Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 37 - Part 5

00:00 So he explained that through “our deeds and our work”—the mitzvos a Jew fulfills here during the time of exile—a person makes a dwelling for Hashem in the lower realms. He makes this physical world a dwelling, a dwelling for Hashem. The Alter Rebbe discussed three aspects of this. He spoke about the object of the mitzvah. Let me briefly repeat the point: the object of the mitzvah—the esrog, the parchment, or the money—belongs to kelipas nogah. Through the fulfillment of the mitzvah, it becomes an object of a mitzvah, an object of holiness, connected with Hashem, with the Supernal Will, with His Essence. So that is one act of refinement: taking something that belongs to kelipah and connecting it with holiness. The second point concerned the person himself. He invests the energy of his animal soul, which also belongs to kelipah, in holiness. And this happens not only with mitzvos involving physical action, but even with mitzvos involving speech: Torah study, prayer, and the recitation of Shema. In these mitzvos too, the main thing is the speech, the act of speaking, because speaking—particularly speaking aloud, with one’s mouth—draws on the energies of the vital soul within him. So here again, something belonging to kelipah is refined and made into a dwelling for G-dliness. And the third point, which the Alter Rebbe has now begun explaining in this new passage, is that this is not limited to the direct act of the mitzvah a person performs. All the other things are elevated too, even things that are not part of the mitzvah. Why? Because the energy the animal soul has to perform the mitzvah—to speak words of Torah and prayer, or to shake the lulav or put on tefillin—

02:11 The physical energy a person has to perform the mitzvah comes through the body. The body receives its strength from the blood, and the blood is produced from food and drink. These are all physical things a person benefits from. So it follows that not only the act he performs is elevated, but the food and drink, and all the other things he uses in his life, are also elevated when he fulfills the mitzvah. And so is the vital soul’s life-force as a whole. That is what we have discussed so far, and now we will continue inside the text. The Alter Rebbe goes on to say: “And through this, kelipas nogah as a whole will also be elevated, for it is the life-force of this entire physical, material world.” Now the Alter Rebbe begins discussing something else. There is another point here. We have already spoken about all those things, but seemingly there are also things a person never uses. A person eats and drinks, so now we understand that other things are elevated to holiness as well. But there are so many other things in the world that a person never comes into contact with. And, as is well known from what is written in Chassidus—there is a basis for this in the Rambam as well; they cite the Rambam’s introduction to his Commentary on the Mishnah—some want to say that this is also the meaning here in Tanya. Although it is difficult to fit that into the wording of Tanya; it does not quite fit. Still, some want to say that this is what Tanya means when the Alter Rebbe says, “And through this, kelipas nogah as a whole will also be elevated.” What do they say? They say: How much can one person already use? There are so many physical things that are not included in a mitzvah. True, a person eats and drinks, but that is not

04:09 all the food. Not all the food in the world goes to Jews, and not all the drink goes to Jews. And not everything I eat and drink goes toward fulfilling a mitzvah. Even for a Jew, many things a person uses go to waste. So how do we explain this? There is the general point brought in the name of the Rambam. The Rambam says that the whole world was created for the sake of a single wise person. There is a well-known passage in the Rambam’s introduction to his Commentary on the Mishnah—the Rebbe cited it several times too—where the Rambam writes that the whole world was created for the sake of a single wise person. In other words, there is a person who is the purpose of creation: a wise person who sits and studies Torah and “envisions in his mind the oneness of Hashem.” I think that is roughly the Rambam’s wording. A person who sits and studies Torah, particularly the inner dimension of Torah, and contemplates the greatness of Hashem—he is the purpose of the world. And the whole world was created to help that Jew. How, asks the Rambam? How was the whole world created for that Jew? The Rambam explains with an example: there are non-Jews in the world who catch animals, and others who make clothing from them. Still others make various other things—utensils, houses, building materials, all sorts of things in the world. Ultimately, all of this is done so that this person, the one wise man, will have clothing to wear. Hashem runs an entire world, with a whole factory and all kinds of other factories, so that a garment will be produced for that wise man to use in serving Hashem. And the same, he says, applies to everything. That is, the entire existence of all these things—not only that one particular garment, but even

05:58 the entire factory, or the entire process of making clothes—exists so that a garment will be produced for this person who fulfills the 613 mitzvos. According to this, that is the meaning here. It is not only the particular food I eat, the particular drink, or the particular garment. All the other things in the world are included too, because ultimately their inner purpose is to provide that garment and that food for a Jew who fulfills the 613 mitzvos. So they too are elevated when the particular food and drink are elevated through the fulfillment of the mitzvah. Yes? Actually, the Alter Rebbe said something similar earlier in Tanya, in chapter 31. The Alter Rebbe says that when a person performs a mitzvah—he says that through the offerings, all the animal life in the world would be elevated, and through the festive meals, all the vegetation in the world would be elevated. And similarly with regard to animals. In other words, when an act is done with one particular thing in the world, its whole surrounding context, the whole reality connected with it, is elevated as well. So the same applies here. I don’t know if that is in [unclear]. It might be somewhere else; I’m not sure. I don’t want to say things that aren’t clearly written. I don’t know, but the general idea is that it is not only this particular food and this particular drink. The whole preparation of the [unclear]—even parts that are not used directly—are elevated through this act too. There was also a maamar in which the Rebbe spoke about this point. It is very interesting. The Rebbe explained: What is the purpose of there being so many, so many non-Jews in the world? After all, the question arises: Why did Hakadosh

07:55 Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu create so many—billions of non-Jews in the world? What is their purpose? After all, the whole world was created for the Torah and for the Jewish people, right? So what is the point of having so many non-Jews in the world? Why do we need so many of them? The Rebbe gave one explanation that is very interesting. The Rebbe once explained it this way: Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted a Jew to be able to sit and learn Torah. A Jew is sitting, the Rebbe says, in some shtiebel, some shul, some beis midrash. He sits and learns; he’s a batlan. He knows nothing about the world. He sits and learns, and he has nothing in his world besides Torah study. But he knows there are lots of people out there in the world, and that keeps him from feeling alone. There is a feeling a person has: when someone is in a place with nobody around, an empty, desolate place, it’s an unpleasant feeling. If a person sometimes finds himself somewhere with nobody there, somewhere deserted, it doesn’t feel good. He feels alone; he feels desolate. “Alent” in Yiddish. I don’t know how to say it in our language. Solo. It feels a little—not, not, not, not pleasant for him. But the very fact that he knows—even though he has no connection with those people—that the street isn’t deserted, that there are people, that there’s a world out there, helps his state of mind. So he can learn with greater peace of mind. The Rebbe said that billions of non-Jews were created for this: so that our world wouldn’t be a deserted world, so that there would be a big world full of people. And that helps this batlan sitting in shul to learn. So

09:39 that is their elevation: they were created for all of this. Now, there is also a story people tell that I haven’t managed to verify. There is a great deal of disagreement about whether it’s true, but I’m telling it because people tell it. There is disagreement about whether it actually happened, but it’s a story about the Rebbe, and it’s a nice story—and it certainly could have happened. As the story goes, someone once asked the Rebbe this question: Why did Hakadosh Boruch Hu create so many non-Jews in China? Yes, why are there so many non-Jews in China? How many are there—billions? So they say the Rebbe gave him three answers. One answer was so that there could be free choice. There are many non-Jews so that free choice can exist. The second answer was so that they could help Jews, assist the Jewish people. The third answer: the Rebbe told him, “When you go outside, check your garment.” In short, it said “Made in China.” It said on the garment that it was made in—right? So that’s the story. People tell it and even name the person, but there is disagreement about it. In practical terms, the point is what the Rebbe explains to us here: this world too, the world as a whole—not just something you use specifically, but the entire physical, material reality of the world—is elevated to holiness. That’s what the Rebbe is saying. Now the Alter Rebbe continues: “And when every soul and Divine soul among the Jewish people…” The Alter Rebbe now explains that making a dwelling in the lower realms must come specifically through everyone’s actions joining together. In other words, each person does his part, and all the actions of the entire Jewish people join together. So he says this: every soul, every Divine soul among the Jewish people, is divided into six hundred thousand. There are, after all, six hundred thousand among the Jewish people. So when all six hundred thousand Jews… Now, the Alter Rebbe will soon explain that the world, too, is divided into six hundred thousand. There is an inner connection to the number six hundred thousand, both in the structure of the world and within the Jewish people. So when all six hundred thousand fulfill—all their individual souls fulfill—all 613 mitzvos of the Torah, through this they bring about the elevation, the dwelling in the lower realms, of the entire world. The Alter Rebbe now explains this in detail. What is the purpose of the Torah’s 613 mitzvos? He says: “The 365 prohibitions are to separate the 365 veins carrying the blood of the vital soul in the body.” The Torah’s 613 mitzvos have two groups: prohibitions and positive commandments. The Alter Rebbe now explains the purpose of each. To bring about a dwelling in the lower realms, both are needed: the work of the prohibitions and the work of the positive commandments. The Alter Rebbe explains what each accomplishes. He says: what is the purpose of the 365 prohibitions? “To separate the 365 veins carrying the blood of the vital soul in the body,” so that the blood of a Jew’s vital soul will not draw nurture and life-force through that transgression from the three completely impure kelipos. If a person commits a transgression, the blood of his vital soul enters the three impure kelipos. And we don’t want that, because once it enters the three impure kelipos, as we’ll say now, there cannot be a dwelling in the lower realms. So that is what the 365 prohibitions are for: to guard

11:40 All together. In other words, each person does his part, and all the actions of the Jewish people combine. So he says this: The G-dly soul of the Jewish people is divided into 600,000. After all, there are 600,000 souls among the Jewish people. So when all 600,000 fulfill their part—each individual soul fulfilling all 613 mitzvos of the Torah—they bring about the elevation, the making of a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower realms, throughout the entire world. The Alter Rebbe will soon explain that the world, too, is divided into 600,000. There is an inner connection to the number 600,000, both in the structure of the world and within the Jewish people. Now the Alter Rebbe explains this in detail. What is the role of the 613 mitzvos of the Torah? He says: The 365 prohibitions serve to separate the 365 sinews from the blood of the vital soul in the body. The 613 mitzvos of the Torah comprise two groups: the prohibitions and the positive mitzvos. The Alter Rebbe now explains the purpose of each. To make a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower realms, both are needed: the work of observing the prohibitions and the work of fulfilling the positive mitzvos. The Alter Rebbe explains what each accomplishes. He says: What is the purpose of the 365 prohibitions? To separate the 365 sinews from the blood of the vital soul in the body, so that the blood of a Jew’s vital soul will not draw sustenance and receive vitality, through a transgression, from the three completely impure kelipos. If a person commits a transgression, the blood of his vital soul enters the three impure kelipos. And that is what we do not want, because once it enters the three impure kelipos, as we are about to explain, there cannot be a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower realms. That is why we have the 365 prohibitions: to safeguard...

13:32 the vital soul so that it doesn’t go somewhere it shouldn’t, so that it doesn’t enter the realm of the kelipos. And the prohibitions enacted by the Sages as well. Again, if a person falls, if he takes his life-force and brings it into the three impure kelipos, what happens? He says: “And then the vital soul will no longer be able to ascend to Hashem.” The animal soul will not be able to ascend to Hakadosh Boruch Hu if it has been defiled by the impurity of the three impure kelipos, which can never be elevated. Since he committed a transgression, and a transgression belongs to the three impure kelipos, it cannot be elevated. So for a person to be able to ascend to holiness, the first thing he must do is take care not to fall into the three impure kelipos, because then he will not be able to ascend. They can only be nullified and removed completely. The three impure kelipos cannot be elevated; the only way is to nullify and remove them entirely, as it is written, “And the spirit of impurity…” and so on. So that brings us to the 365 prohibitions. What is their purpose? To protect the Jew, so that his blood, his life-force, will not go to places of impurity. Because if it goes to places of impurity, it cannot ascend to holiness. He will not be able to make a dwelling in the lower realms. Therefore, by observing the 365 prohibitions of the Torah and of the Sages, he safeguards his ability to ascend to holiness, so that nothing stands in the way. Then the second part is needed. The Alter Rebbe continues: “And the 248 positive commandments are to draw down the light of the blessed Ein Sof below, to elevate to Him, bind, and unite with Him the entire vital soul within the 248 limbs of the body in complete unity.” That is what the 248 positive commandments must accomplish. What is their purpose? It is as the Torah says, as we mentioned earlier: to draw down the light of the Ein Sof here, in this physical world, into the limbs of the body, and to connect

15:25 the body with Hakadosh Boruch Hu in complete unity—to become one with Hashem. That a person, with his physical body, can be in complete unity, one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, through the mitzvos. As it arose in His will to have a dwelling in the lower realms, and for them to be a vehicle for Him, like the Patriarchs. This was the whole of Hashem’s desire: that He have a dwelling in the lower realms and that the Jewish people be a vehicle for Him, like the Patriarchs. For this to be accomplished, it is through the 248 positive mitzvos. What is the Alter Rebbe saying here, in brief? The Alter Rebbe is making a point here about the 365 prohibitions and the 248 positive mitzvos: for there to be a dwelling in the lower realms, both are needed. The Alter Rebbe first explains the 365 prohibitions, and afterward he explains the 248 positive mitzvos. Elsewhere, in Likkutei Torah, the Alter Rebbe explains the point with an analogy of a king. They build a building for a king—a residence, a palace. When building a palace for a king, there are two tasks. First, you have to remove all the garbage and dirt. As long as there is dirt in the king’s palace, the king certainly cannot bring in the furnishings. So first you have to remove all the dirt, all the garbage, all the dust, all the unwanted things in the palace. Then you can bring in beautiful furnishings and precious objects—the tables, chairs, and everything you want to put in the king’s palace. The same applies when we come to making a dwelling in the lower realms. There are these two aspects: the prohibitions and the positive

17:16 mitzvos. The prohibitions are like cleaning. Their point is to maintain the king’s palace and clean it. There is teshuvah. Yes, all the work that has to be done in the realm of avoidance: keeping out the dirt and garbage, making sure nothing negative is there. Afterward come the positive mitzvos, which are like beautiful furnishings: positive actions that bring in holiness. The Alter Rebbe makes the same point here in a different way. There is the aspect of the prohibitions—preventing the vitality and blood of the three impure kelipos from entering, because then you could not make it into a king’s palace. After that, there has to be a drawing down of light, which is the aspect of the positive mitzvos, and that brings about the dwelling in the lower realms. There are several points to examine closely here. First, the Alter Rebbe says—earlier, when introducing the subject, the Alter Rebbe says: “When the collective soul and divine soul of the Jewish people is divided into its particulars, into 600,000, each individual soul will fulfill all 613 mitzvos.” So there is a question the Rebbe asks here, which he leaves somewhat unresolved: Why does the Alter Rebbe suddenly start speaking about the divine soul? Until now, he has been speaking about the animal soul. The whole new point the Alter Rebbe is making here is that a mitzvah is performed with the vital soul. Yes, when the vital soul performs a mitzvah, it is elevated to holiness. And here the Alter Rebbe suddenly changes his wording and says, “When the collective soul and divine soul of all the Jewish people,” and so on, “will fulfill...” Why suddenly start speaking about the divine soul? The Rebbe leaves this somewhat unresolved. The Rebbe adds another point, which does not fully answer the question: when it comes to fulfilling mitzvos, there are, after all, mitzvos whose emphasis is not on the body. There are mitzvos connected with thought.

19:22 After all, there are mitzvos fulfilled in thought. True, most mitzvos are performed through physical action. But there are also mitzvos fulfilled in thought, such as the mitzvos of faith, awe, and love, and so on. With mitzvos connected to thought, the primary fulfillment is by the divine soul. Yes, so when the Alter Rebbe speaks here about the overall matter of fulfilling mitzvos, he is not speaking about the details; he is speaking about the soul as a whole. The general point is that the soul fulfills Torah and mitzvos to make a dwelling in the lower realms. So the Alter Rebbe does not want to use the term “vital soul.” It is true that the vital soul is involved in most mitzvos, but there are mitzvos in which the vital soul is not involved—mitzvos connected with the divine soul. Nevertheless, the question remains somewhat unresolved. After all, we know from what is written in the Siddur that even mitzvos fulfilled in thought have to be brought down into the physical brain and into physicality. Although that is not written in Tanya, as we said, the matter remains somewhat unresolved. Now, about what the Alter Rebbe says here at the end. The Alter Rebbe says: “As it was the Creator’s will to have a dwelling in the lower realms, and for them to be a vehicle for Him, like the Patriarchs.” What does that mean? The Alter Rebbe is saying two things. First, that He should have a dwelling in the lower realms. Second, “and for them to be a vehicle for Him.” Yes, those are two points. What is the idea here? In other words, the Alter Rebbe emphasizes that a dwelling in the lower realms has two aspects. There is the aspect of His having a dwelling in the lower realms, and there is the aspect of their being a vehicle for Him, like the Patriarchs. There is

21:35 the movement from above downward, and there is the movement from below upward. When a person performs a mitzvah, through that act he fulfills Hashem’s will. In this way, he makes a dwelling for the Creator in the lower realms. He draws down the Essence here below. Yes, and then there is another point: “and for them to be a vehicle for Him.” It is not enough to draw the Essence down below; the person must also become a vehicle for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. In other words, it must not only be a movement from above downward, drawing the Essence down here, but also a movement in which the person becomes a vehicle, uniting with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is explained in the Siddur. It is also explained in connection with the month of Cheshvan, which we are now approaching. There is a maamar for Cheshvan about Avraham’s days being filled with kindness. There the Rebbe brings the analogy of a road. This week’s parsha says, “They shall keep the way of Hashem, to do righteousness and justice.” The mitzvos are called “the way of Hashem.” Why are mitzvos called the way of Hashem? What is a road? A road connects the king’s chamber to the most distant city in the kingdom. That is what a road is. It is something that connects two extremes, from the very highest point to the very lowest. That is the purpose of the road, the purpose of the mitzvos. “They shall keep the way of Hashem”: the mitzvos, as we learned here, connect the will of the Essence with the very lowest level below. That is the road. The Siddur explains the point of a road: as we see, a road serves both for going there and for coming back. A road serves not

23:41 Not only to go from the king to the distant city, but also so that they can go from the distant city back to the king’s courtyard. That is the road. So this road is also part of making a dwelling in the lower realms. Two things are required: drawing down from above to below, drawing the essence down; but at the same time, it must be done in a way that the lower realm becomes a vessel. Sometimes a person can do a mitzvah and draw the essence down, but the lower realm remains lowly. That happens when one does the deed, but does it without bittul—with only an outward action, without vitality, and so on. So these are the two points the Alter Rebbe makes here: that He should have a dwelling in the lower realms, and that they should be a vehicle for Him. In other words, there are two aspects to this. Hakadosh Boruch Hu wanted a dwelling in the lower realms—the drawing of the essence into the lower realm—but He also wanted the lower realm to become a vehicle, to receive it inwardly, to become a vessel. In general, these are the two aspects of a mitzvah: the deed of the mitzvah and the intention behind it. Through them, there is both the dwelling—the drawing of the essence down below—and the lower realm becoming a vehicle for the Divine presence. There is a story people tell in connection with the general point the Alter Rebbe makes here: how a person elevates his animal soul through eating and drinking. A person receives vitality from them, and that gives the vital soul strength to fulfill a mitzvah. Through this, the vital soul is elevated, and so on. There is an interesting story about one of the first Temimim in Lubavitch. His name was Reb Dovid Horodoker. One of the well-known students of Tomchei Temimim in Lubavitch was Reb Dovid Horodoker, Reb Dovid Kivman, and he was a tremendous oved. They tell remarkable stories about his service of Hashem. His davening, according to its proper order, was

25:37 He was a tremendous oved and a very, very spiritual Jew. They say the Rebbe Rashab once said of him that Reb Dovid had, I think, repaid the principal investment in Tomchei Temimim, because he was one of the finest students in the yeshivah. So one of the stories they tell about Reb Dovid Horodoker is that when he was older, at a certain age, he became very weak. He had already practiced a great deal of iskafya, with many fasts and acts of self-denial—all kinds of struggles with the animal soul. He reached a point in his life when he became very weak physically, to the extent that, for a certain period, he had trouble keeping his body clean. The Shulchan Aruch says that to put on tefillin, a person’s body must be clean. His body was not clean, so he could not put on tefillin. He said that all the thirty or forty years—that was his wording—all the years he had spent in avodah were not worth a single opportunity to put on tefillin. That was the expression he used: all forty years of fasting, self-denial, and iskafya were not worth that one time when he could have put on tefillin and did not. It caused him great anguish, and this is how he expressed it. So the chassidim who heard this saying remarked that to feel what he meant, one has to practice iskafya for forty years. A Jew who has practiced iskafya for forty years can appreciate the significance of putting on tefillin just once. I am not suggesting that anyone start fasting or practicing self-denial; I am only repeating a saying people tell. The body needs to be healthy, and when it is healthy, then indeed, when a person

27:33 eats and drinks, these things are elevated to holiness, and through them he has the strength to serve Hashem and fulfill mitzvos.