Igeres Hakodesh, Letter 11, "Lehaskilcha Binah" - Summary

00:02 To sum up, we’ve learned chapter 11 of Igeres Hakodesh. At least let me make a point about what I was getting to, and what we discussed at the end of chapter 11. It’s a very fundamental point in the Rebbe’s letters and sichos. Chapter 11 of Igeres Hakodesh contains several ideas. At the beginning, the Alter Rebbe isn’t speaking about suffering at all. He’s reminding us that a person shouldn’t desire physical things for their own sake: “This is not the path on which the light of Hashem will dwell—to desire the life of the flesh, children, and sustenance.” In other words, the desire for material things must be set aside: “Nullify your will before His will.” That’s a general principle in serving Hashem. Then the Alter Rebbe goes on to address how we accept suffering. In other words, where do you see that a person isn’t really invested in material things for their own sake? When he knows how to accept suffering with joy. That’s the test: when something is lacking, and yet he isn’t distressed—he’s joyful. But what is the point of chapter 11? The outlook a Jew needs to have is that everything is good. That’s the starting point: goodness. What is that outlook based on? The true unity of Hashem. Once you’ve internalized the true unity of Hashem—that all of creation, every single moment, a person’s entire existence at every moment, and his whole life are all part of the true unity of Hashem, all the wisdom of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—then that is Eden. And so “strength and joy are in His place,” “in the light of the King’s countenance is life,” and everything is good. It’s just that some good is revealed and some good is hidden. So

02:18 a person lives with joy. What does that lead to? Two things. First, he isn’t invested in material things; he isn’t looking for materiality, he’s looking for G-dliness. What he desires isn’t materiality but G-dliness. And second, even if, G-d forbid, certain things are lacking, he doesn’t become sad. He serves Hashem with joy and a glad heart, because “strength and joy are in His place.” If he is sad, the Alter Rebbe says, that shows that this faith is lacking in him; he isn’t living with it. And since the whole world was created for this faith, and a person’s whole life is a series of tests, right?—to see whether he truly lives with the true unity of Hashem—a person needs to keep examining himself, to constantly take stock: Am I serving Hakadosh Boruch Hu in a way that makes this real for me? Am I seeking closeness to G-dliness, so that all worldly matters, whether yes or no, are truly equal to me? Or am I a self-centered being who wants to live the life of the nations—which is a form of idol worship, as the Rebbe... because, G-d forbid, he denies Hashem by taking himself out from under His hand and seeking things for his own sake, seeking himself. That is an extremely fundamental point in chapter 11. But then there’s the final point in the chapter. The last thing the Alter Rebbe says is that through this faith—when a person truly believes that everything is good, that everything comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that everything is Him, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu knows everything, that everything is G-dliness and there is nothing besides Him—this faith itself causes everything to be

04:04 good as well. As he says at the end of the chapter, the hidden good, which is concealed, will become revealed. What’s the explanation for that? As the Rebbe understands the plain meaning here in Tanya, this is the foundation of bitachon, trust in Hashem. The Alter Rebbe is telling us here that this is the foundation of bitachon. The essence of bitachon is that a Jew believes in Hakadosh Boruch Hu, knows that everything is truly good, and trusts in Hakadosh Boruch Hu. He reflects on this, and that causes the hidden good—the good that isn’t revealed—to become revealed. What’s the connection? How does that work? If you remember, we discussed in the last class that it’s a kind of measure for measure. That’s how the Rebbe explains it in one of his letters: it’s a matter of measure for measure. A person brings his faith out into the open. The good is hidden, not revealed, but he lives with it; he’s joyful. In other words, his faith is revealed. As a result, measure for measure, the hidden good specifically becomes revealed, and then everything is good in a revealed way as well. That’s a point the Rebbe makes in one of his letters. But from here we come to a broader point in the Rebbe’s teachings: the general foundation of bitachon taught by the Tzemach Tzedek in the well-known story of “Tracht gut, vet zain gut”—“Think good, and it will be good.” I wanted to go into that a little more, because we spoke about it very briefly. This is a sicha everyone must study. It’s a very, very important and fundamental sicha about bitachon, in volume 36, Parshas Shemos, where the Rebbe explains a remarkable insight that fits with what we’re learning here. It isn’t exactly the same point, but it follows the same line of thought. The Rebbe asks the simple question that all the commentators ask: What, seemingly, is bitachon?

06:10 What does it mean to trust that things will be good? Why should they be good? Who says they will be? Maybe you don’t deserve it. After all, sometimes a person is punished. Sometimes he doesn’t receive something because he doesn’t deserve it. There are all sorts of circumstances. Now, there is emunah, faith. Faith means believing that everything is for a person’s good. That’s one thing, and that’s certain: I believe that everything that happens in my life is for my good. So even when things aren’t good, I know that... For example, if, G-d forbid, someone harms you, you don’t become upset with him, because you know it all comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. As the verse says, “Hashem told him to curse.” It’s all from Hakadosh Boruch Hu, all for the good. It atones for sins; it comes to bring a person merit, and all suffering is for his good. That’s one idea. That’s faith, but it doesn’t mean that things are going to be good. Yet we say that a Jew must not only believe that everything comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu; he must also trust in Hashem. How do we explain that? The Rebbe says that some commentators, in a number of places and books, explain bitachon like this: a person has no worries precisely because he knows everything comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That’s how many places explain it, to show that emunah and bitachon aren’t contradictory. Bitachon doesn’t mean trusting that things will be good in an openly revealed way. No, it means I rely on Hakadosh Boruch Hu. I’m not worried. Nobody can control me; nobody can do me harm. Hakadosh Boruch Hu alone is in charge of me, and if He does something, it is certainly all for the good. So even if He does something that, G-d forbid, isn’t good,

07:58 I’m still not worried, because it comes from Him. So it’s all for the good, and I have nothing to worry about. That’s how bitachon is explained in some places: the peace of mind a person feels in every situation. I’m missing something? Well, so what? Hakadosh Boruch Hu knows what He’s doing. I don’t think it’s due to bad luck. Someone who lacks faith and thinks he’s missing something because another person stole from him, or because, G-d forbid, nature is in charge here, goes out of his mind. Something happens in the world, and he’s afraid. He lives in fear and anxiety: What will happen? A person who knows Hakadosh Boruch Hu is doing it surrenders himself—git zich iber tsum Eibershten—and Hakadosh Boruch Hu will do what is good in His eyes. That’s it. There’s nothing to worry about; I live with peace of mind. There is such an idea, and it’s true, absolutely true. But that’s emunah; it still isn’t bitachon. Some commentators want to say that this is bitachon, but the Rebbe doesn’t accept that. That’s the sicha in volume 39. That isn’t the meaning of bitachon. When you look at various sources, including Chovos Halevavos and others the Rebbe cites, you can clearly see that this isn’t what it means. Bitachon means I trust that things will be good in a way I can see, in a revealed way. That’s what bitachon means. It doesn’t mean that I sleep soundly because I know everything comes from Heaven—that isn’t the avodah. It means I trust that things will be good in an openly revealed way. So the question is: Why? Why should things be good in an openly revealed way? Who says so? Maybe you don’t deserve it. A tzaddik who knows he has no sins—fine. But an ordinary person, people like us: why should you be confident that things will be good in an openly revealed way? Maybe not

09:31 Do you deserve it? Maybe things won’t turn out well? What guarantees that things will be good in a way that is visible and revealed? And here comes the Rebbe’s novel point in the sicha in volume 39, based on the teaching of the Tzemach Tzedek: “Tracht gut, vet zein gut”—think good, and it will be good. Trust does not mean that you can do whatever you want and everything will be fine. No. It means that trust itself is the avodah, and in the merit of that trust, Hakadosh Boruch Hu will do good for you. It is a kind of measure for measure, a kind of cause and effect. Trust is an avodah. It does not mean: “All right, I’ll lie in bed and Hashem will make everything good. I don’t deserve it, I haven’t done anything, but Hashem is good, so He’ll do good for me anyway.” That isn’t right. It is the opposite of emunah. Hakadosh Boruch Hu rewards those who do good and punishes those who do not. Trust is a kind of avodah. A person works on himself; git zich iber tsum Eibershten—he gives himself over to Hashem. That is what trust means. Trust is the avodah of believing so deeply and trusting so deeply that I give myself over to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and think good. I think that Hakadosh Boruch Hu will do good in a way that is visible and revealed, because Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the essence of goodness, and the nature of goodness is to do good. So surely Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants to do the very best for each and every person, and wants that good to be visible and revealed. I work on myself to give myself over completely to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, believing that He is good and that the nature of goodness is to do good. This avodah—thinking positively, thinking good thoughts about Hakadosh Boruch Hu—is itself the vessel. It is real avodah. Then you truly do deserve it. Then, for that reason, things will be good for you. That is the result of

11:32 “Tracht gut”—through that, “vet zein gut.” Your avodah of thinking good thoughts brings about the good. So what is the explanation, again? It is similar to what we discussed here at the end of chapter 11. It is an avodah of measure for measure. When a person brings Hashem’s providence and kindness from concealment into revelation by believing in Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that itself causes things to actually turn out that way. The difference is that chapter 11 speaks about emunah: when a person believes, lives with that emunah, and lives with joy, then, measure for measure, the good is revealed. Here the avodah is more specifically one of trust. Trust is an avodah. When I serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu by relying on Him and trusting that He will do good, that very contemplation, that trust and that strength, bring about the good. The good thought brings the good. This is a point about avodah. I want to explain it another way, to make it a little simpler to understand. We need to look at the sicha itself to understand it better. It is a very powerful point that we need to—this is real avodah; it is our avodah today. But we can also connect it, in another way, with something the Rebbe writes in many letters, particularly at the beginning of his leadership. The chassidim were broken. It was after the passing of the Frierdiker Rebbe, and after the Second World War. There was a great deal of sadness in the world, a great deal of pain and anguish. People were very broken. So

13:13 the Rebbe wrote about this many times in 5710. You can see in his letters that the Rebbe cites what the Zohar says in Parshas Tetzaveh, and the Rebbe says that chassidim should publicize this Zohar. The Rebbe himself wrote it in several letters from that period. The Zohar says, “Come and see: the lower world is like the upper world.” What happens down here is reflected above as well. So if a person down here is sad, he thereby causes sadness above, in the Supernal Man, too. And when there is sadness, there are judgments, because that is the nature of things: when a person is sad, he judges and makes calculations. But if a person down here is happy and bright, with a shining face, he thereby causes Hakadosh Boruch Hu above to show a shining face as well. And when there is a shining face above, Hakadosh Boruch Hu bestows goodness and kindness in a way that is visible and revealed, without calculations—even if the person does not deserve it. So what is the point? Again, it is measure for measure. It is about avodah. When you work on yourself to be in a state of joy, your joy causes joy above. And when there is joy above, joy breaks through barriers, judgments are nullified, and things become good in a revealed way as well. Again, it is a matter of measure for measure. Along these lines, that is the point of “Tracht gut, vet zein gut.” When I think good thoughts, thinking of Hakadosh Boruch Hu as good, merciful and kind, I believe that He will do good—good that is visible and revealed. And that itself, measure for measure, brings about good in practice. It is the same approach, the same direction. These are all different details, but

15:04 the approach, the direction, is the same. Or here is another example. In his sichos, the Rebbe also often quotes a saying in the name of the Frierdiker Rebbe, who said it in the name of the Tzemach Tzedek. The well-known full story is that the Tzemach Tzedek said he had heard from a soldier that when soldiers go to war, they march to a victory march. Hey, the war hasn’t even started yet! Who says you’ll win? The very fact that you go out to war marching to a victory march makes you a victor. So that, too, is this kind of idea. The point is the avodah: the fact that you truly trust and believe, and proceed with joy and confidence that you will win, is the vessel through which the blessing is drawn down and actual victory comes as well. These are different sichos and different stories, with different details, but you see a similar direction, a similar approach, in all of them. This is the point of trust: the avodah of trusting is the vessel through which the blessing is drawn down. I wanted to add this point because it is fundamental. We see it in many sichos, expressed in different ways here and there. But it is a general principle in the avodah of Chassidus. What should a chossid’s avodah of “Tracht gut, vet zein gut” be? I remember—we are speaking now during the days of Matan Torah—that thirty years ago in Australia, our group was there as shluchim. Things were difficult there in every respect, both materially and spiritually. Sadly, several children passed away. All sorts of very difficult things happened in the community. Rabbi Groner, the head shliach, Rabbi Dovid Groner, was very, very broken. He was truly depressed. So a few days before Shavuos, he wrote a letter to the Rebbe.

16:56 He couldn’t go on. That is what he wrote: he couldn’t go on. With the situation as it was, all the problems, everything was falling apart. He had no strength left. He couldn’t go on. Then, on Erev Shavuos, the Rebbe wrote him a note: “When you resolve to fulfill the ruling—or promise, in the words of our Rebbeim—‘Tracht gut, vet zein gut,’ it will come to pass in actual practice.” I remember seeing what a transformation that note made in the Rebbe’s shliach. Nothing had actually changed yet, but the Rebbe had written it. He understood that the Rebbe was asking him to do the avodah of “Tracht gut, vet zein gut.” It was a joyous Shavuos. He held a farbrengen, said l’chaim, and the whole Shavuos was a joyful Shavuos. The Rebbe had said: that’s it—when you resolve, you need to resolve to fulfill the ruling. Don’t wait until things are good and only then begin to be happy. This avodah, the avodah of joy and the avodah of trust, is the vessel for good that is visible and revealed.