of unity. Unity means that all the levels, all the worlds and all the sefiros, are connected and enclothed within one another. So even when a person is the lowest of the low, or one of the sinners of Israel, at the very lowest level, his soul—because it is a holy soul—is connected to all the sefiros and all the worlds, up to the Chochmah of Atzilus, up to the Ein Sof that is present in Chochmah. Consequently, every Jew can reach the very highest levels. Even the simplest Jew has all the levels and all the qualities within him, though concealed. So the Alter Rebbe now continues, and here we have, as it is written: “Hashem founded the earth with wisdom.” We learn from these verses that the light of the Ein Sof is present at every level, down to the very lowest. One verse says, “Hashem founded the earth with wisdom.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu founded the earth with wisdom. So what do we see from this verse? “Hashem founded the earth with wisdom”: “Hashem with wisdom” is the highest level. Wisdom is the Chochmah of Atzilus. “Hashem with wisdom” is the Ein Sof shining in Chochmah. “Hashem with wisdom”

02:21 “founded the earth”: the light of the Ein Sof as it is in Chochmah founded the earth. It is the foundation of the earth, of the very lowest levels. Along these lines, we say, “You made them all with wisdom.” The entire order of hishtalshelus comes about through the sefirah of Chochmah. It follows that Chochmah is present throughout the order of hishtalshelus. The Alter Rebbe brings this as evidence, as proof, that even a soul at the level of “earth,” a soul in Asiyah at the very bottom of the levels, has Chochmah within it. And the Ein Sof is present in Chochmah, so all souls have a connection to the blessed Ein Sof. The Alter Rebbe brings two verses here. “Hashem founded the earth with wisdom” is a verse in Mishlei, and “You made them all with wisdom” is a verse in Tehillim. Why bring two verses, and specifically in this order? The commentaries explain that each verse complements the other. So the verses work like this: “Hashem” is the Ein Sof. “With wisdom” is the Chochmah of Atzilus. “Founded the earth”—“earth” refers to the sefirah of Malchus. As is well known, Malchus is called “earth.” In the maamarim we’ve studied, in many places, “earth” refers to the sefirah of Malchus, because Malchus is the earth from which all the flow of Divine influence emerges... So it follows that “Hashem,” the Ein Sof, is enclothed in Chochmah, and from Chochmah He “founded the earth”—from Chochmah it reaches Malchus. This is the well-known idea of “Abba founded the daughter”: speech comes from Chochmah. In the Purim maamar “LaYehudim” of 5692, for those who studied it, the Rebbe explains this at length. The Chochmah in the soul shines in the soul’s power of speech. That is why “wisdom founded the earth.” So “Hashem” is the Ein Sof; “with wisdom” is the Chochmah of Atzilus; “founded the earth” is the sefirah of Malchus. And “You made them all with wisdom”—all of them. “You made them with wisdom” includes Asiyah, meaning all the way down to physical Asiyah: from Chochmah as it is enclothed in Malchus, it extends all the way to physical Asiyah. So that is

04:31 the point: the progression through all the worlds. That is why I say that even a soul in Asiyah, and within Asiyah itself at its very lowest level—someone who is the lowest of the low, one of the sinners of Israel—has within him, though concealed, the entire order of hishtalshelus, all the way up to the Ein Sof in “Hashem with wisdom.” “Thus, the blessed Ein Sof is enclothed in the Chochmah of a person’s soul, whoever he may be among the Jewish people.” So what follows from this? It follows that the blessed Ein Sof shines in the soul of every Jew, even the most unlikely person, whoever he may be. “And this faculty, the Chochmah within him, together with the blessed Ein Sof enclothed in it, extends throughout all the faculties of the soul.” Now the Alter Rebbe adds another point. Until now he has spoken about the Chochmah in the soul, about the Ein Sof shining in the soul. Now he adds another point, another quality of a Jew’s soul. Even the simplest of Jews has “Hashem with wisdom”; the Ein Sof shines within him. Now the Alter Rebbe adds another point: What happens with this Ein Sof that shines in the Chochmah of a Jew’s soul? The Alter Rebbe says, “And this faculty, the Chochmah within him, together with the blessed Ein Sof enclothed in it, extends throughout all the faculties of the soul.” It extends to every level of the soul, giving it life, “from its head to its foot, as it is written: ‘Wisdom gives life to its possessors.’” Now there is something else important here, the central point about a Jew’s soul: the Ein Sof in the soul’s Chochmah does not remain only in the soul’s Chochmah. From there it extends to all the faculties of the soul. It gives life to the entire soul, from head to foot, from the soul’s highest levels—the intellectual faculties—to its lowest levels, the realm of action. The radiance of this light of the Ein Sof is present at all those levels. As it is written, “Wisdom gives life to its possessors.” That is

06:54 the verse, another verse—I think also in Mishlei, if I’m not mistaken: “Wisdom gives life to its possessors.” Again, we’re talking about Chochmah. And which Chochmah? As we said, the Chochmah in the soul, where the blessed Ein Sof shines. “Wisdom gives life to its possessors.” Who are the “possessors” of Chochmah? Its possessor is the person, the soul. The whole person is called its possessor. So “wisdom gives life to its possessors” means that Chochmah has an effect throughout the person. It affects the whole person. So what follows from this? These are the points. What we’re learning here on this page, the first page of chapter 18, is expressed in more Kabbalistic, more abstract terms than what the Alter Rebbe is going to explain in the rest of this chapter and the next one. What are the qualities of a Jew? Here he writes about them in terms of sefiros and worlds. Later we’ll see them in terms of avodah. But what are we learning here? Two wonderful things about the greatness of a Jew. Two foundations that we’ll discuss throughout what follows. One is that every Jew, whoever he may be—even a Jew at the very lowest level, sunk low, the lowest of the low, one of the sinners of Israel—has the soul’s Chochmah within him, and the blessed Ein Sof shines in it. This is a wondrous revelation about a Jew. Along with that, we learn another point: this is not something that remains disconnected, as it were, set apart and exalted somewhere. Rather, it permeates and affects the whole person. “Wisdom gives life to its possessors.” By the way, as we’re close to Purim, the maamarim on “On That Night” discuss this a great deal. Those who have studied, or are studying, the Purim maamarim know that the Rebbe also speaks about it extensively in the Purim maamarim. “On That Night”

08:56 “The king’s sleep was disturbed”—there they discuss how, on Purim, mesirus nefesh was revealed. The Jew was revealed; the essence was revealed, the innermost depth. What is a Jew? The revelation of a Jew’s soul. And at the same time, that mesirus nefesh permeated all the inner faculties. It did not remain in the soul alone; it permeated the person’s entire inner being, every faculty, their whole existence. Yes, thought, speech, and action. No foreign thought entered their minds, and it was evident even in the garments of the soul. As the Rebbe says in the maamar, this is the effect of the soul’s essence upon the inner faculties. That is what we are discussing here: the whole work of a Jew’s soul. How does this fit here in Tanya? This is the whole work of Tanya. The Alter Rebbe wanted to explain to us how every Jew can be a beinoni. Once we get to the root of what a Jew is—these two aspects—it becomes clear how every Jew can be a beinoni. Since every Jew has the Infinite within his neshamah and nefesh, every Jew can reveal the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And since “wisdom gives life to its possessors,” this affects the entire person. Through it, a person can affect his thought, speech, and action, so that his conduct is that of a beinoni. So that is the connection, the progression of ideas in what the Alter Rebbe wants to explain to us here in Tanya. He will explain it at length later. There is a parenthetical note above: “And sometimes transgressors among the Jewish people draw down lofty souls that were in the depths of the kelipos.” Many times, the Alter Rebbe says, it happens that transgressors among the Jewish people give birth to lofty souls. Earlier, the Alter Rebbe said that when the union is that of transgressors among the Jewish people, the soul is on the very lowest level. So

11:09 he describes it with the expression “nefesh of nefesh of Malchus of Asiyah.” The Alter Rebbe says it is not always that way. Sometimes the parents may be transgressors among the Jewish people, and yet their children are very lofty souls that had been in the depths of the kelipos—meaning, a gilgul, as discussed in Sefer Hagilgulim and many other places, and so on. The subject of the soul is also discussed extensively in Chassidus. Sometimes there are souls in the depths of the kelipos. The kelipos want vitality, and to receive it they look for a soul. From a soul, the kelipos receive an abundance of vitality. The kelipos are constantly looking, G-d forbid, to capture a soul, may Hashem protect us. Yes, they seek out lofty souls. When we sometimes see souls—young men with tremendous potential, may Hashem protect us—falling away and growing distant from Torah and mitzvos, falling into the depths of the kelipos, that is what the sitra achra works at all day: seeking souls, and specifically lofty souls. Through them, the sitra achra receives an abundance of vitality. The sitra achra needs vitality, and it receives that vitality through souls. So sometimes lofty souls are in the depths of the kelipos; because of sins and transgressions, lofty souls have fallen there. But Hakadosh Boruch Hu has a very deep wisdom in this, for “no one banished from Him will remain banished.” These souls do not remain lost forever. Hakadosh Boruch Hu arranges and rectifies matters, doing all kinds of things so that these souls will eventually emerge from the kelipos, break through the barrier and the concealment, and come out. And when these souls emerge from the kelipos, since they are very lofty souls, their emergence brings an exceptionally lofty revelation. Then they bring out many, many sparks and bring about a transformation—a tremendous transformation. That is why we see that some of the very greatest tzaddikim came from these souls.

13:42 Rabbi Akiva, for example, was the son of converts. Rabbi Meir was a descendant of Nero Caesar. And other such tzaddikim mentioned in the Gemara and Midrash were lofty souls that came from the depths of the kelipos. So the sitra achra seeks precisely those souls. The rest of this is discussed in the responsa—souls that come from certain families and so on; one should not be mistaken. The loftiest souls can come specifically from ordinary Jews. This is something Hakadosh Boruch Hu arranges in order to rectify the world. The matter of souls is something whose secret, the secret of life and of how things work, only Hakadosh Boruch Hu knows. But what does this tell us here in Tanya? That ordinary Jews can give birth to lofty souls. Why does this belong here? Why does the Alter Rebbe bring it up in the middle of chapter 18? Is it just information? This is not a book about souls. This is a book about the beinoni. Everything the Alter Rebbe says in Tanya is precise. Why does the Alter Rebbe suddenly decide to insert this point here? What does it have to do with the subject? So the Rebbe gives this explanation in a sicha: the Alter Rebbe says it to give us proof of what we said earlier. Even the very lowest souls, at the lowest level of Asiyah, have a connection to the highest level of the Ribbono Shel Olam. We can see it here. How can ordinary Jews give birth to lofty souls? How can the father be an ordinary Jew, on the very lowest level, and a lofty soul come from him? What is the explanation? It follows from what we explained: all souls are connected to one another. Since the souls are holy, even within Malchus of Malchus of Asiyah are all the levels, up to Chochmah of Atzilus. All the levels are connected. So

15:49 it follows that the father can be an ordinary Jew, and yet his son’s soul can be an exceptionally lofty soul. Then the son will do teshuvah, break through, and reach the highest level. That itself is why the Alter Rebbe brings this here. It is a supporting proof for the point the Alter Rebbe wants to emphasize: even the simplest soul of an ordinary person contains the highest, deepest power. And we see this in the matter of giving birth.