Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 19 - Part 2

00:00 We’re learning chapter 19, page 24b. The Alter Rebbe brings the idea of “The soul of man is the candle of Hashem”: the soul is like a flame. A flame naturally flickers upward, wanting to leave the wick and be absorbed into the element of fire beneath the sphere of the moon. That is the nature of fire. True, by doing so it will become nothing, with nothing left of it. Nevertheless, that is what it naturally desires. That is its nature. There is a point the Rebbe notes in the Alter Rebbe’s wording when he gives the analogy of the flame. The Alter Rebbe says, “For the light of the fire naturally desires to separate from the wick.” The light of the fire. He doesn’t say “fire”; he says “the light of the fire.” In other words, there is the fire and there is the light of the fire—as though these are two things. There is the fire that naturally rises, and there is the light of the fire that naturally rises. So the Rebbe says that there can, in general, be two reasons for fire’s tendency to rise. One reason is that it senses the superiority of the element of fire. It senses that down here it is physical fire, whereas up there it is on a much higher level. That is where fire truly exists; that is its essence. Here there is only its light, while there is its essence. By every calculation, it is far higher and more exalted there. So it wants to leave its present state and reach a higher place. It’s like a teacher and student: the student has a desire—a chossid wants to travel to the Rebbe. He reflects on how much greater it is to be with the Rebbe. That is the place, the essence, the center; he will receive so much more there. So he wants to travel. He wants to leave where he is and travel to the Rebbe. When 11

02:26 Nissan comes, it’s the birthday of the leader of the generation. That is—there is the essence. The leader’s birthday is the birthday of all the souls of the generation. So he wants to come, to travel to the Rebbe’s four cubits, because that is where the essence is, where the soul is, where the collective soul is. The individual wants to leave his own place and join the collective, but this involves a calculation. There is a calculation here: his own limitations as against the boundlessness of the mashpia and of the place where he is. So naturally, he wants to leave his limitations and rise to a higher place. That is one aspect. But there is a second aspect, something inherent: the spiritual is ayin, nothingness. The nature of the spiritual is the nature of ayin. That is the difference between the spiritual and the physical. The spiritual is ayin, and ayin is naturally drawn to become still more ayin. It wants to be ayin. Ayin is naturally drawn to ayin, just as yesh, tangible existence, wants to be still more yesh, because that is its sense of self. The more it is yesh, the more substantial it is. With the spiritual, it is the opposite. Its reality is ayin, bittul. So it is naturally drawn to become more and more ayin, and that is why it wants to be absorbed into its source. The Rebbe says that these two reasons are the distinction between the fire and the light of the fire. The fire is the physical aspect. Fire is the physical substance of fire, and for that substance it is more a matter of calculation. Here it is physical, whereas in the element of fire beneath the sphere of the moon, it is not physical. It wants to be there, not here, because of that place’s superiority. But when we speak of the light of the fire, we are not speaking of the substance of the fire. Fire has a spiritual component. We explained in the previous class that even down here, fire is essentially spiritual. We went through all the analogies and examples. We discussed it at length

04:34 in the previous class, so we won’t repeat it now. Yes, fire has a spiritual dimension. That is the light of the fire, its spiritual component. For that spiritual component, it is not a matter of calculation. Rather, the spiritual is ayin, and ayin is drawn to ayin. It wants to become still more ayin—utterly nothing. Yes. So that is... That is the point the Alter Rebbe makes with his precise wording here. He wants to use this as an analogy for souls. So he gives the analogy of the light of the fire: the light of the fire, the ayin within the fire, naturally wants to become even more completely nothing. It is drawn entirely to its source. It wants to become utterly nothing. But then it will be utterly nothing! What will it gain? It is not a question of gain. That is what it naturally desires. The fire wants to be ayin, to become still more ayin. That is its essence. It is essentially ayin, and ayin wants to be completely ayin. Because that is its essence; that is the point. The point is to be utterly nothing. That is what it seeks, what it wants. What does this mean when we come to the soul? And we will come to the soul. The Alter Rebbe says: the soul descends here below. The soul descends here below, and so, relatively speaking, it becomes a distinct existence. It enclothes itself in a body and an animal soul, and it becomes a distinct existence—G-dliness that has become a created being. The soul enclothes itself in a body and becomes a distinct existence. Nevertheless, we say that the soul wants to leave that state. It wants to be absorbed into the Infinite. Why does the soul want to be absorbed into the Infinite? Here, too, there can be two reasons. A Jew naturally wants—the soul wants—to leave the existence of the world and be absorbed into G-dliness. That could be based on a calculation. He calculates: this is physical and material, this is yesh and a distinct existence, while G-dliness is something higher, more...

06:18 So that is why he wants to leave. But there is a second aspect, which is not a matter of calculation. It is the nature of the soul. In its essence, it is ayin. Even when the soul has descended below—that is, when it has enclothed itself in a body—in its essence, the soul is a part of G-dliness. The soul is essentially ayin, and so it is drawn to ayin. It wants to become still more completely nothing. That is why the soul wants to be absorbed into the Infinite, to become utterly nothing. But ask the soul: what will you gain? Here you have pleasure, comprehension, understanding, activity, a distinct existence. You are doing something, even within holiness. And there, when you are absorbed into the Infinite, you will be utterly nothing. But the soul is naturally drawn to the Infinite. That is what the soul wants. This goes together with the well-known saying we are learning now in the maamarim for 11 Nissan. Yes. It is the idea of “I don’t want Your Gan Eden; I don’t want Your World to Come; I want nothing but You alone,” which the Alter Rebbe said. The Rebbe cites it in the maamar for 11 Nissan, and likewise in other maamarim. The Rebbe also repeats this saying many times in “Ve’atah Tetzaveh.” In Hayom Yom, at the end of the entry for the eve of 19 Kislev, the Rebbe brings what the Alter Rebbe said in a state of deveikus: “I don’t want Your Gan Eden; I don’t want Your World to Come; I want nothing but You alone.” So the Rebbe explains the point here. It is not a calculation, as though it is a better choice—as though there is this and this and this, and then there is the most wonderful, the best thing. It is not a matter of calculation; it is an expression of the soul. In its very essence, the soul is a part of G-dliness. So the soul is drawn to be completely absorbed into the Infinite. That is the difference between wanting Gan Eden and wanting Atzmus, the Divine Essence. Wanting Gan Eden is also wanting G-dliness. Gan Eden—what is Gan

08:06 Gan Eden is a place where the soul perceives G-dliness, takes pleasure and delight in it, and serves Hashem. But in Gan Eden, it is the soul’s pleasure: I want to feel, I want to love, I want to delight in G-dliness—but as G-dliness exists within my own reality. That is the point. So the soul wants to rise to a place where it can enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah, receive and perceive G-dliness, experience love and awe, and all the rest. That is what it wants: to remain an entity and, within its own reality, enjoy Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But the Alter Rebbe says: “I don’t want Gan Eden, I don’t want the World to Come; I want G-d’s Essence.” That is the soul’s ayin, its self-nullification. The soul is a part of G-dliness; in its very essence, it is nothing, and it wants G-dliness. So by its nature, the soul wants to be entirely one with G-dliness. Not as an individual—after all, when you are united with G-d’s Essence, you cannot remain an entity that perceives G-dliness. There will be no perception, understanding, or feeling. On the contrary, it is bittul. In G-d’s Essence, He alone exists, and there is nothing besides Him. That itself is the point. That is what the soul seeks. And that answers the question. We said that in this passage, the Alter Rebbe wants to answer the question: What is the soul’s concern? We asked: What is its concern? The soul has a love for G-dliness. What is the soul’s love when it comes from its essential, natural love—not a love born of contemplation, but a natural love rooted in the soul’s essence? It is to become ayin and... to be completely nullified within the Ein Sof. I remember—we have already spoken about this. We are close to 11 Nissan, so I am reminded that I was privileged to be with the Rebbe on 11 Nissan 5748. The Rebbe gave a sicha then about birthdays. It began at the start of Nissan, with birthdays. The Rebbe began on 25 Adar and continued on 11 Nissan, and throughout that period the Rebbe spoke about birthdays. And 11 Nissan was the Rebbe’s birthday. People all over the world were stirred to celebrate 11

09:54 Nissan with the Rebbe. The Rebbe gave a sicha both on the night of 11 Nissan and after 11 Nissan ended. What was the central point? One of the points the Rebbe discussed was “Israel has no mazal.” He spoke about what is written of a birthday: “His mazal is strong.” What does “his mazal is strong” mean? He explained what a Jew’s mazal is. The Gemara says, “Israel has no mazal.” A Jew has no mazal. But according to Chassidus, the meaning is that ayin is Israel’s mazal. The mazal of the Jewish people is ayin. The Rebbe spoke about ayin: ayin is bittul, and bittul is the greatest strength. It is the ayin through which you become “a part of G-d above,” and that itself is Israel’s mazal. So when we say that on a birthday “his mazal is strong,” a Jew’s mazal is ayin. This bittul, in which a Jew is utterly nullified, grows stronger and is revealed on a birthday. The Rebbe spoke about this at length. I remember people saying then that the initials of 11 Nissan spell ayin. The point of “ayin is Israel’s mazal” is connected with our Rebbe’s birthday. So that is the idea we see here in the maamar of 11 Nissan. The Rebbe speaks a great deal about it: the soul’s bittul, its desire to be one with G-d’s Essence. Now there is another interesting point here. That is one nuance the Rebbe points out. Then there is another interesting nuance the Rebbe notes here. The Rebbe says that, in fact, if we look carefully at the Tanya, we will see that it is not yet speaking of true bittul. Although the Alter Rebbe speaks in Tanya about the soul’s desire to be absorbed into the Ein Sof, he does not yet describe bittul at its deepest level. We spoke about this in chapter 18. If you remember from the previous classes, in Tanya the Alter Rebbe speaks explicitly about a lower level. The Alter Rebbe speaks about chochmah, about the soul as it exists at the level of chochmah: self-sacrifice and faith that come from the soul’s chochmah, which is a kind of sight. But he does not speak openly about the Jew’s essential level, yechidah. He does not mention yechidah at all. There are hints to it here. We already discussed that in previous classes, but we can also see it clearly here. Look at page 24b, where the Alter Rebbe speaks about the soul. Here, after the period, on the sixth line. The Alter Rebbe says: “The soul of man, and likewise the levels of ruach and nefesh.” So he speaks of nefesh, ruach, and neshamah. He does not speak of chayah and yechidah; he speaks of the first three levels. The Alter Rebbe says that these levels of the soul naturally yearn and desire “to separate and depart from the body.” The soul wants to escape the body “and cleave to its root”—to cleave to its root and source in Hashem, “the Life of life, blessed be He.” The soul wants to be absorbed into the light of the Ein Sof, Hashem, the Life of life, blessed be He. This is very interesting. If we pay close attention to the Alter Rebbe’s wording, he does give a reason here. There is an explanation, a rationale: “the Life of life, blessed be He.” Think about those words. Why do I want to be absorbed into the light of the Ein Sof? Why does the soul want to be absorbed into its root? Because it contemplates how G-dliness is its root and source, the Life of life, blessed be He. In other words, I want to live. A Jew feels how precious life is. To a normal, healthy person, life is precious. He comes to recognize that G-dliness is the Life of life, true life, the source of life—“For with You is the source of life.” How does he see Hakadosh Boruch Hu? As the Life of life. He is true life. He is the root of all life. So naturally, he wants to be absorbed into the light of the Ein Sof. Why? Because that is the Life of life. So that, that, that

11:51 A lower level. The Alter Rebbe speaks about Chochmah, about the soul as it is at the level of Chochmah: self-sacrifice and faith that come from the soul’s Chochmah, which is a kind of seeing. But he does not speak explicitly about this essential dimension of a Jew, yechidah. He doesn’t mention yechidah at all. It’s alluded to here—we’ve already discussed that in previous classes—but we can see it explicitly here as well. Look at page 24b, where the Alter Rebbe speaks about the soul. Here, after the period, in the sixth line. The Alter Rebbe says: “The soul of a person, and likewise the levels of ruach and nefesh.” So he does speak about nefesh, ruach, and neshamah. He doesn’t speak about chayah and yechidah; he speaks about the nefesh, ruach, and neshamah. The Alter Rebbe says that these levels of the soul have an innate desire and longing to separate from and leave the body. The soul wants to escape the body “and cleave to its root”—to cleave to its root and source in Hashem, “the Life of life, blessed be He.” The soul wants to be absorbed into the infinite light of Hashem, the Life of life, blessed be He. Now, this is very interesting. If you pay close attention to the Alter Rebbe’s wording, he does give a kind of reason here. There’s an explanation, a rationale: “the Life of life, blessed be He.” Think about those words. Why do I want to be absorbed into the infinite light? Why does the soul want to be absorbed into its root? Because it contemplates that G-dliness is its root and source, the Life of life, blessed be He. In other words, I want to live. A Jew feels how precious life is. To a normal, healthy person, life is precious. He comes to recognize that G-dliness is the Life of life, true life, the source of life: “For with You is the source of life.” And what does he see? Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the Life of life. He is true life. He is the root of all life. So naturally he wants to be absorbed into the infinite light. Why? Because that is the Life of life. So this, this, this

13:49 is also a kind of calculation. That is not what the Alter Rebbe meant when he said, “I don’t want Your Gan Eden, I don’t want Your World to Come; I want nothing but You Yourself.” The Alter Rebbe did not arrive at that through contemplation of the Life of life. Why does he want to be united with G-d’s Essence? It was not a calculation that G-d’s Essence is the Life of life. If the point is the Life of life, you are still interested in, still seeking, a revelation; you are seeking life. It is just that you come to recognize that true life is the Life of life, and the Life of life is Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So I give up material life, physical life, superficial life; I want to be at the source of life, with the Life of life. That is still a kind of calculation, a kind of revelation. So it is not yet the true meaning of the flame’s bittul. Why? As we said, because the Alter Rebbe in Tanya is not yet speaking about the higher levels. He is speaking about nefesh, ruach, and neshamah. At those levels, even when we say that the soul thirsts and yearns to cleave to G-d and wants to be absorbed into the light of the Ein Sof, there is some element of calculation. By contrast, the Alter Rebbe’s statement, “I don’t want Your Gan Eden, Your World to Come—I want You Yourself,” is not a calculation about the Life of life. The soul wants to be absorbed into the light of the Ein Sof without any calculation. G-d’s Essence—because that is the truth, because there is nothing besides Him. Full stop. That is true bittul, and that is the true love a Jew has for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is what the Rebbe discusses in the maamar of 11 Nissan: the idea of “I choose the King.” A Jew has this quality of “I choose the King.” He wants the King, not because the King is the Life of life. If you have studied the Rebbe’s maamar—and for 11 Nissan, you should study the maamar—you can see this clearly. And that itself

15:28 The Rebbe speaks here about this point. In the first part of the maamar, the Rebbe speaks about it as a choice based on a reason: he chooses Hakadosh Boruch Hu because Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the Life of life. The Rebbe brings it in the language of the maamar: He is the Life of life. “My true desire, my true will, is G-dliness.” He seeks the Life of life. And the Rebbe says that this is still called a choice based on a reason. Then the Rebbe continues: But this itself raises the question—why does a Jew choose Hakadosh Boruch Hu? Not because of a calculation. It is an essential choice. And then comes the entire continuation of the maamar. The Alter Rebbe—that is the whole point of the 11 Nissan maamar: a Jew’s desire for G-dliness is an essential desire. A Jew wants to be absorbed into the Ein Sof light because he wants to become nothing at all, not because it is the Life of life. But in any case, here in the Written Torah, the author of the Tanya does emphasize words that suggest a calculation, words about the Life of life. As we explained, that is because here he is not yet speaking about the highest level of mesirus nefesh. So the Alter Rebbe continues and says: Now we come to the soul, and to the same question: even though it will become nothing at all. Once you are absorbed into the Ein Sof, you will no longer be an independent existence. It will be completely nullified there as an independent existence, and nothing of its former essence and being will remain. Nevertheless, this is its will and desire. The soul wants this. It wants to be absorbed into the Ein Sof. Here, too, there is a very interesting nuance. Another nuance. In Tanya, everything is precise; every word is precise. It is Written Torah. So there is something interesting here as well: the Alter Rebbe says that when the soul ascends into G-dliness, it “will be completely nullified there as an independent existence.” The soul will be completely nullified, absorbed into the Ein Sof, completely nullified as an independent existence, “and nothing of its former essence”

17:14 “and being will remain.” What is the significance of that wording? Nothing of what will remain? The Rebbe does not say that nothing will remain at all. As he said in the analogy of the flame, when the flame escapes the wick, nothing remains. That is the end of it. Here the Rebbe uses different wording: “nothing of its former essence and being will remain.” In other words, it will not be what it was before, but it does remain an entity. It ascends to a higher place. So there is a difference here: even when the soul is absorbed into the Ein Sof, it does not mean that there is no longer a soul. It is not as it was before—its “former essence and being.” “Former” means before it ascended, as it was down here. But it is still a soul. A soul, too, is never completely nullified. Even when it is above, within G-dliness, the soul always remains a soul. We say every day in davening: “My G-d, the soul You have given me is pure. You created it, You formed it, You breathed it into me.” When the soul is absorbed into the Ein Sof, what does that mean? It returns to the state of “it is pure.” The soul descended below—“You created it, You formed it, You breathed it into me”—and the soul wants to be absorbed into the Ein Sof. It wants to rise again to the place of “it is pure,” to return to that place where it is “a part of G-d above,” and even higher. Mesillas Yesharim—a descent for the sake of an ascent. It wants to ascend higher. But even when the soul returns to the Ein Sof and is absorbed into the Ein Sof, while it is true that the soul is nullified as an independent existence, what is nullified? Its former essence and being. But the soul as “a part of G-d above” remains. That is the significance of the word “former.” It is written there. Sometimes it is explained differently. I do not remember right now how many explanations there are, but this is one of the explanations given explicitly. Let us continue, at least another line

19:54 or two, so we can learn a little more inside the Tanya. Let us continue inside. The Rebbe says: “In this nature”—when we say that the soul’s nature is to want to become nothing at all—“‘nature’ is a borrowed term for anything that is not within the realm of reason and understanding.” This nature we speak of, the soul’s natural desire to be absorbed into the Ein Sof, which we said is like a flame that naturally wants to escape and be absorbed into its source—“‘nature’ is a borrowed term for anything that is not within the realm of reason and understanding.” The word “nature”: what does it mean? Usually, we use the word “nature” for the natural world. We speak of nature as opposed to a miracle. There is a miracle, and there is nature. All the properties that exist in the world are called nature. Hakadosh Boruch Hu established rules and conditions. Tanya is telling us that here, in the matter we are discussing, we use the word “nature” as a borrowed term for something we do not understand. In other words, sometimes when we say “nature,” we mean defined patterns and laws. Nature—the rules of creation are called nature. Chassidus explains why it is called teva, “nature”: teva in the sense of a form fixed by the Sages, teva in the sense of sinking into the sea. There are various explanations for why it is called teva. But here we are speaking about things in the world that you call “nature” to say that there is no explanation for them. It is not something logical or rational; there is no explanation for it according to reason. There is no explanation. It need not have been this way. But what is it? It is its nature, as though it is above understanding. Similarly, when we say that the flame wants to escape the wick, there is no rational explanation for it. Here, you are something; here, you accomplish something. Here you have an existence, you have significance. There, you are nothing at all. What do you gain by becoming nothing at all? That is its nature. It is above understanding. Similarly, when we say that the soul wants to be absorbed

22:12 into the Ein Sof—what will that do for you? It is not a matter of calculation. As we said, it is its nature. So he says: “‘Nature’ is a borrowed term for anything that is not within the realm of reason and understanding.” And here, too, there are some—the Rebbe brings that there are some who read it differently. It is simply very interesting to pay attention to this detail. Look, some read it differently here. Some say it should be read: “By nature.” Period. “‘Nature’ is a borrowed term for anything...” Meaning the word “nature” in general. These are two completely different ways of learning it. Either you learn: “This nature”—the particular nature we are discussing here—is a borrowed term for something that has no reason behind it. Or you learn that “nature,” the concept of nature in general, applies to everything we call natural. What does the word “nature” mean? “Nature” is a borrowed term for anything we do not understand. In other words, people say in general, “Nature is nature. That is how nature works.” The nature of fire is to rise. The nature of water is to descend. Yes, the nature of a stone is to fall. Why? Why should that be? That is just how it is. There is no explanation. Who says there needs to be an explanation? That is how it is. It is something above understanding. In other words, this applies to the whole concept of nature in the world: “nature” means anything that we do not know the reason for, but we know that it is so. We call that nature. These are two ways of understanding the plain meaning. Yes, and it depends on a number of details—where the period is meant to go. In any case, the Alter Rebbe says that the soul’s desire to be nullified is above understanding. “And here, too, the intention is that this will and desire in the soul is not within the realm of reason, understanding, and intellect that can be grasped and comprehended.” There are five words here. So

24:06 the Frierdiker Rebbe says that they correspond to nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, and yechidah. He hints that this aspect of the soul—its mesirus nefesh and its desire to be absorbed into the Ein Sof—is above all five levels. That is what the Frierdiker Rebbe says by way of a hint: “reason, understanding, intellect, grasped, and comprehended” correspond to nefesh, ruach, neshamah, chayah, and yechidah, from above to below. “Rather, it is above knowledge and intellect that can be grasped and comprehended, and it is within the aspect of chochmah in the soul, in which the light of the blessed Ein Sof resides.” This level is the chochmah of the soul. That is where nullification to the Ein Sof is found, and therefore the desire to be absorbed into the Ein Sof comes from there.