Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 41 - Part 4

00:01 The Alter Rebbe explains the point here. A person needs to reflect—not only on the general matter of yiras Shamayim, of accepting the yoke of Heaven, which should be with him throughout the day. He also needs to reflect specifically when he performs a mitzvah. As he performs it, he should contemplate how the infinite light of G-d is revealed in the mitzvah. The Gemara is speaking about two aspects. There is the general aspect common to all mitzvos: the infinite light of G-d present in the object of the mitzvah is drawn down to the person when he performs it. This applies equally to every mitzvah. Then there is a specific aspect to each mitzvah: the particular flow of Divine light, the particular connection with the Divine will that pertains to that mitzvah. So the Alter Rebbe gives the example of tefillin. Tefillin draw down the higher intellectual faculties into the person. The four passages correspond to chochmah, binah, and daas, which encompasses chesed and gevurah. A person draws these down upon himself when he puts on the tefillin of the head, and this affects his soul so that he subordinates his chochmah and binah, his chesed and gevurah, making himself entirely devoted to Hashem alone. Before we continue, there is a point of precision noted by the Rebbe’s father, Reb Levi Yitzchak. He observes that when the Alter Rebbe speaks about the general intention a person should have—that the infinite light of G-d is drawn down upon his soul when he performs a mitzvah—he first writes “to be included” and then “to become nullified.” But afterward, when he speaks specifically about the particular intention, he writes the reverse: first “to become nullified” and then “to be included.” It might seem like no more than a detail in the order of the words, but as we’ve already said, everything in Tanya is precise in practice. Every such detail has meaning and instruction. So Reb Levi Yitzchak points this out.

02:17 He explains that the difference lies in the direction being described. In the first case, the general intention, the Alter Rebbe is speaking from above downward. He is describing the infinite light of G-d being drawn down upon the tefillin and upon the person putting them on. The infinite light of G-d becomes invested in the tefillin and in the soul performing the mitzvah of tefillin. That is why the order there is “to be included” and then “to become nullified.” What is the difference between the two? “To be included” describes the aspect of the higher level; “to become nullified” describes the aspect of the lower level. In other words, when something on a lower level becomes nullified to something higher, there are two parties: the lower and the higher. The lower becomes nullified to the higher. So “to become nullified” refers to the action of the lower party. The lower party must set itself aside in order to connect with the higher one. It has to set aside those aspects of itself that are not nullified. For example, a servant submits to his master, or a student to his teacher. To do that, the student has to set aside his own understanding so that he can become a vessel for his teacher’s understanding. The servant has to put aside his own wishes so that he can become a vessel for his master’s will. That action on the part of the lower one is called bittul, becoming nullified. Then there is the action on the part of the higher one: “to be included.” That is already a positive action—being incorporated, becoming united, becoming one, being included in the higher level. Inclusion means that he has connected with the higher level. Becoming nullified means setting aside those aspects of his own existence that need to be set aside. So when the Alter Rebbe speaks from above downward, beginning with the infinite light of G-d being revealed in the soul, he writes in that order: first the higher aspect, being included in it, and then becoming nullified, which is what takes place in the person’s soul below. He proceeds from above downward: first “to be included,” then “to become nullified.” But when he speaks

04:32 in particular, he is speaking about what the person does when he puts on tefillin: how he takes his own intellectual faculties, his chochmah and binah, and connects them to the Divine will. Now we are speaking from below upward. So first comes becoming nullified: setting aside his chochmah and binah insofar as they are occupied with things outside the Divine will. He sets aside all the chochmah and binah devoted to matters that do not pertain to that will. After that comes being included, connecting with the infinite light of G-d. The order is precise. That is why he first gives one order and then switches to another. Let’s continue. That was all about tefillin. Now the Alter Rebbe goes on to explain tzitzis. And specifically … as it says in the Shulchan Aruch, after the word “etc.” Yes, you have it there. You have a Tanya. Huh? You know it by heart. Huh? You’re relying on someone else having a Tanya. “And when wrapping oneself in tzitzis,” the Alter Rebbe continues. He says: “And when wrapping oneself in tzitzis,” as it says in the Zohar. What is the particular intention for tzitzis? The Alter Rebbe says that when wrapping oneself in tzitzis, there is the intention stated in the Zohar. Here, as we said in the previous class, the Alter Rebbe brings the intention as understood from the Torah’s perspective, where we can sense more of the Divine will in the matter. There is also an intention stated in the Shulchan Aruch, but the Alter Rebbe specifically brings the Zohar’s intention. According to the Zohar, what is the intention of tzitzis? To draw His blessed kingship upon oneself. The intention in the mitzvah of tzitzis is that a person draws upon himself the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “which is the kingship over all worlds, etc.” The kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu is the kingship over all worlds, as we learned earlier, “and to unite it with us through this mitzvah.” When I wrap myself in tzitzis, I take

06:38 the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, which is the kingship over all worlds, and through the tzitzis I unite the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu with us—with the person. What does that mean? What is its connection to tzitzis? This is brought in the Zohar. So what does it say there? The Zohar explains the intention of tzitzis through the tallis. It has four corners. The four corners of the tallis allude to the entire order of spiritual worlds. The tallis and its four corners—all its extremities, the four directions—also allude in a spiritual sense to above, below, right, and left. In other words, they allude generally to every aspect of the order of spiritual worlds. So the tallis relates to all the worlds, and it alludes to the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu extending over all the worlds. This is also connected with the techeiles thread, as the Gemara explains: it says that techeiles resembles the Throne of Glory, and the Throne of Glory is connected with the Shechinah, with malchus of Atzilus. So the tallis is connected with the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu extending throughout all seven, through all four directions, all four extremities, and the entire world. When I take the tallis and wrap myself in it, what is my intention? It is as though I am taking the kingship of Hakadosh Boruch Hu—which is, in fact, the kingship over all worlds—and uniting that kingship with myself. That is the intention of the tallis: to take the kingship of Heaven and unite it with the person, as we said earlier, that He unites His kingship with the Jewish people as a whole and with the world in particular. There are other aspects to this; the book brings several points about the tallis, but those are matters for another time. The Alter Rebbe goes on to say here:

08:46 It is like “You shall surely appoint a king over yourself.” What we’re saying here is along the lines of “You shall surely appoint a king over yourself.” In other words, when a person acknowledges the sovereignty of Hakadosh Boruch Hu over himself and accepts the yoke of Heaven, it is like what the verse says: “You shall surely appoint a king over yourself.” What does that mean? Until now, he was not my king, and I appoint him as king over me. That is the meaning of “You shall surely appoint a king over yourself.” We’re talking about a flesh-and-blood king. Until now, he was not my king; now, by fulfilling the mitzvah to appoint a king, I make him king over me. That is regarding the mitzvah of kingship in its literal sense. There is a mitzvah to appoint a king over yourself, and the Gemara says that you must hold him in awe. That means a person has to take action: he has to accept the sovereignty of even a flesh-and-blood king, to make him king over himself. The same idea applies to putting on a tallis. It is as though, before I put on the tallis, although Hakadosh Boruch Hu was King of the entire world, that kingship had no connection to me. By putting on the tallis, by wrapping myself in it, I make Hakadosh Boruch Hu King over me: “You shall surely appoint a king over yourself.” There is actually a teaching on this from the Rebbe Rashab, nishmaso Eden. Today is the Rebbe Rashab’s birthday; we’re already in the month of Cheshvan. So we should mention a thought from the Rebbe Rashab. The Rebbe also quotes it in several maamarim in his name. The Rebbe Rashab points out somewhere that kingship depends on a person’s acceptance. We see that there can be

10:23 a very great king, but if he is the king of Africa or England and I live in Argentina, I feel no awe or fear of that king. Although he is a great, wonderful, important king who does great and wondrous things, he is not my king. He is the king of England—or the queen of England, whatever you want to call it. It has nothing to do with me. I live in Argentina, and the fact that there is a king in Africa or England or Morocco doesn’t affect me. The existence of a king there doesn’t inspire awe or fear in me. So we see that the king of another country does not inspire awe or fear in me. My own king, on the other hand, is my king. In other words, I have to accept his kingship for it to inspire awe and fear in me. First of all, there has to be acceptance of his kingship on the part of the person... If I don’t accept him as king over me, I won’t feel awe or fear of him. So how does this differ from love? It connects to what we’re saying here. The difference between love and fear is that love can come from the one above. Love can arise from what the one above does. For example, a king might come—even a king of another country—and if that king of Africa, say, decides to send me a gift or do me a favor, I’ll love him even though he isn’t my king. Love can also arise from what the one above does. In fact, love primarily arises that way. Why do I love a particular person? Because he does something good for me. It’s simple love: he did something good, so I love him. It comes from above to below. Fear—

12:01 the fear we’re discussing here, fear connected with kabbolas ol—requires kabbolas ol first. Without kabbolas ol, which has to come from the person... so what of it? The fact that he is a king still means nothing to me. That is the picture presented by the tallis. The point of the tallis is kabbolas ol: I have to accept his kingship over me, to place it over myself. So the tallis has to involve kabbolas ol. Since we’ve reached the tallis, there’s a story to tell—but first there’s another point about the wording of the Tanya. I’ll tell the story afterward. There’s another point here about the Tanya, based—not explicitly—on an explanation by the Rebbe’s father, in which the Rebbe also addresses these three things. So there’s another question. At first, the Alter Rebbe began with tallis and tefillin. If you look in the Tanya, he first mentions the tallis and then tefillin. But later, when he discusses the specific intentions, he writes about tefillin first and then the tallis. In other words, there’s a question about the order in the Tanya. When he first spoke about the general intention, he mentioned the tallis first and then tefillin. On the simple level, that follows the order in the Shulchan Aruch: first you put on the tallis, and then you put on the tefillin. That is the order the Alter Rebbe gives at the beginning. But when he discusses the specific intentions, he first explains those of tefillin and then those of the tallis. Why that order? There are several possible explanations, but there is one based on an explanation by Reb Levi, the Rebbe’s father. So—

13:43 he gives a very interesting explanation. He says that the halachah in the Shulchan Aruch is that you put on the tallis first. Then you put on tefillin, and afterward you place the tallis over the tefillin. The bochurim aren’t dealing with this yet, but they should know it nevertheless. One day it will be relevant in practice. It says that after a person puts on tefillin, he should cover part of the head tefillin with the tallis. Not the entire head tefillin: the Shulchan Aruch says explicitly that they must remain visible. But part of the head tefillin should nevertheless be covered. There is a difference of opinion about this between Kabbalah and nigleh, and there is a way to reconcile it all. The halachah remains that after putting on tefillin, you cover part of them with the tallis. Some people are particular about this, even among the bochurim. There were bochurim who were careful to cover part of the tefillin with their hat. They would put on the hat so that it covered part of the tefillin, to fulfill this requirement as well. I’ve also seen many chassidim with round hats, unlike those worn in Chabad, who use part of the yarmulke, the kippah. In any case, there is an idea in Kabbalah that part of the tefillin—at least the head tefillin—should be covered. But primarily, of course, this is done with the tallis, not the hat. What is the idea behind it? There is a sicha of the Rebbe, based on Reb Levi’s explanation. The Rebbe explains at length, in a very beautiful sicha, that the idea is as follows. What is the reason

15:31 for it? He explains that the tallis, as we’ve established here, represents kabbolas ol. The tallis expresses the basic point of accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven. Accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven is a general matter. It is fear of Hashem, a general matter. A person himself accepts the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven. Tefillin are already a matter of particulars: chochmah and binah, love and fear, bringing the individual faculties into submission. In other words, the tallis represents acceptance of the yoke of Heaven, while tefillin represent that acceptance as it relates to the particulars. Subordinating the mind and the emotions has to do with the particulars. So in the order of avodah, general kabbolas ol has to come first—that is the tallis. Then comes kabbolas ol in the particulars—that is tefillin. But after that, one has to return to general kabbolas ol. After a person has given over his mind and emotions to G-dliness and entered into the particulars, there is still a special quality to general kabbolas ol. Why? Because if he remains in the particulars, he remains within his own defined self; he is not completely nullified. When the avodah involves his particular faculties—chochmah and binah, love and fear—he still remains a distinct being. There is still someone who loves; he still retains a certain sense of self. So after kabbolas ol in the particulars, one must return to general kabbolas ol, so that his sense of self will be nullified. That is why one first puts on the tallis, then tefillin, and then brings the tallis over them again: to bring back general kabbolas ol after the avodah with the particulars. So that is the order.

17:17 The same is true in Tanya. That is why he brings here that the Rebbe began with the tallis. After that he spoke about tefillin, but in the end he returned to the tallis again. In other words, this alludes to the order of things in serving Hashem: the kabbolas ol of the tallis before tefillin, and the kabbolas ol of the tallis afterward. Since we have come to the subject of the tallis and tzitzis, there is a story that belongs here. It is a story about the Rebbe Rashab, a well-known story connected with the tallis and tzitzis, and it relates to our subject. The Rebbe Rashab once sent the Frierdiker Rebbe on a mission involving mesirus nefesh. There was a Jewish man who was a maskil, one of those who wanted to make trouble for Jews observing mitzvos and impose all kinds of decrees. The story is well known. He was called Professor Kraps[?]. He wanted to cause a great deal of trouble for Jewish observance. He had prepared an entire book with all sorts of arguments against the Torah—though he himself was Jewish. He cited various places in the Talmud that speak against non-Jews, trying to stir up trouble against the Jewish people: “Your destroyers and those who lay you waste shall come from among you.” He had prepared a whole study against the Jews, the rabbis, and observance of mitzvos. It is a whole story. The Frierdiker Rebbe learned about it, and the Rebbe Rashab sent him to get the decree canceled. But how could he do it? In short, he tried one avenue and then another, but it was very difficult, because this professor had strong connections with all the important people in the government. So it was

19:14 very complicated. How could he get the decree canceled? Everything was already prepared, and this Kraps[?] was very proud of all the work he had done. He also understood that, as a result of it, several decrees against the Jewish people were likely to follow. The Frierdiker Rebbe tried one thing and another and saw that nothing was working. Then, one time, the Frierdiker Rebbe traveled to where the Rebbe Rashab was and entered the room in his house where the Rebbe was sitting before davening. The Rebbe Rashab had his tallis over his shoulders and was walking around the room, examining its tzitzis. When the Frierdiker Rebbe came in, the Rebbe Rashab asked him what he needed. The Frierdiker Rebbe approached his father, took hold of the tzitzis, kissed them, and left. He asked nothing and said nothing. He simply kissed the tzitzis of his father’s tallis and went out. Then he went straight to that professor’s house, knocked on the door, and entered. The professor received him with great contempt and arrogance. He showed him the papers and said, “Do you see all this? It goes in tomorrow; it’s all ready. I’m going to bring it to the minister of education, and it’s going to cause a tremendous stir in the country.” The Frierdiker Rebbe listened. Then, right before the professor’s eyes, he took the entire bundle out of his hands and began tearing the pages up, one after another. He kept tearing them, and the man was utterly bewildered. He had never imagined that the Frierdiker Rebbe would do such a thing. The Frierdiker Rebbe tore it all into tiny pieces, and of course, in the middle of it,

21:14 the professor realized what was happening. He was beside himself, turned white, and began hitting the Frierdiker Rebbe, but by then the deed was done. The Frierdiker Rebbe said goodbye and fled the room. Of course, the professor could not redo all that work. In the meantime, the decree was canceled, and it came to nothing. Afterward, things had already changed; that was another matter. So what is the point of this story? The Frierdiker Rebbe approached the Rebbe Rashab’s tallis, kissed its tzitzis, and through that received the strength for mesirus nefesh. We cannot fully understand the depth of the story, but its point is the quality spoken of here: the tallis is connected with kabbolas ol and yiras Shamayim. Kissing the tzitzis of his father’s tallis simply gave him the strength for mesirus nefesh—the strength to take such an action, which was genuine mesirus nefesh. There is another story about the Rebbe Rashab, since we are speaking today about his birthday. It, too, relates to yiras Shamayim. For a long period, the Rebbe Rashab used to learn Chassidus with the Frierdiker Rebbe early in the morning. This was in his later years. The Frierdiker Rebbe recounts it in one of his letters. In the later years, when they were already living in Rostov, the Frierdiker Rebbe and the Rebbe Rashab learned together from the Alter Rebbe’s siddur with its explanations; they learned Chassidus. He relates that they would get up at three or four in the morning and learn Chassidus until six. Once they were

23:18 learning a profound subject in the Alter Rebbe’s Siddur im Dach, in the maamarim there. They spent several hours learning and delving into this profound subject in Chassidus. When they finished, after the lengthy explanation and all the intellectual discussion, the Rebbe Rashab began to speak. He told the Frierdiker Rebbe about Reb Hillel of Paritch. As is well known, Reb Hillel was extraordinarily careful about every detail of halachah and about hiddur mitzvah, performing mitzvos in the most meticulous and exceptional way. People asked him why he was so careful, why he went to such lengths in his observance of mitzvos. What was the reason for all these fine points that he observed?

24:16 He answered that all the fine points and hiddurim he observed were so that a concept in Chassidus would settle in his mind. That is remarkable: he did it so he could understand a concept in Chassidus. All the hiddurim and fine points that Reb Hillel observed at such an exceptional level were for the sake of understanding Chassidus—for a concept in Chassidus to truly settle in his mind. The Rebbe Rashab related this and then said that, for him, it was different. As is well known, the Rebbe Rashab was also extraordinarily meticulous in his observance of mitzvos, even compared with many others. His hiddurim were on an exceptional level; he was careful about mitzvos to an almost unbelievable degree, going beyond one hiddur to another. But the Rebbe Rashab said of himself that his reason was the reverse: “All the Chassidus I learn is so that I will be strengthened in hiddur mitzvah.” The opposite of Reb Hillel. Reb Hillel said that all his hiddurim were so that he would be strengthened in Chassidus. For the Rebbe Rashab it was the reverse: all the Chassidus he learned, all the effort he put into studying Chassidus, was so that he would be strengthened in hiddur mitzvah. Then the Rebbe Rashab got up, closed the book, and went to the mikveh. There was a mikveh there, and usually, when the Rebbe Rashab was going to use it, he would give notice the night before. The Rebbe Rashab did not go to the mikveh every day. He would tell the person who prepared it that he was going to the mikveh. That day, he went unexpectedly, without giving notice. When he entered, the man in charge of the mikveh was, for him

26:04 A surprise. The Rebbe Rashab arrived unexpectedly, right? He came in, and the mikveh was, of course, dirty. Usually, they would clean it and put it in order so the Rebbe Rashab would see a beautiful mikveh. But this time he arrived unexpectedly, so he saw it as it really was. It was dirty, with lots of grime and all kinds of things on the floor. The water was dirty, with all kinds of bugs, fleas, and hair. There were things in there—even though it was a mikveh, let’s put it that way. They were renovating the mikveh there. So what happened? The Rebbe Rashab sent for the attendant and asked him, “What’s going on here?” In short, the attendant began making excuses: “I didn’t prepare it. I didn’t know the Rebbe was coming.” And the Rebbe Rashab said, “Do you think it matters to me whether the mikveh is clean or not? But you need to understand: if someone leaves this mikveh because it’s dirty and doesn’t immerse as he normally would, that is your responsibility.” Sometimes this can involve matters of Jewish family purity, matters of niddah, matters of mamzerim, matters of impurity and purity. All kinds of things can be involved, and it’s all your responsibility because the mikveh wasn’t kept as it should be. As is known, he instructed them to renovate the entire mikveh, repair it, and so on. Now, you all know that this mikveh was concealed for almost seventy years. A few years ago, they uncovered it and saw that it was very beautiful. In other words, the Rebbe Rashab had invested in renovating and repairing the mikveh. Later, after the Communists closed the mikveh, no one knew it existed. Only a few years ago,

27:52 five or six years ago, they suddenly discovered the mikveh. It was there beneath the floor, and it was a whole [unclear]. You can see it. You can see that, considering how many years had passed, it really was an exceptional mikveh—there’s no question about it. By the way, why am I telling this whole story? It also shows the point we’re discussing about yiras Shamayim. That’s what we’re learning now in chapter 41: the need for yiras Shamayim. The Rebbe Rashab teaches us that all the Chassidus we learn, all the maamarim and sichos, everything we learn in Chassidus, must bring about vitality in performing mitzvos with hiddur—with care and attention to every detail. The point of hiddur mitzvah, of yiras Shamayim, needs to be so that, let’s say