Igeres Hakodesh, Letter 11, "Lehaskilcha Binah" - Part 3

00:00 We’re stopping here in the middle of chapter 11 of Igeres Hakodesh. The Alter Rebbe explains how a person should, uh, be happy all the time. How does a person bring about a state in which the light of Hashem dwells within him, so that he becomes a vessel and a dwelling place for G-dliness? By reaching a state of “nullify your will”: completely nullifying his desires, so that he has no desires at all for anything in this world. His only desire will be for G-dliness, for what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants. How does one reach that point? The Alter Rebbe first says that the foundation must be faith. There must be faith, and not just any faith, but true faith in the Creator of the beginning. Our faith must be in what we are learning here: faith in the Creator of the beginning. What does “Creator of the beginning” mean? The Alter Rebbe explains that, in general, this is faith in the oneness of Havayah. More specifically, the oneness of Havayah, as explained by the Baal Shem Tov, means that the creation of the world takes place at every single moment: Hakadosh Boruch Hu brings all created beings into existence from nothing. That is the general explanation of the oneness of Havayah: true faith in the oneness of Havayah, that everything is utterly nullified and is brought into existence at every moment. But here the Alter Rebbe adds that this faith must not be merely in the oneness of Havayah. It must be faith in the Creator of the beginning. “Beginning” refers to the sefirah of Chochmah: all created beings are brought into existence from nothing at every moment. From where? Specifically from His Chochmah. It all comes from His Chochmah. Chochmah brings something into being from nothing. Why does he explain the idea of Chochmah specifically here? The Alter Rebbe explains that Chochmah is the source of life, goodness, and delight—the level of Eden, which is higher than the World to Come. In this chapter, the Alter Rebbe wants to explain how faith in the oneness of Havayah leads a person to be always

02:12 happy, in every place and situation, in every circumstance and in every way—even when, G-d forbid, outwardly it seems that things are not good in the material sense. Even then, a person should be happy. And it is specifically through this faith that a person can always be happy. It is not just that things are brought into existence from nothing, but that this creation from nothing comes from His Chochmah. His Chochmah is called the level of Eden, and that is true delight. Eden, higher even than Gan Eden, is the source of life, goodness, and delight. So when a person knows that at every moment his entire existence, and the entire world, are being brought into existence from absolute nothingness, from the Chochmah of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, from the source of life, goodness, and delight, it follows that everything is good. There cannot be anything that is not good. Let’s look at the wording—what does it say? In the words of Tanya, it says, on the last line of the first page of the chapter: “When a person contemplates deeply and pictures in his mind how he is brought into existence from nothing at every single moment, how could it enter his mind that things are bad for him, or that he suffers any afflictions concerning children, life, and livelihood?” How could he think that? How could it enter his mind that he has any suffering concerning children, life, and livelihood, or any other suffering in the world? “For the nothingness, which is His Chochmah, is the source of life, goodness, and delight, and it is the Eden that is higher than the World to Come.” This is the level called Eden. Eden is the source of delights, higher than the World to Come, higher even than Gan Eden. “Only because it cannot be grasped”—on the contrary, because the level of Eden is so high, because Eden is such a high level of delight, higher even than Gan Eden. All the more so, it is higher than delight as it can be grasped by

04:15 the kind of understanding available to us down here. Because it is such a high level, “it seems to him like something bad or like suffering.” A person therefore thinks this is something bad or painful. That is how it appears to him. Because it is such a high level, he cannot grasp it. “But in truth, no evil descends from above.” Nothing bad comes down from above. “And everything is good.” Everything Hakadosh Boruch Hu bestows—especially since it comes from His Chochmah, from the level of Eden—is life, goodness, and delight. So “everything is good, only he cannot grasp its greatness and abundant goodness.” Because it is something so lofty, so high, a person cannot grasp it; he does not have the vessels to grasp it. But as far as what is bestowed from above is concerned, on the contrary, it is a goodness so high and so lofty that a person down here receives it without feeling it as such. What is the explanation? Let’s try to understand it a little. What does it mean? Look at how he explains it here. Look, because... But look, look at what he explains here: precisely because this is something so lofty, because it is such an exceedingly high goodness, a person cannot grasp it. How do we explain that? By the way, a student here asks what “other suffering” means. He says “children, life, and livelihood,” and then says “other suffering.” The question is whether “other suffering” means spiritual suffering. It could. It could also mean other material concerns besides children, life, and livelihood. After all, there are other things in the world that do not really fall under children, life,

06:05 and livelihood. Yes, sometimes there can be suffering connected, for example, with peace in the home. Sometimes a person suffers because of the people around him—friends and the like, an unhealthy environment—and that does not really fall under children, life, and livelihood. So even in material matters, there are things that are not really part of children, life, and livelihood; and there is spiritual suffering too. But the wording is “other suffering in the world.” So... so what? So what? Let’s get back to our point. What does this mean? What is the explanation? What does the Alter Rebbe mean when he says that this goodness is so high that it is beyond the World to Come, and therefore, down here, because of its great magnitude, we cannot grasp it? Let’s try to understand that a little. What does it mean in physical terms? There is a very simple physical analogy, one that is sometimes given. Say you are in a room with light. Light is a good thing. After all, it says, “And G-d saw the light, that it was good.” Light is good. Why? Because light lets you look, see, and enjoy things. Light is the beginning of all enjoyment. At the same time, sometimes light is so strong, so intense, that it interferes with your sight. You cannot see. As far as the light itself is concerned, on the contrary, there is much more light. But from the recipient’s perspective, because the light is so strong and he cannot look at it, it has the opposite effect on him. It seems as though he cannot see. There is too much light; it dazzles the eyes, as they say, so that he cannot see. The excess of light has the opposite effect on the person: he cannot see properly. That is a physical example. It still does not explain how this is good.

08:04 What is good about that? But to understand it on a more spiritual level, the best analogy is the very subject the Alter Rebbe brings here: chochmah. The Alter Rebbe is speaking about chochmah and says that chochmah is the source of the good and pleasant life. So, on the contrary, chochmah is the best analogy for understanding what we’re discussing. We see that the human soul has chochmah and binah. These are faculties of the soul—“From my flesh I perceive G-d.” And we see a very great difference between them. When a person studies a subject and grasps an idea, there is first chochmah. Chochmah is a flash of insight, the essential point. The light of the subject shines for him with full force. He senses the truth of the matter; it becomes illuminated for him, as though a light has come on before his eyes. That is chochmah in the soul. Afterward, this chochmah has to be clothed in binah. With binah, a person brings the idea down into words of understanding and explanation, with examples and explanations. That is the faculty of binah. So which is better? Which is higher, more elevated—chochmah or binah? What advantage does chochmah have over binah, and binah over chochmah? Here we can see it clearly. On the one hand, chochmah is higher than binah. Truth shines in the illumination of chochmah. When a person is at the stage of chochmah, the insight is much clearer, much deeper, much more powerful. The truth shines with full force. The clarity, the luminosity, the richness of the idea shine far more in the illumination of chochmah. By contrast, when it comes into binah, it no longer has all that richness. It loses some of

10:02 the light, the richness, the truth. It comes down. In the language of Chassidus, the whole subject is now at a distance from its essence. The maamarim explain that when an idea descends into intellectual comprehension, that comprehension... how do you put it? It dims the light. The words and explanations diminish the clarity, the richness, the luminosity of the idea. It no longer shines with quite the same force, because the many words, analogies, and explanations clothe it. On the other hand, if you ask the person where he understands it better, where it is absorbed more fully, certainly binah is better than chochmah. In chochmah, I become nullified. Chochmah is koach mah, the faculty of bittul. When the idea shines in chochmah, it brings about bittul in the soul. At that moment, at the stage of chochmah, the light and truth shine in the soul. The person is, as it were, nothing; he is completely nullified. The light, the truth, shines and surrounds him completely, and he becomes nothing before it. With binah, by contrast, I understand. I can explain it. There is an explanation, an analogy, details. I can grasp and understand it. So which do I prefer, chochmah or binah? Which is better? It depends what I’m looking for. If I want to grasp it, then binah is certainly better. There I have explanations, analogies, examples, and I can take it in more fully. But if I’m looking for the truth of the matter, its depth, its richness, its genuine essence, then, on the contrary, the matter shines more fully in the illumination of chochmah. That is chochmah’s advantage over binah. So, as we say regarding chochmah and binah, on the one hand binah is better from the recipient’s perspective, because I feel

12:02 that I grasp it. But as far as the truth of the matter is concerned, in chochmah it shines on a much higher, much deeper level. So what am I looking for? Am I looking for the truth of the matter, or am I looking to understand it? If I’m looking for the truth, I want chochmah. If I’m looking to understand, I want binah. The Alter Rebbe says that the same applies here. We say that the source is chochmah, not binah. It comes from the sefirah of chochmah, and chochmah, he says, is the level of Eden in the World to Come, as opposed to the Garden of Eden. As we said in the previous class, regarding the Garden of Eden it says, “A river flows out of Eden to water the garden.” In the Garden of Eden there is binah, and a river flows from Eden—something flows from chochmah into binah and is clothed in the Garden of Eden. Of the Garden of Eden we say that souls “enjoy the radiance of the Shechinah.” Enjoying the radiance of the Shechinah means intellectual comprehension. The Garden of Eden is where the soul comprehends G-dliness and derives pleasure from it. There the soul loves Hashem; there is love and awe, as it says at the beginning of Tanya. That is the Garden of Eden: the light, the radiance of the Shechinah, which is pleasure that can be grasped. That is comprehension; that is binah. But then there is Eden of the World to Come—chochmah. There, the Infinite shines as it is in its essence, without being clothed in binah. In chochmah, the power of bittul shines. Only the truth of the matter shines there, and we’ll come to what this actually brings about in the soul: complete self-nullification. And this is creation of something from nothing. Where does creation of something from nothing truly originate? From His wisdom, from the level of chochmah, where the truth is felt that He alone exists and there is none besides Him—complete self-nullification. So in terms of the level of light, this is a far higher light. Chochmah is a far higher light. There shines

14:06 the truth of G-dliness, the truth of the matter, at the level of chochmah. As for the person himself, he becomes completely nullified, and therefore he cannot grasp it. That is what the Alter Rebbe is saying. You ask where a higher level of G-dliness shines? Certainly in chochmah. And precisely because a higher level of G-dliness shines there—and G-dliness is the source of all pleasures, the source of life, as it says, “For with You is the source of life”; Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the very essence of pleasure, the very essence of wisdom—there it is not merely the light that matters. In binah there is only the light of pleasure. In the Garden of Eden there is the light of pleasure. But in chochmah, the essence of pleasure itself shines. The thing is that the recipient does not feel it. So the question is: What am I looking for? Do I want to feel the pleasure, or do I want to be where the true essence of pleasure is? If I want to feel the pleasure, binah is better than chochmah. If I’m looking for the true essence of pleasure, where the true essence of the good life shines, then, on the contrary, it shines there in a much more hidden way. This is the Alter Rebbe’s wording here: “And all is good, but I cannot grasp it because of its great height and breadth.” Precisely because it is so elevated, a person cannot grasp it. I once heard Reb Yoel—Reb Yoel Kahn—speak about this in a Chassidus class. He gave a very beautiful analogy. He said: Tell a person that he has two options. You want to illustrate what we’re discussing here, the difference between chochmah and binah, between hidden good and revealed good. So tell him: Listen, you have two options. You can hear a class from a lecturer who explains things beautifully, speaks beautifully, and will explain it to you

16:15 very well. Or you can be in a room where you hear a very great tzaddik, a Rebbe, speak—but you won’t understand. It could be the very same subject, yes? You could hear it directly from the Rebbe, from the tzaddik who is saying it, but you wouldn’t understand, because the Rebbe speaks on a very lofty level. You would become nullified before it, and perhaps you wouldn’t grasp it intellectually. Or you could hear the same subject not from the Rebbe himself, not from the tzaddik himself, but from an interpreter—someone who will explain it in your language so you can understand. So ask the person what he prefers. Would he rather be present and hear it from the Rebbe himself, or hear it from someone who will explain it in his own language so that he understands? What do you want? Surely a normal person, given the choice, would say: What do you mean? I can be here and see and hear the tzaddik himself, the Rebbe himself, say it. Why do I need an intermediary? Granted, I’ll be completely nullified before it. But that is the most elevated thing. A person wants to be nullified; he wants to be where truth shines. That is the point, the teaching the Alter Rebbe is conveying here. There is also a well-known teaching in Chassidus, discussed in the maamarim, about the difference between serving “in order to receive a reward”—a person seeking the Garden of Eden—and what the Alter Rebbe said, as the Rebbe discusses in a maamar: “I don’t want Your Garden of Eden.” I don’t want the Garden of Eden, I don’t want the World to Come; I want only Atzmus. And that is contrasted with someone who serves Hashem in order to receive the Garden of Eden. So that

18:15 It’s the same thing, the same point. What am I looking for? Am I looking to remain a separate existence, to receive G-dliness and enjoy Hakadosh Boruch Hu, but within my own existence? Or am I looking for the truth of G-dliness? Ah, when you reach the truth of G-dliness, you are nothing at all; you become nullified. And that is what a Jew wants and desires: to become nullified, because that is where the truth is. He is looking for the truth, not for where he will feel better. The point here is the same. When it becomes clear to you that the true meaning of Hashem’s oneness is that the coming into being, at every single moment, of all created things—including your own existence—comes from His wisdom, and wisdom “is found from nothing,” and wisdom is the source of goodness, the source of delight, then there is no possibility of his experiencing suffering; he has only good. But here below he does feel it differently. Because that goodness is so deeply concealed, it is not felt openly here below. In light of this explanation, we can better understand why the Alter Rebbe began the letter with “to give you insight and understanding.” We discussed at the beginning of the chapter that “to give you insight” refers to chochmah, while “understanding” is binah. “To give you insight and understanding”: the Alter Rebbe is bringing chochmah and binah together here. On the one hand, we are speaking about chochmah. The whole foundation of this chapter is that a chossid must work on himself to be connected to chochmah, to the level of koach mah, where there is complete nullification of one’s existence. Therefore, as he says, his will should be nullified—his will should be truly and completely nullified. At the same time, we are told to contemplate. The Alter Rebbe demands of chassidim that this point of genuine faith take the form of a person contemplating it with the depth of his understanding and picturing it in his mind. In other words, the point of chochmah should shine within his binah, as he contemplates it with chochmah, binah,

20:16 and daas. Contemplate: “to give you insight and understanding.” The point of chochmah, the point of nullification, should bring complete nullification into a person’s understanding, into his own intellect. Through this, he will accept everything with joy and a glad heart. So even when, G-d forbid, he is lacking things in this world, he does not grieve. On the contrary, he serves Hakadosh Boruch Hu with joy and a glad heart. The Alter Rebbe continues: “And this is the essence of the faith for which man was created.” The Alter Rebbe says that what we are discussing now is the essence of the faith for which a person was created. That is a very strong statement. It is unusual for the Alter Rebbe to put something so sharply: “This is the essence of the faith.” After all, we are talking about faith, and faith has many aspects. But the Alter Rebbe says: No, this is the essence of faith as it relates to the work of faith—the essential thing a Jew must believe, the faith for which man was created: to believe that “there is no place devoid of Him.” Faith that apart from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, there is nothing, and that “in the light of the King’s countenance is life.” Since there is no place devoid of Him, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is present everywhere. And wherever Hakadosh Boruch Hu is present, “in the light of the King’s countenance is life.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the source of life, so the King’s countenance means only life. Therefore, “strength and joy are in His place,” since “He is only good all day long.” Wherever Hakadosh Boruch Hu is present, there must be strength and joy. Since it is only good all day long, a person’s service must be with great joy at every moment. This itself is the essence of the faith for which man was created. There are still several details here that need explaining. We will explain them, with Hashem’s help, in the next class. But there are a few questions the boys are asking here. One question.

22:12 I see a question someone has written on the side. Someone asks: Who benefits from G-dliness being concealed rather than revealed? What is gained by that? Surely G-dliness should be revealed in the world. The truth is, yes, that is right. And the Alter Rebbe will explain later in the chapter that this itself is the test: by working on ourselves to recognize this truth, to recognize that G-dliness is the source of life, the hidden good, even when we cannot grasp it. This itself is a person’s work: to withstand the test. When we pass the test Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives us and come to recognize this matter deeply, it causes the situation to change for the good in the body as well. Then we bring about the revelation of that hidden good even within the recipient’s capacity to receive it—which is an even further aspect of the work of “to give you insight and understanding.” In practical terms, the intention is not for it to remain something we cannot grasp. The intention is not for the light of chochmah to remain as complete nullification while the world cannot grasp it. That is not the intention. Ultimately, the intention is for this light to be revealed and become invested in the world. The Alter Rebbe will go on to explain in the chapter that faith in this very idea actually transforms the reality of the situation, so that even in the physical body, the hidden good is revealed. That is true. But to reach that point, there must first be inner work: recognizing that this hidden good is the true good. Then we bring about its extension into the body as well, where it is revealed as visible and manifest good. This is the foundation of “to give you insight and understanding”: ultimately, chochmah and binah are meant to come together. Complete nullification must permeate the world as well, even within the bounds of physical existence itself, so that it is revealed below as visible and manifest good. This is what we discussed in the previous class too: the work of bringing together faith

24:12 and trust. Faith is knowing that everything, even now, is hidden good—it is good. Trust is that this good will actually be revealed. That is the story of Nachum Ish Gamzu and Rabbi Akiva, in whom both of these were present. Rabbi Akiva said, “Whatever the Merciful One does is for the good.” By working on himself to have this faith—that whatever the Merciful One does is for the good—he brought that good into open revelation in the world. Then it became clear how all the troubles he had faced, may the Merciful One spare us, had saved him. This was even more apparent with Nachum Ish Gamzu: they saw that the very act of putting the earth into the box brought about the miracle that nullified the decree, and so on. That is the meaning of “This too is for the good.” So that is the point. At first, the good remains concealed because it belongs to chochmah, which is beyond binah, and the world is therefore not a vessel for it. But when a Jew works on himself to recognize it, that itself brings it into open revelation below as visible and manifest good. May Hakadosh Boruch Hu help us merit to see the hidden good become visible and manifest good, to see it with our physical eyes. May all concealment and darkness already come to an end, and may there be visible and manifest good above all, with the true and complete Geulah through our righteous Moshiach, immediately, right now. Especially as we are now in the month of Iyar—“I am Hashem, your healer”—and close to Pesach Sheini and Lag BaOmer. So, with Hashem’s help, may we merit to see this good come as visible and manifest good, here below, within ten handbreadths of the ground. May darkness be transformed into light, and may there be the true and complete Geulah.