Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 33 - Part 5

00:00 We’re on page 42, at the line beginning after the period: “And behold.” And behold, when a person delves into this—into everything the Alter Rebbe has just discussed about the oneness of Hashem—when a person thinks deeply about it, “his heart will rejoice and his soul will exult.” He reflects on these ideas and thinks at length about what we’ve discussed here. Then the oneness of Hashem will bring him tremendous joy. “His heart will rejoice.” First, the Alter Rebbe says, the joy is in his heart. Then he says, “and his soul will exult.” From the heart, it spreads to the soul. The soul isn’t just the heart; it includes all a person’s faculties. In other words, when a person first hears something good, good news, the feeling of joy is initially only in his heart. You don’t yet see any outward expression of joy. He just feels it in his heart. Then, as the joy spreads further, it reaches all his faculties: it shows in his face, his hands, his feet. He dances, he claps, he makes all kinds of movements. The joy has penetrated all his faculties. That’s what is meant by the soul. “Even with exultation and song” means something more. So there are three aspects here, three levels. First, “his heart will rejoice.” Then, “his soul will exult.” Then, “even with exultation and song.” That phrase comes from a verse, and the commentators explain that it expresses an abundance of joy, as though the joy has already gone beyond all bounds. It’s not only in the heart, and it doesn’t only spread through the faculties of the soul; the joy takes him beyond his usual limits. That’s what the Alter Rebbe goes on to say: “with all his heart and soul and might.” It’s really the same thing in different words. “With all his heart and soul and might” describes three levels of love. As we say,

02:27 I’ll come back to the oneness of Hashem. Our love for Hashem must be “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” What does Chassidus explain about these three aspects? First, there is love in the heart. The heart feels love for Hashem, but it’s still just a feeling in the heart. After that comes “with all your soul”: the love spreads to all the limbs of the body, so that he runs to perform a mitzvah and so on. You can see in his actions, too, that he loves Hashem. It is expressed through all the faculties of his soul. That’s called “with all your soul.” Then we say, “and with all your might.” What is “your might”? It means something beyond measure, going beyond one’s limits. The same applies here to joy. When a Jew contemplates the oneness of Hashem, his understanding of it, and the depth of that understanding, brings him joy. And the joy, too, passes through these three stages: first, “his heart will rejoice”; then, “his soul will exult”; and then, “even with exultation and song.” Of course, the words themselves also change: first “rejoice,” then “exult,” then “exultation and song.” These are three different expressions of joy, each conveying a higher level. “Rejoice” is the initial joy. When the joy spreads further, it’s called “exultation.” And when it spreads still further, it becomes “exultation and song.” Each is another stage, a higher level of joy. In any case, I don’t know the precise explanation of these distinctions, but it’s clear that the words, too, indicate a higher level in each respect. Chassidus discusses this to some extent. I haven’t seen an explicit explanation here in Tanya of the difference between rejoicing, exultation, and exultation and song. But generally, we do find this idea. For example, exultation is usually connected with revelation. Right? That is,

04:29 exultation is joy becoming revealed. Joy itself may remain only a feeling in the heart. The term “exultation” is used when the joy becomes visible and spreads outward. So it fits with “his soul will exult,” right? It’s joy expressed more openly. And apparently “exultation and song”—the phrase comes from a verse where it is understood to mean very great joy, connected with “with all your might.” But why these particular words? Why “exultation and song,” specifically the idea of singing? Generally, when we find the idea of singing, it is often explained as joy that emerges from its opposite. When joy comes out of sorrow—light having a special quality when it emerges from darkness—that’s called singing. Right? That’s why it says, “[unclear].” When joy emerges from darkness, that is the idea of singing. But that doesn’t relate so directly to “with all your might.” It relates to the whole chapter, as the Alter Rebbe will soon explain: the joy of the oneness of Hashem is like light emerging from darkness. But I don’t know exactly how that connects with “with all your might.” In any case, that’s the idea here. What the Alter Rebbe wants to say is that when a Jew delves into the oneness of Hashem, his joy keeps growing and spreading. The Alter Rebbe continues: “And behold”—sorry—“in this faith.” What is the source of his joy? Faith. “For it is great.” Right? Feeling the vitality of faith in the oneness of Hashem brings joy. Why? “For it is great.” The faith through which a Jew can believe in, grasp, and understand the oneness of Hashem is something very lofty. What does “for it is great” mean? “Great” can mean abundant. Where do we find

06:34 the phrase “for it is great”? In one of his sichos, the Rebbe points to Megillas Esther: “And the king’s decree will be heard ... for it is great.” What does “for it is great” mean there? “Great” in the sense of importance, right? Greatness and importance. Great in number. The commentators there also explain that one meaning of “great” is greatness and importance. The same applies here. So what does “for it is great” mean? It means that a Jew’s ability to grasp and absorb the oneness of Hashem is something very great—“for it is great”—and therefore the joy it brings is very great. Perhaps we can also suggest why the Alter Rebbe uses this particular phrase. As is well known, the Alter Rebbe doesn’t just use verses in Tanya as literary flourishes. The Rebbe writes in one of his sichos that in Tanya, the Alter Rebbe doesn’t quote verses merely because they sound beautiful. Some books use verses to make a passage sound more elegant. But when the Alter Rebbe chooses a phrase, it’s because that phrase carries a particular meaning relevant here. So perhaps the reason he uses “for it is great” is that it also relates to the words we say in Modeh Ani: “Great is Your faithfulness.” The Alter Rebbe is speaking here about faith, saying that faith in the oneness of Hashem is “great.” How does this fit with the words of Modeh Ani, where we say something similar? Right? “I thank You, living and eternal King.” How does it go? There too: “Great is Your faithfulness.” Faith is described as great, and there too “great is Your faithfulness” conveys the importance and greatness of faith. So here as well, this faith through which a Jew grasps the idea of the oneness

08:24 For it is great. What is so great and significant about this? Because it is actual closeness to Hashem. What is the great joy here? What is so great about this being actual closeness to Hashem? The explanation of the oneness of Hashem enables a person to feel close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the most wonderful way one can be close to Him. What is the greatest joy a person can have? To be close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The greatest closeness a Jew can feel to Hakadosh Boruch Hu comes when he grasps the concept of the true oneness of Hashem. Then he feels actual closeness to Hashem in its fullest sense, in the strongest possible way. There is no greater closeness to Hashem than when a person grasps the oneness of Hashem, and so the joy is the greatest possible. The Alter Rebbe comes to this and says here, “In this faith, for it is great.” Now, when Rabbi Weinberg was presenting Tanya on the radio, he asked the Rebbe this question: Why does the Alter Rebbe use the words “in this faith”? Seemingly, the Alter Rebbe explains the matter intellectually. The Alter Rebbe himself says in chapter 33 that one must contemplate it with one’s mind and intellect. So why does he use the word “faith”? Seemingly, this is a matter of understanding and comprehension. The Rebbe gave three explanations for this—why the Alter Rebbe calls the oneness of Hashem “faith,” if it is something that can be understood intellectually. In one explanation, the Rebbe says that this is because of its foundation. It is true that Chassidus explains the oneness of Hashem intellectually, but its foundation is faith. What is the whole explanation the Alter Rebbe gave earlier based on? On “The world was created through ten utterances” and “By the word of Hashem the heavens were made.” It is a matter of faith that the world was created through the word of Hashem. Once I accept on faith that the world was created through the word of

10:36 Hashem, I begin to contemplate what the word of Hashem means. So, just as speech is always contained within the soul, the speech of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is also always united with Him, just as sunlight is nullified within the sun. Now, the analogy of the soul is an intellectual analogy. The analogy of the sun is an intellectual analogy. But the foundation of the whole discussion of the oneness of Hashem is faith: my belief in what the Torah says, that the world was created “through ten utterances,” “by the word of Hashem.” All the intellectual reasoning begins on that basis. Once I have the foundation of faith, I explain things intellectually. So the foundation is the verse. That is one explanation. A second explanation: Although the oneness of Hashem is something a Jew can understand intellectually, it is also ingrained in him through faith. A Jew has faith in the oneness of Hashem. True, it can also be explained intellectually. Nevertheless, my living with the oneness of Hashem is not only because of intellectual understanding. The oneness of Hashem itself is ingrained in me through faith. I can understand it too, but understanding it does not lessen my faith. Among the misnagdim, for example, there is an approach where, when speaking to bring a Jew closer to matters of faith, they speak to him entirely through intellectual arguments: “I’ll prove to you intellectually that there is a Hakadosh Boruch Hu, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world.” It is all intellectual. Supposedly, there is no need to believe; everything can be explained intellectually. And that

12:34 is not right. It is not the truth. A Jew inherently believes in all these things. He can understand them intellectually too, but that is the second stage. And even after he understands them intellectually, it does not mean that they are simply matters of intellectual understanding. Some people say, “If I understand something, I don’t need to believe in it.” Not true. Even something you understand, you need to believe in. First of all, that is the truth. That is how it is. A Jew believes in the oneness of Hashem, and this also matters in serving Hashem. If a person approaches the oneness of Hashem only intellectually, what happens? The intellect does not always work one hundred percent. It changes. Sometimes a person grasps and understands; sometimes he does not. And sometimes the intellect becomes coarse, and then he cannot grasp these ideas. Therefore, faith is also essential. In other words, it is not only that this is how things are; from the standpoint of avodah, too, a person must always have faith in the oneness of Hashem. The Alter Rebbe says this several times in Tanya. When we reach the discussion of the oneness of Hashem, the Alter Rebbe says several times that Jews are believers, the children of believers, and that they speak of the oneness of Hashem every day, even Jews who do not understand it, because of faith. Jews always believe in the oneness of Hashem. That is why Jews say every day, “You are the same before the world was created, and You are the same after the world was created.” What do they have in mind when they say it? That Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the same before creation and after creation. Ah, when they begin to discuss it intellectually, they cannot explain it. Nevertheless, through faith they grasp it simply. When a Jew says, “And all believe that He alone is,” he means, quite simply, that He alone is. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the only

14:15 reality. When a Jew says, “And the whole earth is filled with His glory,” he means it quite simply. In other words, a Jew has both aspects through faith. And because the oneness of Hashem is something a Jew inherently has through faith, the Alter Rebbe calls it faith. Then the Alter Rebbe adds a third explanation. I don’t remember it. I don’t remember it right now. I’ll look it up later. The Alter Rebbe continues and says: “And this is the whole purpose of man and the purpose of his creation and the creation…” There is a mistake here. The Rebbe notes it in the list of corrections. It should read, “the purpose of his creation and the creation of all the upper and lower worlds: to make a dwelling for Him in the lower realms,” as will be explained later. This is one of the verses the children learn in Tzivos Hashem. Bochurim are allowed to know the verses too, and to say them every day. At least, I do from time to time. The Twelve Pesukim—this is from the tenth one—are the faith the Rebbe instilled in our generation. The Twelve Pesukim. So what do we say among the Twelve Pesukim? We say this passage. What is the Alter Rebbe adding now? “And this is the whole purpose of man.” This faith within me, this oneness of Hashem—that is the purpose of man’s creation. In other words, the joy. Why should I be… What? Why does the oneness of Hashem bring joy? There are two things here. First, closeness to Hashem: the feeling that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is here with me. Beyond that, the Alter Rebbe says, this is what I was created for. It is the entire purpose of man’s creation. “And this is the whole purpose of man”—of man as a whole. It means this is man’s entire purpose. This is what a person lives for. The purpose of my creation. And not only man’s creation, but, he says, the purpose of all the upper and lower worlds. All the worlds, both upper and lower. What was everything created for? For

17:07 What is the purpose? For the sake of making a dwelling place in the lower realms. And what does that mean? It means a human being of flesh and blood. What is a “lower realm”? It is a human being of flesh and blood, with a physical body, a physical mind and a physical heart. When I understand the unity of Hashem with my physical mind, that is what it means to make a dwelling place in the lower realms. When I understand in my own head the true meaning of Hashem’s unity, that itself is a dwelling place in the lower realms. Because I take the unity of Hakadosh Boruch Hu and bring it into my mind, into the lower realm. That is a dwelling place in the lower realms. And since the whole purpose of creation is to make a dwelling place for Him in the lower realms, when a Jew sits and contemplates the unity of Hashem, that itself brings about that dwelling place. There are other aspects. Some say that Torah and mitzvos are also needed, along with refining and elevating all kinds of things, to make a dwelling place in the lower realms in the world as well. That is because we must also bring about a dwelling place in the world. But it begins with the person himself. A Jew, a human being, is here below. He sits in a body and contemplates the unity of Hashem. That itself already creates a dwelling place in the lower realms, because he brings the unity of Hashem into his mind. This is quite extraordinary. The Rebbe once explained that this is the meaning of the Alter Rebbe’s entire innovation in founding Chabad Chassidus. What did the Alter Rebbe bring about through Chabad Chassidus? He explained the idea of “there is nothing besides Him” in a way the intellect can grasp. Why is it so important that “there is nothing besides Him,” the unity of Hashem, be understood intellectually? The simple explanation is that it matters to me because my intellect must become a vessel for G-dliness. So I need to understand it intellectually. If I do not understand it intellectually, then my intellect is not a vessel

19:14 for it. That means I remain outside it. It means I have no part in the whole matter. So the Alter Rebbe wanted to, and did, explain and bring the unity of Hashem down into the intellect, so that the intellect, too, would become a vessel for it. Seemingly, this is about the person. But the Rebbe said something quite extraordinary here: No, understanding the unity of Hashem does not matter only for the person. It also matters from the perspective of G-dliness, of the truth of Hashem’s unity itself. If we say that the unity of Hashem is something one can only believe in, but cannot bring into the intellect—that the intellect cannot understand it, as many people think—then Hashem’s unity is only a matter of faith. It cannot be understood intellectually. In Chabad Chassidus, there is no such idea that the unity of Hashem is only a matter of faith. If that were so, it would not be the unity of Hashem. The problem would not just be with the person; it would be with Hashem’s unity. It would mean there is a place where Hakadosh Boruch Hu cannot be revealed. G-dliness does not reach my intellect. When can I connect to the unity of Hashem? Only when I set my intellect aside, when I step outside it. But within the intellect, there is no unity of Hashem. Would that mean “there is nothing besides Him”—except for my intellect? My intellect is not a vessel for—does not understand G-dliness. That would mean there is a place G-dliness does not reach. So, because this is about the unity of Hashem, it is important not only that the person become a vessel. It is also essential to Hashem’s unity that “there is nothing besides Him” permeate every part of existence,

20:51 including my own being and my own intellect. It is precisely there that the completeness of Hashem’s unity is expressed. In other words, that is what the Alter Rebbe is saying here: “And this is the whole purpose of man and the ultimate purpose of his creation.” The whole point is a dwelling place in the lower realms—a dwelling place that can be in a person’s intellect. “Now, how great is the joy of an ordinary, lowly person when a flesh-and-blood king draws close to him, stays with him and lives with him in his home!” Now, to make this joy even more vivid, the Alter Rebbe gives an analogy. Imagine how a person of flesh and blood would feel if a king drew close to him and lived with him in his home. “How infinitely more so when the King of kings, Hakadosh Boruch Hu, draws close and dwells with him, as it is written: ‘For who is this who has emboldened his heart to approach Me? says Hashem.’” They say that a person—how do you put it—... [unclear]. When a flesh-and-blood king stays in someone’s home, it brings tremendous joy. How much more so when we are speaking of Hakadosh Boruch Hu dwelling with us! He comes here to dwell within us, within a person’s soul. When a Jew sits and contemplates the unity of Hashem, that is the greatest joy. About this it says, “Who is this who has emboldened his heart to approach Me?” Who can draw close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu? A Jew can. A Jew sits and contemplates the unity of Hashem, and thereby draws close to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Hakadosh Boruch Hu comes to dwell with him in his room. But the wording itself also gives several details. First there is the king drawing close. Then he stays with the person: the king not only draws close, but becomes his guest. Yet a stay as a guest can be temporary. And beyond that, he “lives” there—a dwelling means something permanent. More than that, he lives “with him in his home.” It is not that I go to live in the king’s room,

22:49 which would also bring great joy, since I would be living with the king. But then my home would not become the king’s place. The greatest joy is when the king comes to live in my home. And that is what happens when a Jew contemplates the unity of Hashem. Through that contemplation, what happens? Hakadosh Boruch Hu not only draws close to him, but more than that: He does not merely come as a guest; He stays permanently. It is not just that I go to Him. He lives “with him in his home”—here, down below, dwelling within us. Well, today is 18 Teves; tonight is the Rambam’s yahrzeit. And the Rebbe made a great deal of studying Rambam, even in the first year. The Rebbe held a farbrengen. There was a farbrengen on 15 Kislev, ... when they began studying Rambam. The Rebbe then devoted a special lesson and explanation to the Rambam’s approach. We can see this very point there. As the Rebbe explains in his overview of the Rambam, from the beginning of the Rambam’s work to its end: the Rambam begins his book, “The foundation of foundations and the pillar of wisdom is to know that there is a Primary Existence, and all existing things, from heaven and earth and what is between them, came into existence only from the truth of His existence.” And the Rambam ends his book with the days of Moshiach, when “the occupation of the entire world will be solely to know Hashem,” as it says, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem as the waters cover the sea.” We see that the Rambam is speaking about the purpose of all creation: that the unity of Hashem be revealed in the world. Yes, in the Rambam’s deeper meaning, he had already introduced this idea. He revealed the point that the entire purpose of creation is to reveal G-dliness in the world. And the Rambam’s precise wording is not “to believe,” but “to know.” At the end, too, it is “to know Hashem alone,” as it says, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of Hashem.” Because

24:56 the whole purpose of a dwelling place in the lower realms is for G-dliness to permeate a person’s intellect and understanding. That is the point we are learning here as well.