Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 35 - Part 1

00:02 Speaker 1 Not only is this a new chapter; it also begins a new subject, a new topic. Tanya is divided into sections, with several chapters devoted to each subject. Here we can say that the Alter Rebbe begins a new topic, one that starts here and continues through the end of Likkutei Amarim. And if we want to divide it into smaller sections, we can say that chapters 35 through 40, inclusive—six chapters—discuss one topic. What is the point the Alter Rebbe is coming to explain? First, let’s review what the Alter Rebbe has discussed until now, so we can understand what he wants to address next. Everyone knows that the foundation of the entire Tanya is the verse the Alter Rebbe cites on the title page: “For the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” The question is: How is it “very near”? Torah and mitzvos in general are not very near. Especially “in your heart”—that it should involve the heart, with love and awe. That certainly isn’t so very near. The Alter Rebbe asks this question in chapter 17. He begins with the verse on the title page, but where does he ask the question in the body of the book? In chapter 17. The Alter Rebbe explained that there are different levels in serving Hashem: there is the service of tzaddikim and the service of a beinoni. A tzaddik is someone who has succeeded in changing and transforming his entire being, including his animal soul, so that his entire being, his entire animal soul, has become holy. In other words, not only does he observe Torah and mitzvos in practice, but his feelings, his character traits, and his mind are also entirely for the sake of Heaven. He has no other existence. In general, then, there are two aspects to serving Hashem: the practical part, and the part

02:36 Speaker 1 that belongs more to inner service, to one’s character traits. That is the difference between a tzaddik and a beinoni. When it comes to action, the beinoni is also complete. He commits no transgression; if he commits even one, he is no longer a beinoni. So when it comes to actual conduct, to what are called the “garments”—I was just talking about action—the beinoni serves Hashem completely. But when we come to his inner connection, that is where the difference between a tzaddik and a beinoni lies. The tzaddik’s inner connection is also complete. His inner faculties, too, have already been transformed into holiness. There are different levels within this, but in general that is what a tzaddik is. By contrast, when we come to the beinoni’s inner connection, he is still engaged in a struggle. That is what the Alter Rebbe explained in the opening chapters. But this does not mean that the beinoni has no element of inner service. The verse does, after all, say “in your heart” about him as well. “In your heart” means that he, too, has feelings of love and awe. But the beinoni’s love and awe are not complete love and awe. They are love and awe that lead to action. The Alter Rebbe explained that this is the meaning of “For the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” We are not talking about “in your heart” as love and awe openly felt in the heart in their full perfection. We are talking about love and awe that lead to action—love and awe that bring a person to observe Torah and mitzvos. And this love and awe are present in the beinoni too. How? The Alter Rebbe explained that in two ways. One way is through contemplation. Since his mind is under his control, the beinoni can contemplate the greatness of Hashem. Even if this does not produce love and awe openly felt in his heart, through contemplation he can attain love and awe hidden in the recesses of his heart. In other words, love and awe sufficient to bring about actual observance. That is one explanation. The

04:37 Speaker 1 second explanation is that there is also a natural love and awe within a Jew. Every Jew has a soul, and through that soul he has an inheritance from our forefathers: a natural love of Hashem that we inherited from them. This love simply needs to be awakened. By awakening it, he can observe Torah and mitzvos with love and awe—the love and awe that exist naturally within every Jew. After the Alter Rebbe explained all this, that this is the meaning of “For the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it,” he went on to give a full explanation of the subject of joy. To overcome the yetzer hara, one must serve Hashem specifically with joy. Because without joy, even if a person has all these strengths, how will he overcome the yetzer hara? To defeat it, he needs joy, and joy brings energy and eagerness. That is how one can overcome one’s inclinations. The Alter Rebbe gave all sorts of advice on how a person can attain joy, various ways of contemplating that can bring him joy in serving Hashem. Then he can overcome all the concealments and obstacles a beinoni faces, especially when he encounters various challenges—material matters, spiritual matters, intrusive thoughts, harmful speech. Through joy, one can overcome all these things. There are also times when a person experiences a dullness of the heart. For that, he needs a sense of bitterness. Sometimes bitterness is needed to break the dullness of the heart that comes from the coarseness of kelipah. That was the main point of Tanya through chapter 34, inclusive. So we can say that, as far as actual practice is concerned, as it were—

06:18 Speaker 1 as far as practical service is concerned—the Alter Rebbe has already explained it: what matters in the actual service of a beinoni, and how the beinoni fulfills “For the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” The Alter Rebbe has already explained all these things thoroughly. Seemingly, he has already explained the beinoni’s role, what he must do, and how he must do it. He has given all kinds of advice on how to accomplish this in practice. The Alter Rebbe has already explained all these matters. Now, as we move on, a question arises about the whole subject. Let’s say this takes us a little deeper. A general question arises about the whole matter. Fine, I understand what a tzaddik is, what a beinoni is, and the difference between their service. And I understand how to fulfill “For the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” After all the advice the Alter Rebbe has explained, one can understand what is demanded of a beinoni and how he can carry out his service of Hashem—how he can fulfill what is demanded of him in a way that is “very near to you.” But the question is: What for? What is the purpose of living in this world when you know you will never reach perfection? What for? In other words, you are telling a person outright: You were created to live in this world as a beinoni, and your task is to live here knowing that you will not, will not, will not finish with your yetzer hara. You will never attain complete love and awe. That means you will never be entirely rid of those desires. You will always have desires; you will always have a saboteur within. So what will you do? In practice, you will conduct yourself properly in thought, speech, and action. So the question is:

08:10 Speaker 1 What is the point? What is so special about dry, practical action that we can say it is the purpose of life? And what is it meant to achieve? There are really two questions. First, what is so special about action that we can say the whole purpose of life is to act? And the main question is: How can you tell a person, from the outset, that he is living in a world where he will never finish off the terrorist? You send him to war. Imagine telling a soldier: You’re going to war, and we’re telling you in advance that you won’t win. How eager will he be to fight? Here we tell a person: You aren’t going to win. What should you do? Act—just act. But what will happen inside you? There will be only the minimum needed. As far as practical action is concerned, you’ll do what you must. But desires will remain desires. The terrorist will remain a terrorist. The terrorists, all of them—what about them? Only the practical action matters. How can we say that this is the purpose of life? So this is the point the Alter Rebbe now comes to explain in the following chapters—chapters 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40. These chapters are, in fact, very fundamental to Chassidus as a whole. They give us an understanding of several fundamental questions and concepts in Judaism. Without studying these chapters of Tanya, you can get completely confused. It doesn’t make sense. For example, there is a very simple question that, seemingly, you can’t answer without studying these chapters. When you study Chassidus, you see something remarkable. Are you listening, Kaplushnik[?]? Huh? Did you hear me call you Kaplushnik[?]? Huh? You’re allowed to listen to Tanya classes. They aren’t just for resting. You can listen too; you won’t lose anything. In Chassidus, we find something interesting. On the one hand, when you look at the maamarim, you see that Chassidus constantly calls for inner work. Chabad Chassidus constantly calls for

10:38 Speaker 1 inner work. All the maamarim discuss what a person needs to contemplate. What should he contemplate? Chassidus demands that serving Hashem be done with feeling, with understanding and comprehension, with contemplation. It must not be “a commandment performed by rote,” something a person does out of routine. A person needs to feel alive when he fulfills a mitzvah, when he davens, when he puts on tefillin, when he does something. There should be an inner feeling of love, awe, and joy in everything. Then he understands the intent of the mitzvah. Entire maamarim explain this, discussing all sorts of intentions and explanations, and you come to understand what lies within these different things. So Chassidus explicitly demands inner work. In other words, it places emphasis on intention and feeling. Yet at the same time, you constantly see in Chassidus—in the Rebbe’s sichos, over and over, in every sicha—that “the deed is the main thing.” What does it mean that it’s the main thing? What about mivtzoim? You go to a Jew and tell him, “You need to put on tefillin.” And he says he doesn’t feel any life in it; he doesn’t understand it or feel anything about it. What do you tell him? “The act of fulfilling the mitzvah is the main thing. Later I’ll explain all its meanings to you. First put on tefillin. Then we’ll talk; then we can debate.” That is the whole approach of Chabad Chassidus. It’s that way with mivtzoim, and it’s that way in a person’s own service of Hashem. What are we told all the time? There has to be kabbolas ol. There has to be a surrender of one’s very self. There has to be total devotion. Just do it... You can’t get out of it. We’re holding both ends of the rope here. And the question is really not only a question about Chassidus; it’s a question about Yiddishkeit in general. On the one hand, throughout Yiddishkeit, throughout the Torah, we see the idea that “we will do” must come before “we will understand,” that there must be, uh, acceptance of...

12:25 Speaker 1 My sovereignty; that there must be action, and that a chok is a decree. We constantly see an emphasis on action, even without being told why. On the other hand, we constantly see that a person needs to be wise, [unclear]. It’s clear that he does need to understand and to feel. But where is this apparent contradiction most striking? In Chassidus. The same Chassidus that demands love and awe, inner feeling and intention, also says all the time, “The deed is the main thing.” So the Alter Rebbe will explain these matters in the coming chapters. He will explain, in a very fundamental and profound way, the entire question of the purpose of creation and the intent behind creation. Through this, we’ll gain a deep understanding of the whole purpose for which we live. Then we’ll be able to understand both sides of the coin: on the one hand, why the deed is the main thing, and, at the same time, why intention, feeling, and spontaneity are especially necessary. That is what the coming chapters will address. But now, after that long introduction, let’s begin chapter 35 inside the text. The Alter Rebbe says: “And now, to further explain the word ‘to do it.’” We’ll gain a fuller understanding of the word “to do it.” As the Rebbe points out, this line continues chapter 17. That is, the Alter Rebbe began the discussion in chapter 17. How does the Alter Rebbe begin chapter 17? He begins with the verse: “And with this, we can understand what is written: ‘For this matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.’” That’s how the Alter Rebbe begins chapter 17. There, the Alter Rebbe asked how it could be “in your heart.” That seems to contradict what we can plainly observe. How can we say, “It is near to you, in your heart”? We can see that it isn’t near; it is hard to transform the desires of the heart into service of Hashem. Only tzaddikim can do that.

14:29 Speaker 1 So how did the Alter Rebbe begin his argument in chapter 17? He said: “Rather, ‘to do it’ means the love that leads to the performance of the mitzvos.” The Alter Rebbe answered that “it is near to you” does not simply mean “in your heart”; it means “in your heart, to do it.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu does not demand that we transform our hearts completely, one hundred percent. That is not what Hakadosh Boruch Hu is saying. Hakadosh Boruch Hu asks that the “in your heart” serve the “to do it”: that a person have enough feeling in his heart to bring him to practical action. In other words, the main emphasis is on doing, on bringing it into practice. But the action should not be dry; it should also be accompanied by feeling. So what follows from this? There in chapter 17, the Alter Rebbe primarily wanted to explain the meaning of “in your heart, to do it.” What does “in your heart” mean? What kind of love and awe is it that leads to action? The Alter Rebbe explained that at length in those chapters. Now the Alter Rebbe says, “To further explain the word ‘to do it.’” What do we understand from this? From what we explained there, it follows that the main thing for a beinoni is not “in your heart,” but “to do it.” That is why, even when it comes to serving Hashem “in your heart,” with feeling, the feeling itself is not what matters; what matters is that it leads to action. So we understand from this that the main part of the service is the action. And about that, the Alter Rebbe says, “To further explain the word ‘to do it.’” We need to understand more deeply what “to do it” means. In other words, what does it mean that the main thing for a beinoni is action? Put simply, what does it mean to say that doing is the main thing? Why is doing the main thing? That is one question. And we also need to understand something else, which brings us back to the verse.

16:33 Speaker 1 Now a more general question, which will help us understand the beinoni: “And also to understand, at least a little, the purpose of the creation of beinonim and the descent of their souls.” What does that mean? It is a broader question: What is the purpose of creating a beinoni? Why was the beinoni created? And why did their souls descend? Why did the beinoni’s soul come down to this world and become clothed in the animal soul, which comes from kelipah and the sitra achra? The beinoni has an animal soul and a G-dly soul. His soul descends and becomes clothed in the animal soul of kelipah. So what is the purpose of this creation? “Since they cannot drive it out all their days”—because we say that the beinoni is someone who will be at war his entire life. In other words, he will never rid himself of the animal soul completely. He will never finish the job of driving the animal soul entirely out of “the left chamber of the heart, so that thoughts from it should not rise to the mind.” In other words, we are saying explicitly that the beinoni is in a state where the animal soul remains strong. It sends him bad thoughts. The Alter Rebbe explained this in chapter 12. The Alter Rebbe explained what happens with the beinoni, and we will come to the beinoni’s actions: he commits no transgressions at all. We will come to his speech as well. The beinoni certainly commits no transgressions, neither in speech nor in action. And then we come to thought. But what happens with the beinoni’s thoughts? The Alter Rebbe said in chapter 12 that there are two kinds of thoughts. There are thoughts that arise on their own from the heart and enter the mind, and there are thoughts that arise intentionally. In other words, the mind has two functions, two roles. One of the mind’s roles is thought—to think. A person wants to contemplate something, so he sits and contemplates it. But there is another aspect of the mind. As it says in the sichos of [unclear], the expression is:

18:39 Speaker 1 Thought is the mirror of the heart. Have you heard that before? I think the expression that thought is the mirror of the heart goes back to the early sages. In other words, if you want to know what is happening in the heart, thought is like its reflection, its mirror. What is happening in my heart is reflected in thought. Which thought? The thought that comes without intention. So there are two kinds of thoughts. There is a thought a person directs: “I want to think about a certain subject now.” He sits and thinks. But there are also thoughts that come without intention. Those are the thoughts the Alter Rebbe is speaking about here. In Lashon Hakodesh, they are called hirhurim—passing thoughts. He does not intend to think them; they simply arise. That happens to the beinoni. As for intentional thought—chas veshalom, the beinoni’s garments of thought, speech and action are all entirely as they should be. But that is when he chooses to think. The beinoni does not choose to think about forbidden things. Still, thoughts that rise on their own from the heart to the mind can occur even in a beinoni: suddenly a desire arises, suddenly a thought occurs to him, whether about something permitted or forbidden. It just comes to him. So what does he do? Because he is a beinoni, he immediately dismisses it. He turns his attention away and rejects it. But that initial thought, the passing thought, occurs even to a beinoni. And this is what the Alter Rebbe asks: What is the purpose of creating the beinoni, whose soul descends to become clothed in the animal soul, “since they cannot drive it out all their days,” for thoughts from it will rise to the mind? The animal soul retains so much strength in the beinoni that it can send bad thoughts even into his mind. Why is that? Because the essence

20:35 Speaker 1 and core of the animal soul, which comes from kelipah, remains as strong and powerful in them as it was from birth. The animal soul itself remains in full force, with all its strength—not just strong, but with all the power it had to begin with. “Only its garments do not become clothed in their bodies, as explained above.” The only change is in its garments. He does not let the garments of the animal soul express themselves through his body. But the animal soul itself, its essence and core, remains in him at full strength. If so, why did their souls descend? Why? That raises the question: Why did the beinoni’s soul come down into this world? “To toil in vain, chas veshalom?” I work and work and work, without any goal—toil in vain. As the Rebbe said, “to toil in vain.” Is everything I do for nothing, producing no lasting result? “To fight the yetzer all their days and never overcome it.” My whole life I fight and fight, and the battle never ends. This is a very strong question, one the beinoni asks himself. There is a wonderful discussion by the Rebbe [unclear] that helps us understand the Alter Rebbe’s question. At first glance, we do not understand what the Alter Rebbe is asking at all. There seems to be a simple answer. Anyone who studies Tanya knows it, and we could have given it before raising the question. But the forceful question is needed to explain the matter. First of all, what is the Alter Rebbe’s question? You ask why you were born into the world? What are you living for? You live in order to become a tzaddik. You are in this world to become a tzaddik. We said at the beginning of Tanya that before a soul descends into the world,

22:49 Speaker 1 it is made to swear: “Be a tzaddik.” It does not say that only special souls are made to swear, “Be a tzaddik.” Every soul, before it descends into the world, is made to swear: “Be a tzaddik and do not be a rasha.” So what are you asking? Why did the soul descend? What, in practical terms, is he asking? Why did these souls descend—“to toil in vain”? What do you mean? You were born into this world to become a tzaddik. That is why you were born. You have to work at it, try, exert yourself. That is the goal of life. So what is the question? But that is not an answer. Why? Because the Alter Rebbe himself already said in chapter 27 that there are two kinds of souls. The Alter Rebbe cited what Iyov said: “You created tzaddikim; You created resha’im,” showing that Hakadosh Boruch Hu creates two kinds of beings, two kinds of souls, from the outset. He creates souls whose task in this world is to become tzaddikim—to transform evil completely into pleasant, sweet delicacies, as the Alter Rebbe explained there. And there are others who descend into the world to practice iskafya, even though they will not reach the perfection of a tzaddik. Hakadosh Boruch Hu derives pleasure from both—two kinds of pleasure: from pleasant, sweet delicacies and from sharp or sour foods. In other words, there are two kinds of souls. There are people who were created from the outset to be beinonim. This is the significance of the Alter Rebbe’s precise wording here, when he begins: “To understand, at least a little, the purpose of the creation of beinonim.” The question concerns the creation of beinonim. In other words, why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu create, from the outset, a person who would be a beinoni? It is not that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave everyone the potential to be a tzaddik, but some stayed halfway while others continued on. No—we are saying that from the outset, Hakadosh

24:46 Speaker 1 Hakadosh Boruch Hu created souls like these, who would be resha’im. The Alter Rebbe explained earlier that by “rasha” he means a beinoni: their evil inclination has power over them as it does over resha’im, so they have desires, right? So that is the question: Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu create them? Ah, people say, “An oath is administered to him: Be a tzaddik.” But the Alter Rebbe already explained that principle: a person has to try, even though he may have come down into this world and his whole purpose is to be a beinoni. Even though he is made to swear, “Be a tzaddik,” he still has to try, at least. He might get there, he might not; he has to do his part. But as far as creation is concerned, there is such a creation called a beinoni. Hakadosh Boruch Hu created a group of people—and that is actually most people. Most of the Jewish people were created from the outset with the purpose of being beinonim. That is what we are saying. So the question is: What kind of purpose is that? Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu create something from the outset that will not reach perfection? That is the first question. But then there is an even stronger problem: seemingly, the Alter Rebbe has already answered the question he asks here. In chapter 27, the Alter Rebbe himself says explicitly that Hakadosh Boruch Hu derives pleasure when a Jew practices iskafya. The Alter Rebbe already answered this in chapter 27. He says there that a beinoni should be happy to be a beinoni. Why should he be happy? And if he is not, he is arrogant. Why? He has an alien thought. So the beinoni is upset that he has an alien thought, and the Alter Rebbe says that this sadness is arrogance. He should be happy. Why should he be happy? Because every time a person practices iskafya and holds himself back from thinking that thought, pushing his evil inclination out of his mind, each time that is “when the sitra achra is subdued, the sitra achra is subdued

26:30 Speaker 1 Above.” The glory of Hakadosh Boruch Hu rises through all the worlds and the entire order of creation, more than through anything else. And Hakadosh Boruch Hu has no greater pleasure than the pleasure of iskafya. So if that is the case, the Alter Rebbe has already answered the question. You ask why I came into the world? I came into the world for this: to practice iskafya. And that gives Hakadosh Boruch Hu tremendous pleasure. Therefore, “let his heart not fall, and let him not feel bad.” The Alter Rebbe has already answered the question. So why does the question come up again here? Here the Rebbe offers a wonderful discussion. The Rebbe says that the Alter Rebbe’s question is not about the very existence of the beinoni. Rather, the Alter Rebbe’s question concerns the fact that the beinoni’s soul is enclothed in the animal soul. It is about the way he was created. Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu make the beinoni such that the G-dly soul has to be enclothed in the animal soul? According to what we explained earlier, the whole purpose of the beinoni’s life is iskafya. What is iskafya? Iskafya means “when the sitra achra is subdued.” There are two angels. There is a battle. The animal soul wants to indulge a desire; the G-dly soul wants mitzvos. They fight each other. And what is the goal? The goal is not to be enclothed in the animal soul—just the opposite. The goal is to break the animal soul. So what does it mean to be enclothed in it? In other words, if the intention were only iskafya—that is the entire purpose, the great pleasure Hakadosh Boruch Hu derives whenever I hold myself back—then the beinoni should have been created with a G-dly soul on one side, having no connection at all to the world of the animal soul. The G-dly soul should stand firm in its own concerns and not be affected by the animal soul. That is how it should be. In other words, the goal is not to work with the animal soul, to refine the animal soul,

28:39 Speaker 1 to bring about its sifting, refinement and correction. That is not the goal. What do you need from the animal soul? To be enclothed in it? No, the opposite. The G-dly soul should be strong in its own world, firmly enclosed in its own world, connected to G-dliness, connected to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and not let the animal soul take control. Two separate domains, each in its own world. But what are we told instead? That the G-dly soul descended to be enclothed in the animal soul. In other words, not only did Hakadosh Boruch Hu create a person with two souls, He created the two souls in a way that they interact, that there is a connection between them. They work together. The G-dly soul is inside the animal soul, enclothed in it, and... each one wants to take the other along with it, to work with it, act upon it, refine it. In other words, it is enclothed in the animal soul. So that is the question: What is the purpose of this? If you said that, in the end, I would transform the animal soul into holiness, then I would understand why there is enclothement. But if you say that you will not be able to transform the animal soul—that is what a tzaddik does, but a beinoni will not reach that point, will simply not manage to transform the animal soul into holiness—then what is left? Hakadosh Boruch Hu derives pleasure from iskafya. But for that, there was no need for enclothement. What should there have been, huh?

30:02 Speaker 2 Iskafya is the enclothement of the animal soul.

30:06 Speaker 1 What does iskafya have to do with enclothement? Iskafya has nothing to do with enclothement. Iskafya means that I am not affected by you. He is there in full force, and I am there in full force, and I am not affected by him. Enclothement means that you act upon something. You act upon the animal soul; you engage it, you work with it. Here you are not working with it; you are working against it. Iskafya does not mean working with the animal soul. It means working against the animal soul. In any case, that is the whole point here. So this is what chassidim say about the general question the Alter Rebbe asks here: really, it is a question a person needs to live with his entire life. Even though the Alter Rebbe will now answer it and explain, the question really has to... it has to touch him. He has to feel the question personally. Our problem is that we already know there is a question and an answer. So everyone sleeps soundly; no one is bothered by anything. We already know the Alter Rebbe will answer the question. But look at how the Alter Rebbe phrases the question: he writes it in a way that genuinely hurts. The beinoni comes with a grievance; he is hurting. We are talking about a beinoni who has already gone through thirty-four chapters of Tanya. He has not only learned them; he is trying to put the Tanya into practice. All the things the Alter Rebbe has said until now about the beinoni—about love and awe, about joy and bitterness—he has done them, he is doing all of them. And after everything he has done through all thirty-four chapters of Tanya, he sees what he will always remain. So he comes with a grievance: Why? Why me? What is the purpose?

32:21 Speaker 1 The purpose of life? Some people think—and this is the mistake—some people, without learning Chassidus, without learning Tanya, think that the purpose of life is to reach a state of peace. The purpose of life is finally to reach a state of peaceful, restful living. The battle is over. They dream of that all their lives. Sometimes you see books by people who write without Chassidus—they write mussar, they write [unclear]—describing what the ideal is. What should a person aspire to? What should a ben Torah aspire to, a Torah scholar, a yeshivah student? His aspiration is to reach a state of personal perfection, to feel at peace within himself, with inner tranquility in his soul. And all their lives they wait for that feeling, for inner tranquility to arrive. Yes. And that is the mistake. What the Alter Rebbe explains here in Tanya is the opposite. A person is told explicitly: You live your life in this world for 120 years, and you will never have inner tranquility. Your whole life you will have to stand in battle and stay on your guard. The evil inclination will throw things at you until the very last moment, and you will have to fight it. I remember once hearing Reb Mendel Futerfas tell a story. There was a chossid who, before he passed away—he was already a chossid, and Hashem was calling him, and so on and so forth. He was already dying, close to passing away; it was late. So he said: “Moshe, Moshe, soon they will come and take you, and you will die, and they will hold your funeral. Then everyone will say, ‘That Reb Mishe, Reb Mishe.’ Do you know who Reb Mishe really was?” Yes. And then, I want to tell you, he said words that are not said in public. Yes. He said such words—words

34:42 Speaker 1 that people sometimes say after a lot of mashke. Yes. And with that he passed away. The chassidim said that this was a chossid who fought his evil inclination until the very last moment. [unclear]