Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 20 - Part 1

00:01 Chapter 20. The Alter Rebbe continues explaining the subject he began in chapter 18. To understand how this discussion continues, what does the Alter Rebbe want to tell us now, in chapter 20? In chapter 18, the Alter Rebbe began with the verse, “For this matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” The Alter Rebbe explained that every Jew can serve Hashem in thought, speech, and action—and “in your mouth and in your heart” means in the heart as well. He can observe all 613 mitzvos, turn away from evil and do good, be a beinoni in thought, speech, and action, and have love for Hashem in doing so. The Rebbe explained that even someone without a great intellect or much capacity for explanation and contemplation can reach this. How? The Alter Rebbe began explaining that it is through awakening the hidden love within every Jew, which we inherited from our forefathers. When you awaken that love, you can be a beinoni in thought, speech, and action. The Alter Rebbe asked four questions, and in these two chapters he answered all four. First he asked: Where does this kind of love, found in every Jew, come from? It does not come from explanation and contemplation, so where does it come from? He explained that it comes from the soul’s faculty of chochmah, where the light of Ein Sof shines. That was the lengthy explanation we studied. He asked what this love is about. Its purpose is that a Jew wants to be included in and surrender himself to Ein Sof. This is the bittul a Jew has: he wants to be included in Ein Sof. Then he asked: How is it an inheritance for us? How can we receive it as an inheritance? He explained that this is through the concept of a chariot: our forefathers had an essential bittul. The bittul of a chariot is not simply love, an emotion that a father has but his son does not.

02:03 Rather, it is an essential bittul. A chariot is something intrinsic. And this bittul is drawn down naturally to every Jew who is connected to our forefathers. Then he asked the last question: What about fear? This seems to be only a matter of love. How does fear enter into it? After all, for a Jew to serve Hashem, he needs both love and fear. But at the end of chapter 19 we learned that this love also includes fear. It is the fear a Jew has of being separated from Ein Sof. Just as a Jew has a love that makes him want to be included in Ein Sof, to surrender himself and be one with G-dliness, he also fears doing anything that would cut him off, that would separate him from the oneness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Even when it comes to idolatry—not actual idolatry, but even a slight form of it, merely an outward statement or action—a Jew is prepared to give his life. This is the hidden love found in every Jew. The Alter Rebbe explained that it is hidden in two ways. First, it is hidden by its very nature: it is not a love that is openly felt, but an essential love. It is also hidden beneath a sackcloth garment of kelipah, because of the state of exile and sleep, and all that this involves. That is why it awakens when there is a test. Then he can no longer deceive himself; the spirit of folly is gone, and this love awakens, and he is ready to give his life. And when the yechidah awakens, all evil is completely nullified, because it recoils from the whole thing. All this we learned in those two chapters. So the question would seem to be: That is all well and good—but in relation to what? To idolatry, to the oneness of Hashem. When it comes to Hashem’s oneness, a Jew inherently wants to be included in Ein Sof. When it comes to the opposite of Hashem’s oneness, a test involving idolatry, a Jew is ready to give his life and sanctify Hashem’s name. But when does this apply? When the test calls for self-sacrifice, when it concerns faith in Hakadosh Boruch Hu and idolatry. And even then, we say that if it is only a slight form of idolatry—not actual idolatry, but merely something outward—he is still prepared to give his life. But the Alter Rebbe began chapter 18 by saying that because of this love, a Jew can serve Hashem through all 613 mitzvos, doing good and turning away from evil, and even through the fine points of rabbinic law. What is the connection? From what we have learned here, this love awakens only when there is a test of faith. But if it is an ordinary desire or a transgression unrelated to idolatry—if it is a positive or negative mitzvah not directly connected with idolatry or Hashem’s oneness—then the spirit of folly is present. So what does this mean?

03:48 We say that through this very point, a Jew can be a beinoni in thought, speech, and action with regard to all 613 mitzvos, doing good and turning away from evil. “For this matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it” applies not only to idolatry and faith. It applies to all 613 mitzvos. What connects this idea to all 613 mitzvos? That is what the Alter Rebbe will explain in the coming chapters. The Alter Rebbe now begins chapters 20 and 21. He will explain the depth of what the Baal Shem Tov revealed—the heart of Chassidus: that this love, and Hashem’s oneness, in which every Jew has faith, are connected. If we understand what Hashem’s oneness means, what it means to have faith in that oneness—

05:39 Faith in Hashem’s oneness is, in fact, the central point of all 613 mitzvos. Conversely, every transgression—not just idolatry, but every transgression, every sin, whatever it may involve—is in essence a form of idolatry. In fact, all 613 mitzvos, with all their branches and details, the entire Rambam with all its laws and fine details, are all what you might call facets—different expressions, different forms—of Hashem’s oneness or of idolatry. So if I grasp this point, which the Alter Rebbe will explain in the coming chapters, I grasp that everything is, in essence, a matter of Hashem’s oneness or idolatry. And when it comes to Hashem’s oneness and idolatry, I am ready to give my life. That is where the hidden love reveals itself, without conditions or calculations. So if I grasp that all of Yiddishkeit is connected with Hashem’s oneness and idolatry, then I will approach every part of Torah, every mitzvah, and every halachah with the same force, the same fervor, the same vitality, the same self-sacrifice that I have when my faith is tested. That is the process, the approach, the direction the Alter Rebbe will take us in the coming chapters through his explanation. So let us begin chapter 20. The Alter Rebbe says: “It is known to all that the commandment and prohibition concerning idolatry, which are the first two of the Ten Commandments, ‘I am…’ and ‘You shall have no other…,’ encompass the entire Torah.” The Alter Rebbe is saying, first of all, that everyone knows this. You do not need to be a Kabbalist. The Alter Rebbe establishes that this is not something written in some passage of the Zohar. Even the simplest Jew knows that, of the 613 mitzvos, the first two—“I am…” and “You shall have no other…”—encompass the entire Torah. This is very important. The Alter Rebbe begins this in a way

07:43 This is something everyone knows. In other words, ask a person who doesn’t know much, who hasn’t studied many things, what he knows about the 613 mitzvos, the Ten Commandments, and so on. Every Jew, even the simplest of the simple, knows that “I am” and “You shall have no other gods” are two general mitzvos that, in some way, encompass the entire Torah. He may not be able to explain exactly how, but every Jew knows that “I am” and “You shall have no other gods” are the foundation of all Yiddishkeit. That is what “everyone knows” means. Why does the Alter Rebbe emphasize that everyone knows this? Because the whole point the Alter Rebbe wants to make here is how every Jew can become a beinoni. If this were a matter of Kabbalah or a deep interpretation, how could you say that every Jew, even the simplest of the simple, can be a beinoni? The whole foundation that the Alter Rebbe began—sorry, in chapter 18—was that for a Jew to be a beinoni, even the simplest of the simple, even if you don’t have a great intellect or a great heart, the moment you think about the essential fact that you are a Jew, that will bring you to be a beinoni in thought, speech, and action. But here we want to explain how that is expressed in all 613 mitzvos. So the Alter Rebbe begins chapter 20 by saying, “Everyone knows this.” It isn’t some deep Kabbalistic matter. It’s something that even the simplest Jew knows: “I am” and “You shall have no other gods” encompass the entire Torah. In some way, the whole Torah is contained in those two; they are the foundation, the root. The entire Torah and all the mitzvos come from there. How do we explain this? The Alter Rebbe adds: “For the commandment ‘I am’ includes all 248

09:30 positive commandments.” “I am” is the first positive commandment that Hakadosh Boruch Hu said: “I am Hashem your G-d.” It includes all 248 positive commandments. “And ‘You shall have no other gods’ includes all 365 negative commandments.” “I am” and “You shall have no other gods”—one is a positive commandment, and one is a negative commandment. So all 248 positive commandments are, in some way, an extension of “I am Hashem your G-d,” while “You shall have no other gods,” the rejection of the opposite of “I am,” is the source of all 365 negative commandments. Just to say this without explaining it—the Alter Rebbe will now explain it in depth—but on the simplest level, everyone understands: When you say, “I am Hashem your G-d,” what does that mean in other words? It means I am His servant. Once I have that “I am,” that I am His servant—“I am Hashem your G-d”—then when Hakadosh Boruch Hu commands, we have to do what He wants. That is the foundation, the root of all the positive commandments. As they say, “Accept My kingship, and afterward accept My decrees.” Now we come to the giving of the Torah. For all the Chassidus about this, it is the simplest thing: Once there is a king, there are commands. Once there is a master, there are instructions the master gives. So once you have “I am Hashem your G-d,” what does that obligate you to do? It obligates you to do everything the Master says. And from the opposite direction, “You shall have no other gods”—what does that mean? It rejects anything opposed to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and therefore anything opposed to the will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So, quite simply, in the most basic sense,

11:27 the Rebbe often quotes Rashi on “I am Hashem your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” What does Rashi say? “It was on this condition that I brought you out: that you would be subject to Me.” In other words, Hakadosh Boruch Hu told the Jewish people standing there at the giving of the Torah: “I am Hashem your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt”—I brought you out so that you would be subject to Me. Hakadosh Boruch Hu became the King. So once you left Egypt, you were freed from Pharaoh, from being Pharaoh’s servants, and became servants of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. You would be subject to Me—that was the condition for bringing you out. Even the simplest person understands that. So that is why the Alter Rebbe says, “Everyone knows this.” Accordingly, every Jew knows that the matter of idolatry is fundamental to all Torah and mitzvos. The oneness of Hashem encompasses all Torah and mitzvos. So if I am prepared to give my life because I don’t want to be separated from the oneness of Hashem, what difference does it make whether it is actual idolatry—bowing down to an idol—or a matter of tefillin, tzitzis, Shema, Shabbos, or kashrus? Ultimately, it is all one point: Are you connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, or are you separated from Hakadosh Boruch Hu? So ultimately it all relates to the question of idolatry. That is why the Alter Rebbe says that we heard “I am” and “You shall have no other gods” directly from the Almighty. The Rebbe explains that this helps us understand why it says that we heard specifically these two commandments directly from the Almighty. What do our Sages say? It is written in the Gemara that we heard “I am” and “You shall have no other gods” directly from the Almighty. Why specifically these two commandments? Because they encompass everything. And then

13:20 the Rebbe adds: What does this mean? There is a Gemara in Tractate Makkos that says, “Moshe commanded us the Torah.” The Gemara asks: What does “Moshe commanded us the Torah” mean? Was it Moshe who commanded it? Hakadosh Boruch Hu commanded it. So what does it mean? The Gemara says that the numerical value of “Torah” is 611. So the verse says that Moshe commanded us “Torah”—611 mitzvos. We received 611 mitzvos from Moshe Rabbeinu. But “I am” and “You shall have no other gods” we received from Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. Moshe did not say those two; we heard them directly from the Almighty. We received them from Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, not through Moshe. Rashi brings this in the Chumash as well. Rashi asks why the Ten Commandments say, “I am Hashem your G-d,” in the first person, as Hakadosh Boruch Hu speaking about Himself. He says it is because Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself said this. All the other commandments were then conveyed by Moshe. Rashi says that at first Hakadosh Boruch Hu said all the commandments, but they were all spoken in one utterance, and nobody understood anything. That is, Hakadosh Boruch Hu said all Ten Commandments in one utterance—but how could anyone hear that? Yes, that is what happened. Hakadosh Boruch Hu said it all in one utterance, and then He repeated them in detail, as Rashi says. When He repeated them in detail, He said “I am” and “You shall have no other gods,” and then Moshe continued. That was when the Jewish people said they could not bear to hear any more if Hakadosh Boruch Hu spoke. And then Moshe continued. So the plain meaning is that Hakadosh

15:25 Boruch Hu Himself repeated only the first two commandments in detail. That is what counts as hearing them directly from the Almighty; afterward, Moshe spoke. When you learn the Midrash on a simple level, it sounds as though there was just a problem: Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted to say all of them, but the Jewish people weren’t able to listen. They said they would die; they couldn’t bear it any longer. And Moshe told them, “All right, don’t be afraid”—the whole story. Then Hakadosh Boruch Hu told Moshe to speak to His people. However it says there—that Moshe should speak. In short, that is the straightforward account in the Gemara. But what is really behind it? It wasn’t merely that things happened to work out that way—that Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself said specifically the first two commandments. There is a reason: those two commandments truly contain everything. That is what the Rebbe says: because they encompass the whole Torah. “I am” and “You shall have no other gods” encompass the entire Torah, since all the mitzvos are already included there: turning away from evil, all 248 positive commandments—everything is included in “I am” and “You shall have no other gods.” The oneness of Hashem is the essence of every part of Torah and every mitzvah. So there was no need for Him to say more. Once Hakadosh Boruch Hu said “I am,” all the mitzvos were contained in “I am.” Once He said “You shall have no other gods,” it contained the entire rejection of evil—all 365 negative commandments. In other words, the central point of all 248 positive commandments is the oneness of Hashem, and the central point of all 365 negative commandments is the rejection of idolatry. There is also something interesting here, a question: The Alter Rebbe is speaking here about “I am Hashem your G-d” and “You shall have no other gods,” and he says this is the matter of the oneness of Hashem. On the face of it, these are two mitzvos: the mitzvah of “I am Hashem your G-d” and the mitzvah of the oneness of Hashem are two separate mitzvos. If you look at Rambam

17:52 In Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, the Rambam divides this into two mitzvos. “I am Hashem your G-d” is the mitzvah of knowing Him. Then comes the prohibition of idolatry: “You shall have no other gods.” After that there is another mitzvah, “Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One,” which is the mitzvah of Hashem’s oneness. So if we look simply at the Rambam’s enumeration of the mitzvos, there are two distinct mitzvos: the mitzvah of faith—or, in the Rambam’s wording, the mitzvah of knowledge—and the mitzvah of oneness. There is another difference as well: faith is not only for Jews; non-Jews also have to believe. A non-Jew is also forbidden to worship idols. Hashem’s oneness, by contrast, is a mitzvah specifically for the Jewish people. “Hear, O Israel” rules out belief in any partner to Hashem. I don’t want to get into the whole subject now. There is a difference between idolatry and belief in a partner to Hashem; the bochurim who learned the maamar [unclear] know that these are two different things. There is idolatry and there is belief in a partner to Hashem—two mitzvos. Nevertheless, the Alter Rebbe includes them together here. On a straightforward reading, the Alter Rebbe says that “I am Hashem your G-d” is the mitzvah of Hashem’s oneness, and “You shall have no other gods” is the prohibition that follows from Hashem’s oneness: idolatry. The truth is that Hashem’s oneness really is this very point. Yes, they are two mitzvos, two aspects, but at their core they have the same essence. In other words, Hashem’s oneness is a continuation of that first mitzvah. It is just that a Jew is required to understand it more deeply. They are not two entirely separate mitzvos. They are two parts of one idea. They count as two mitzvos, yes—faith in Hashem and Hashem’s oneness—but fundamentally one is a continuation of the other. It is one idea. There is a well-known Midrash, also cited in the Shulchan Aruch, that asks: How did the Jewish people merit the recitation of Shema?

20:03 This is what the Midrash says: How did the Jewish people merit the recitation of Shema? Where did the Shema come from? The Midrash says: When Hakadosh Boruch Hu said, “I am Hashem your G-d,” the Jewish people responded, “Hashem is our G-d.” And when Hakadosh Boruch Hu said, “You shall have no other gods,” they responded, “Hashem is One.” That is what the Midrash says. This is the origin of the verse, “Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One.” At the Giving of the Torah, Hakadosh Boruch Hu came and said to the Jewish people, “I am Hashem your G-d.” That is how the Midrash describes it. The Jewish people said, “Hashem is our G-d.” Then He said to them, “You shall have no other gods,” and they said, “Hashem is One.” So in this Midrash we see plainly that the verse “Hear, O Israel” and the verse “I am Hashem your G-d” are connected. The Shema was the Jewish people’s response to what Hashem said to them. So yes, again, in detail these are two parts. There is one mitzvah to know that Hakadosh Boruch Hu exists, and there is also a mitzvah to know His oneness. There is Hashem’s existence and there is Hashem’s oneness, and the distinction between them is [unclear]. Now is not the time to go into that. Here we are going to learn about oneness. But since, ultimately, it is all part of the same idea, the Alter Rebbe brings it all together here. It is all essentially one point. The point is that a Jew, in his very essence, has a soul, and that soul is a part of G-d above. And what does “a part of G-d above” mean? The faculty of chochmah in the soul, where the Ein Sof shines. What does it mean that the Ein Sof shines in the soul’s chochmah? That Hashem’s oneness shines there. This is a Jew’s essence: the true oneness of Hashem shines within him. Consequently, anything that is not consistent with Hashem’s oneness is ruled out for him. And this is what the Alter Rebbe says here: the entire Torah is included in this. The whole Torah is an expression of

21:55 this point, the oneness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The Alter Rebbe continues: “And to understand this matter thoroughly.” So now we need to explain the connection. Why do we say that all 613 mitzvos are, in essence, about Hashem’s oneness? He says: “We must first briefly recall the meaning and nature of the oneness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu.” The Alter Rebbe is saying that first we need to explain what Hashem’s oneness is. And this is very interesting. In the next two chapters, chapters 20 and 21, the Alter Rebbe is going to explain Hashem’s oneness according to the teaching of the Baal Shem Tov—the true oneness of Hashem revealed by the Baal Shem Tov, the idea that “there is nothing besides Him.” And the wording the Alter Rebbe uses is interesting. He says, “We must first briefly recall.” In other words, what I am about to say in these next two chapters is a reminder. I am not going to go into the subject fully; I am only going to recall it, and briefly at that. This also reinforces something well known that the Rebbe said several times: the Alter Rebbe wrote Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah first, because what we are learning here in chapters 20 and 21 is essentially a condensed version of the whole of Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah. There it is presented in twelve chapters, and here the Alter Rebbe writes it in two. But the Alter Rebbe had wanted to print Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah before Likkutei Amarim, as is known, and his wording remained as it was. As is known, although he actually printed it afterward, the wording of Tanya remained as though we already knew Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, as though we had already learned it. We see that here in the Alter Rebbe’s words, “We must first briefly recall.” In other words, we have already learned this subject in Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah: twelve chapters about the true oneness of Hashem

23:59 revealed by the Baal Shem Tov. Here we are going to recall it briefly, because it will be very relevant to what the Alter Rebbe goes on to say. Once we understand what Hashem’s oneness is, we will be able to understand how all 613 mitzvos relate to it. In other words, the Alter Rebbe is saying that you need to know this. It is a profound foundation, a wonderful foundation of Chassidus: to be a beinoni in thought, speech, and action, to truly be G-d-fearing Jews who serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu in thought, speech, and action through the 613 mitzvos, you must know the foundation of Hashem’s oneness as taught in the Torah of Hashem, blessed be He. Otherwise, you do not understand what is going on here at all. Otherwise, each mitzvah is a subject unto itself. If a person does not grasp the point of Hashem’s oneness, what connection does he see between Hashem’s oneness, tefillin, tzitzis, and the recitation of Shema? Each is its own subject. For a Jew who does not grasp Hashem’s oneness, what is the connection? There are many mitzvos. Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants us to keep Shabbos; Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants us to put on tefillin. Each mitzvah has its own laws and details. A G-d-fearing Jew observes all 613 mitzvos, but he does not see a connection between one mitzvah and another. And why would a shortcoming in shiluach haken, or in my intention when performing a particular mitzvah, be a shortcoming in Hashem’s oneness? What is the connection? If you understand Hashem’s oneness without the explanation of Chassidus, what does it mean? There is one Hakadosh Boruch Hu, not two. There is only one Eibershter. How is Hashem’s oneness understood without Chassidus? There is only one Eibershter, not two. Fine. So how does that connect to the mitzvah not to desecrate Shabbos? Where does that come into it? What is the connection?

25:48 That would mean that Hakadosh Boruch Hu says to do what He says—yes. But is there a connection in the content? Is there some connection among all 613 mitzvos? It’s different when you understand the oneness of Hashem. It means that all of creation, the entire world, and every detail within creation is all an expression of G-dliness. That is what Hashem’s oneness means. In other words, when we say that a Jew believes in Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that a Jew believes in His oneness, what does that mean? He believes in Hashem’s true oneness. He believes that nothing exists apart from Hakadosh Boruch Hu; that the world, the very existence of the world, is G-dliness. There is nothing apart from G-dliness. So G-dliness is expressed in every detail of the world, and all 613 mitzvos are, in essence, how we look at the world from Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s perspective. That is the world’s true reality. But if something is not as Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants it to be, then through that you separate yourself from His oneness. In other words, believing in Hashem’s oneness—that the world in its very existence is G-dliness—gives you a much deeper understanding of what defines a positive mitzvah and what defines a negative mitzvah. The Alter Rebbe will mention this in the following chapters. But first, the Alter Rebbe returns to the introduction, to impress upon us the point of Hashem’s true oneness that Chassidus revealed. And that is how the Alter Rebbe begins here: “To explain this matter well, we must first briefly recall the nature and essence of the oneness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, Who is called One and Unique. And all believe that He alone is He, just as He was before the world was created, when He alone existed.” The Alter Rebbe says: We say this in the Yom Kippur prayers, “And all believe that He alone is He.” So the Alter Rebbe explains what it means. It means

27:40 that He alone is He, just as He was before the world was created, when He alone existed. What is the Alter Rebbe adding here? There is a very deep precision in the wording. Everyone says, “And all believe that He alone is He.” But why do we say “He” twice? “And all believe that He alone...” What does “And all believe that He alone is He” mean? Look at the Alter Rebbe’s wording: “And all believe that He alone is He, just as He was before the world was created, when He alone existed.” Before the world was created, He alone existed. What are we saying? That even after the world was created, He alone is He. So, “He alone is He.” How do you translate that? Why does it say “He” twice? It’s as though you were saying, “He is the same.” When you say “He” twice in the Holy Tongue—“He alone is He”—you mean that He is the same. When you say “He alone,” you mean that He is alone; nothing else exists apart from Him. When you say “He alone is He,” adding “He” again, you mean that He is the same as before. And that is what we want to say here. “And all believe that He alone is He” does not merely mean that Hakadosh Boruch Hu exists alone. It means that even now, after creation, He is the same as He was before creation. Similarly, when we say every day in the prayers, “You are He before the world was created”—he adds, he brings this as well, right?—that is, when we say, “You are He before the world was created; You are He since the world was created,” there too it means that He is literally the same, without any change. What is the Alter Rebbe adding here? What is the precision in the Alter Rebbe’s interpretation? How— We say every day, “You are He before the world was created.” There too,

29:30 you could ask what the word “He” is doing there. Why is the word “He” there? You are. You, since the world was created, you, you—it says, “You are He before— You, since— You are He.” We say “You are He” twice. That is how it works in the Holy Tongue. When you say “You are He” twice, the second time means “the same.” I think that’s how it’s translated in the Castilian translation of the siddur; I’m almost certain. No, you could translate “You are He before the world was created; You are He since the world was created” as “You existed before You created the world, and You exist after the world was created.” But that is not the correct translation. “You are the same”—that is the precise meaning. He is the same. And that is the point of Hashem’s oneness: even after Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world, and there is a reality here, nevertheless He remains in exactly the same oneness as before creation. This is what the Alter Rebbe goes on to explain in the rest of the chapter. How do we explain it? After all, a world was created; that is not false. And yet we say that Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s oneness remains as it was before.