Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 42 - Part 2

00:07 The Alter Rebbe begins chapter 42 by bringing what the Gemara says. The Gemara asks: “Is fear such a small matter? Fear of Heaven is no small thing.” The Gemara answers: “Yes, for Moshe it is a small matter.” For Moshe Rabbeinu, it is a small matter. “And now, Israel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you?” For Moshe, fearing Hashem is a small matter. So the Alter Rebbe asks: What does it mean, “for Moshe”? After all, the verse says, “ask of you.” “Of you” means every single Jew. How does the Alter Rebbe answer? Every Jew has a part of Moshe Rabbeinu in his soul. So when we say, “For Moshe it is a small matter,” what does “for Moshe” mean? It means the Moshe within each person. But I want to read from this point again; this is where the discussion begins. In a moment we’ll read it inside, and then we’ll explain. “Rather, the matter is that every soul of the Jewish people contains an aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him.” Every Jew has this aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him. There is an aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu in his soul. Why? The Alter Rebbe says: “For he is one of the seven shepherds.” Moshe Rabbeinu is one of the seven shepherds, “who draw down vitality and G-dliness to the Jewish people as a whole.” What does “seven shepherds” mean? The role of the seven shepherds is to draw down vitality and G-dliness to the Jewish people as a whole, “which is why they are called shepherds.” That is why they are called shepherds. What is a shepherd? Think of a shepherd in the physical sense. A shepherd feeds the flock. He gives them food, sustains them, and thereby strengthens them and gives them energy, and so on. The same is true of

02:19 the shepherds of Israel, the seven shepherds. Why are they called the shepherds of Israel? Because they sustain the Jewish people and give them vitality and G-dliness. So what does this mean? There is a Gemara in Sukkah that we began discussing in the previous class. The Gemara says there are two types of leaders of Israel. The tzaddikim, the leaders of Israel throughout the generations, fall broadly into two groups. One group of tzaddikim is called shepherds, and another group is called princes. “And I will set over him seven shepherds and eight princes of men.” That’s a verse in… I don’t remember. “Seven shepherds and eight princes of men.” There are the seven shepherds, and there are the eight princes of men. What is the difference between a shepherd and a prince? In the plain, physical sense, a shepherd is a person responsible for the flock: feeding them, giving them grass, and sustaining them. That is a shepherd’s role. A prince, by contrast, is what we call a king’s son. A prince is a kind of king. The son of a king is called a prince. In Yiddish we say—in English we say “prince.” Prince, right? In any case, that is what a prince is. What does “prince” mean in spiritual terms? A prince is someone set apart from the people, elevated above them, and that is what defines him as a prince. In other words, a prince and a shepherd are opposites. A shepherd is involved with the flock in an inward way, feeding them and strengthening their inner connection. A prince is someone whose influence is encompassing. He is set apart and elevated; by his very presence in the world, he occupies a kingly position. His effect is encompassing. The Alter Rebbe explains in Likkutei Torah on Chanukah, and elsewhere, that these are two types of tzaddikim found throughout the generations. There were tzaddikim whose involvement with the Jewish people was inward. So the Rebbe gives

04:33 an example there to explain the distinction between princes and shepherds: the difference between Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa and Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, who lived in the same generation. Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa and Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai lived in the generation of the Destruction. And what do we see? The difference between them is that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was a teacher, a shepherd. Yes, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was the head of a yeshiva, which is why he was called “Rabban,” with a nun. That title was used for those who headed yeshivos and were leaders. He taught Torah and ran the yeshiva in Yavneh. He organized the gathering. He was—and we see Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai mentioned many times in the Gemara. So he was a shepherd through Torah. He brought this into the people’s lives. He led and guided the Jewish people through his work and through Torah. But we almost never find Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa involved in matters of halachah. Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa is mentioned perhaps once or twice. Where is he mentioned? In Pirkei Avos. There he appears in connection with ethical teachings, but not so much beyond that. We find almost no teachings of his. What do we find about Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa? We find all kinds of stories about wonders and miracles, which the Gemara relates in Berachos and elsewhere—remarkable events involving Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa. So much so that the Gemara relates that when Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had a son who was ill, he went to Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa and asked him to pray for his son, even though Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was himself a great tzaddik. So the Gemara asks about this,

06:15 and the Gemara gives its explanation. But the Alter Rebbe explains in Torah Or that this is the difference between a shepherd and a prince. A shepherd influences people inwardly. The distinctive quality of a shepherd is that the influence he gives the Jewish people is an inward influence in matters of G-dliness—G-dly vitality, and so on. A prince, by contrast, is someone set apart, an elevated person, whose influence is more encompassing, through prayers and miracles. His influence is encompassing, not so inward. Sometimes he may even be a greater tzaddik, but simply by being present in the generation, present in the world—even if no one receives anything from him directly—his very presence has an encompassing, hidden influence. He brings all kinds of effects and influences to the entire generation. That is called a prince. Here we are talking about shepherds. Incidentally, this also explains the numbers: why seven and why eight? The difference between shepherds and princes is that seven is associated with nature, while eight is associated with the miraculous. That is the difference between shepherds and princes. So there are seven shepherds, because their influence is more invested in the world, more inward. It is therefore associated with the number seven, a number connected with order and gradation, with being invested within nature. The princes, by contrast, have an encompassing influence. Their influence is on the level of the miraculous. It reaches beyond that framework, and so their number is eight: eight princes. This is explained clearly there. Here in Tanya, the Alter Rebbe discusses only the shepherds. Here the Alter Rebbe wants to explain Moshe Rabbeinu’s role, particularly his connection with the shepherds. That is why the Alter Rebbe brings up the shepherds specifically. So the Rebbe explains what a shepherd is.

07:58 The Rebbe says that they draw down vitality and G-dliness into the souls of the Jewish people. So we said in the previous class that the Rebbe spent several weeks working over whether to write it with a vav or without a vav: “vitality, G-dliness,” or “vitality and G-dliness.” In the end, he decided to add the vav. So vitality and G-dliness are two distinct things. What did we explain? What does “vitality and G-dliness” mean? What is the difference between them? Vitality refers to love and awe, while G-dliness refers to bittul, self-nullification. What does that mean? Why are love and awe called vitality, and bittul called G-dliness? We can explain this based on what the Alter Rebbe explains in Torah Or, Parshas Va’eira. The verse says, “I appeared to Avraham, to Yitzchak and to Yaakov, but by My name Havayah I was not known to them.” Then, specifically through Moshe Rabbeinu, “You shall know that I am Havayah.” The Alter Rebbe explains at length in Torah Or, Parshas Va’eira, the difference between what Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov accomplished and what Moshe Rabbeinu accomplished. What did Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov bring about as the Patriarchs, and what was new through Moshe Rabbeinu—the revelation of “My name Havayah”? The Alter Rebbe explains there, and we’ll briefly review the point, that Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov are the fathers of the Jewish people, and they draw down these qualities to us. Avraham draws down the attribute of love, Yitzchak the attribute of awe, and Yaakov the attribute of compassion. This is the general theme of the service of prayer. The Alter Rebbe discusses at length what contemplation awakens love, what awakens awe, and what awakens compassion. The service of prayer includes three kinds of verses: verses about matters that awaken love of Hashem, verses that awaken awe of Hashem, and verses that awaken compassion—“Have mercy on the soul,” “In Your abundant mercy, have mercy on us.” That is the distinction; that is the theme of

10:02 Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. So from the Patriarchs, each of us receives vitality in the form of love, awe, and compassion. We receive these three attributes from Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. What did Moshe Rabbeinu introduce? “By My name Havayah I was not known to them.” Moshe Rabbeinu revealed the idea of bittul. The Alter Rebbe explains there: love, awe, and tiferes—compassion—are emotional attributes. They give a person vitality in serving Hashem. When a person loves Hashem—without love of Hashem, as the Alter Rebbe explains there at length, a person performs a mitzvah in the manner of “a rote practice of men.” He explains the difference using a baby in its mother’s womb. The baby has all its organs—lungs, a brain, everything—but it does not have vitality in that sense. It is not living independently. What is it missing? Vitality. And someone who serves by rote performs the mitzvah, but without vitality. He observes Torah and mitzvos without—without... But when love and awe awaken in him, that is like birth, the revelation discussed in Va’eira. That is the idea of love and awe. In other words, love and awe bring vitality into serving Hashem. Torah and mitzvos without love and awe are Torah and mitzvos without vitality; with love and awe, they have vitality. Nevertheless, there is still one point missing. It is not yet complete. Why? Because the emotional attributes still contain a measure of selfhood. As the Rebbe says in Tanya, even a perfect tzaddik who loves Hakadosh Boruch Hu with a love of delights is still someone. Ultimately, love involves a sense of self. You, as one who loves Havayah, love

11:58 Hakadosh Boruch Hu, but every love has something it lacks. Love is a feeling that “this is good for me. I love it.” It is a feeling tied to one’s own existence. The person’s own self is still involved: “I love.” In other words, it gives me a feeling of love, a feeling of awe, a feeling of compassion, while my own self is still involved. On the one hand, this gives him vitality in serving Hashem. It is not a rote practice; it brings vitality to fulfilling mitzvos. But it still lacks the point of bittul. A sense of self still remains. This is what Moshe Rabbeinu accomplished. Moshe Rabbeinu brought about the aspect of Torah. And what is the difference between prayer and Torah? Prayer proceeds from below upward, meaning that a certain sense of self is still present. Torah, by contrast, is the ultimate bittul, because in Torah there is the idea of “I am the Mishnah speaking through your mouth,” and “I will place My words in your mouth.” When a person studies Torah, the true effect of that study should be: “Just as there, it was with dread, awe, trembling and trepidation, so too here, it must be with dread, awe, trembling and trepidation.” A person must study Torah not because of his love or awe, but because it is the wisdom and will of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is the ultimate bittul, and we received it from Moshe Rabbeinu. So this is the whole point the Alter Rebbe explains there in Torah Or. This is the difference between the two things we are discussing here. What do we receive from the shepherds of the Jewish people? What does a Rebbe give us? What do the shepherds of the Jewish people give us? Two things. They give us vitality. What does inner vitality mean? The geshmak, the spark that kindles inner vitality in serving Hashem—that is love and awe. Love and awe fall under the category of vitality. They bring vitality into a mitzvah so that it will not be a mitzvah

13:44 performed by rote. But on the other hand, there is another thing Moshe Rabbeinu brings into us: the essential point. What is that point? Bittul. This is no longer a personal feeling of love or awe; it is that a person should have the point of bittul. We receive this, too, through the shepherds of the Jewish people in every generation. They draw down to every Jew both vitality and that essential point—love and awe on the one hand, and ... bittul on the other. The movement toward bittul, the ability to reach bittul—that essential point comes specifically through a Rebbe. There is a letter from the Rebbe that it would be good for every person to study. In fact, we need to study it. And even if you have studied it, this is a letter we need to live with, not just study. We need to live with it and engrave it within ourselves, because it is a foundational letter concerning the whole idea of a Rebbe in Chassidus. Especially as we are ... today. ... So the point is to awaken that bond of hiskashrus. This letter is dated Gimmel Tammuz 5710. The date the Rebbe wrote it was the first Gimmel Tammuz after the Frierdiker Rebbe’s passing. The Rebbe begins the letter: “Many ask and inquire: What is the idea of a Rebbe?” People want to know what a Rebbe is. The idea of a Rebbe goes back to the Baal Shem Tov. But even so, while the Rebbe was a distinct figure, it was not so clearly explained exactly what a Rebbe is, what benefit there is in having a Rebbe, what it means. So in this letter, briefly but addressing the heart of the matter, the Rebbe

15:40 explains it. What is a Rebbe? The Rebbe writes that some people say a Rebbe is a tzaddik, a genius, someone with mesirus nefesh, someone with the quality of wholeheartedness, a miracle worker, a person of fine qualities, someone associated with miracles. The Rebbe gives a long list of virtues. But even so, that is still not what makes a Rebbe. These are all lofty, great qualities that a Rebbe possesses, but they do not define a Rebbe. A Rebbe is something deeper. So what does the Rebbe say a Rebbe is? He brings up the idea of shepherds and leaders, though he puts it differently: a Rebbe is the “head of the Jewish people.” The Rebbe explains what that means. He says that some have influenced people in an encompassing way, while others have influenced them inwardly. This brings us to the leaders of the Jewish people throughout the generations. Some had only one of these qualities, and some had only the other. Some influenced people only ... while others influenced them only in an encompassing way. You see, the Rebbe points to ... the idea of shepherds and leaders. The Chabad leaders brought something new. We saw it especially in the Rebbe, the Chabad leader; we saw it tangibly in him. He had all of these qualities. He influenced people both in an encompassing way and inwardly, both materially and spiritually. He influenced them in every way, drawing on the full depth of who he was, and giving to each person with complete devotion. This is what we saw specifically in a Rebbe who is a Chabad leader: both a shepherd and a leader. It says that it is worthwhile to study this, and that it should be

17:12 This needs to be engraved in every person, so that we can take it all in and understand what a Rebbe is. ... So that it strengthens each person’s efforts to connect to the Rebbe. In any case, that is what he says here about all this: the concept of shepherds in general, that a shepherd of Israel draws down G-dly vitality ... about the Rebbe ... He says this about the shepherds of Israel in general. But when he comes to Moshe Rabbeinu, he says ... Moshe Rabbeinu is the collective soul that includes all of Israel. So Moshe Rabbeinu is the one who encompasses all the shepherds, and he is called Raaya Mehemna, the Faithful Shepherd. That is why Moshe Rabbeinu in particular is called Raaya Mehemna. In other words, he is central to the whole concept of shepherds. There are seven shepherds, yet it is specifically Moshe Rabbeinu whose name in the Zohar is Raaya Mehemna. In many places, the Zohar calls Moshe Rabbeinu Raaya Mehemna. So much so that there is an entire section of the Zohar called Raaya Mehemna. As the Rebbe mentions at the beginning of Tanya, it is called Raaya Mehemna; it is a section of the Zohar. It is a lengthy section, known as the Zohar’s book of mitzvos. In other words, the Zohar has a large section that presents all the ... mitzvos according to the Zohar’s approach, and that section is called Raaya Mehemna in the Zohar, because Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai received it from Moshe Rabbeinu. And there, in [unclear], it begins, if I’m not mistaken, by explaining why Moshe Rabbeinu is called Raaya Mehemna. After that, the Zohar returns many times to Moshe Rabbeinu as Raaya Mehemna. Why is Moshe Rabbeinu in particular called Raaya Mehemna? After all, there are seven shepherds. So the Rebbe says here that he encompasses them all.

19:03 He includes every single soul of Israel. What does Raaya Mehemna mean? The Alter Rebbe explains: “That is, he draws down the faculty of daas for the Jewish people as a whole, so that each person may know Hashem according to the capacity of his soul, its root above, and the sustenance it draws from the root of the soul of Moshe Rabbeinu, a"h, which is rooted in the supernal daas of the Ten Sefiros of Atzilus, united with their Emanator, blessed be He, for He and His knowledge are one.” Why does Moshe Rabbeinu encompass everyone? Why? Because he draws down daas. This is daas as it comes to Moshe, and he embodies the whole concept of daas. Every soul receives daas from Moshe Rabbeinu. That is why he is called Raaya Mehemna and why he includes all the souls. What does it mean that he encompasses all the shepherds? In what sense is Moshe Rabbeinu the one who includes them all? The meaning, the Rebbe says here, follows what the Rebbe said earlier in Tanya. The Rebbe explicitly explains in Tanya that there are seven middos, and the faculty of daas—daas is the key to all the middos. The Rebbe explains in the chapters of Tanya, yes, that daas encompasses all seven middos. So, regarding the middos, we say that daas encompasses them all; it is the key to them all. Because when you have daas, as the Rebbe explains there in those chapters of Tanya, through the bond of daas, all the middos draw their vitality. The same applies to the seven shepherds. Each shepherd represents a particular middah. Each shepherd has a particular middah. Each shepherd has a particular middah. There are the qualities that Avraham Avinu imparts, as we said earlier: Avraham imparts love and kindness. Yitzchak imparts gevurah and awe. Yaakov imparts tiferes and compassion. Similarly, Moshe imparts

21:01 the quality of netzach, and Aharon imparts hod. There are two aspects to Moshe: Moshe as the embodiment of a particular middah, and Moshe as the shepherd who encompasses them all. So Moshe as one of the shepherds represents the middah of netzach, and Aharon represents the middah of hod. Yosef represents yesod, and King David represents the sefirah of malchus. These are the seven shepherds, corresponding to the seven middos. Each shepherd, then, has a particular middah, the particular quality that he imparts to the Jewish people. Moshe Rabbeinu also has the aspect of daas: “And you shall know that I am Hashem.” Moshe Rabbeinu revealed the concept of daas. He—Moshe Rabbeinu, his soul, the soul of the Rebbe—comes from the daas of G-dliness. That is why the Midrash says that Bilaam was the unholy counterpart of Moshe. Something similar is said about Amalek. Bilaam and Amalek are of the same type, as the Rebbe explains in Likkutei Sichos: their letters can be read from top to bottom or from bottom to top. You can read the letters that connect the two. They write Bilaam and Amalek, and you can read Bilaam and Amalek in either direction, because they have the same root. So of both of them it says—of Bilaam, too, it says that he “knows the knowledge of the Most High.” Bilaam, yes, is described as knowing the knowledge of the Most High. Similarly, of Amalek it says that “he knows his Master and deliberately rebels against Him.” Moshe Rabbeinu is their counterpart in holiness. That is why the war against Amalek was waged specifically through Moshe: “When Moshe raised his hand, Israel prevailed.” Similarly, the war against Bilaam was specifically through Moshe: “Arm men from among you”—that concerned Bilaam. So what emerges from all this? Moshe Rabbeinu’s defining quality is daas. And because daas encompasses all the middos,

22:44 it brings vitality into all the middos. Similarly, Moshe Rabbeinu encompasses all seven shepherds, includes them all, and is therefore the primary Raaya Mehemna. Now there is an important distinction here in the meaning of Raaya Mehemna. Many people get confused and think that Raaya Mehemna here means the same thing as it does in the maamar Ve’atah Tetzaveh, but it does not. Raaya Mehemna here does not have the same meaning as the Rebbe explains in Ve’atah Tetzaveh. Nor does it have the same meaning as in Likkutei Torah on Shemos [?], where Raaya Mehemna is discussed. What is the difference? Some people thought they were the same, so the Rebbe explains in a letter that they are not. What is the difference between the meaning of Raaya Mehemna we are learning here and the meaning we learn there? The Rebbe explains it this way. In Ve’atah Tetzaveh, and similarly in the maamarim that discuss Raaya Mehemna, it means that he nourishes faith. Mehemna means faith. So Raaya Mehemna means that he sustains and nourishes faith. Here the Rebbe is not speaking about faith. Here the Rebbe is speaking about yiras Shamayim, fear of Heaven. Here the Rebbe is not speaking about faith at all. Here the Rebbe understands mehemna in the sense of “faithful,” like the first meaning the Rebbe gives in Ve’atah Tetzaveh: the faithful shepherd of Israel. Here the Rebbe does not focus on mehemna as faith; he focuses on raaya, the shepherd. A shepherd brings things inward, through daas. That is the point. In other words, in Ve’atah Tetzaveh and the other places that explain Raaya Mehemna, the idea is that Jews have faith—they are believers, the children of believers—but faith can remain something that surrounds a person, without entering him inwardly. As it says, “The thief at the mouth of the tunnel calls upon the Merciful One.” He believes, but

24:46 in practice, that belief does not reach him. So Moshe Rabbeinu is Raaya Mehemna: he brings faith inward. There, the main subject is faith, and the role of daas is to strengthen faith. That is the work being discussed there. Here the work is entirely different. Here we are speaking about Moshe Rabbeinu in connection not with faith but with the middos, the seven shepherds. It is about the middos, about being in awe, and specifically about yirah, fear of Heaven, and kabbolas ol malchus Shamayim, which he explains here; we will come to the middos. We are not speaking here about faith. We are saying that for the middos to be as they should be in actual practice, daas is needed. So Moshe Rabbeinu is Raaya Mehemna, the shepherd who brings daas inward, enabling the middos to be as they should be in actual practice—especially yiras Shamayim. We are speaking, then, about two different things. Look at the maamar Ve’atah Tetzaveh. It is very interesting; people do not notice this. At the bottom of Ve’atah Tetzaveh, where the Rebbe cites the Chassidus explanation of Raaya Mehemna—what does Raaya Mehemna mean? That he brings faith inward by drawing down daas—the Rebbe cites Torah Or, Parshas Mishpatim, and perhaps Likkutei Sichos as well; I’m not sure. Then the Rebbe writes, “And see,” or “See”—I do not remember the wording—“Tanya, chapter 42.” That wording is precise. He says to see Tanya, chapter 42, because that is not the subject here. He is simply pointing to Tanya, chapter 42, where Raaya Mehemna is also mentioned. But it is not the same explanation of Raaya Mehemna. There, Raaya Mehemna means that he nourishes faith. Here, Raaya Mehemna means that he draws down daas. For what purpose? So that a person will be in awe, so that his yiras Shamayim will be as it should be in actual practice. And therefore

26:39 Since we are now in the context of Adar 5752, when there was concealment concerning the role of the faithful shepherd, the Rebbe, the nasi—especially as the Rebbe said at the time, a few days before 27 Adar, in a sicha the week before 27 Adar. The Rebbe mentioned the verse, “And now, Yisroel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you?” The Rebbe spoke about the Moshe within each and every person. It was Parshas Ki Sisa, and the Rebbe spoke about the parsha. The Rebbe said that it is written there that the skin of Moshe Rabbeinu’s face shone, and Moshe Rabbeinu had to put on a veil to cover that radiance. The Rebbe said that Moshe Rabbeinu is the Moshe within each and every person. And we must know, the Rebbe said, that the Moshe within each and every person is complete, even when there is a veil. That was the expression the Rebbe used. At the time, people did not understand what the Rebbe meant. Of course, afterward they understood that the Rebbe had alluded to everything that happened after 27 Adar. The Rebbe said that even if there appears to be a veil, a concealment of Moshe Rabbeinu, we must know that this concealment is only external. In essence, Moshe’s very essence—the radiance of Moshe’s face—remains. Moshe is present in complete perfection, and each and every person has Moshe Rabbeinu within them; nothing can conceal that. We only need to reveal it and awaken it in each and every person. And this is the Moshiach within each and every person. The Rebbe spoke about this very forcefully. You can look at the sicha itself and see it there. So this is a time for each and every person to awaken within themselves their connection to the Rebbe. Of course, the Rebbe’s investment in us is also connected with his reaching 121. We need to express

28:21 [unclear] that this should carry through to 121. But what matters especially today is that each and every person must put their heart and soul into it. Yes, we must awaken ourselves to know that our entire connection with G-dliness comes specifically through the Rebbe. So each and every person must pray and ask from the depths of their heart, awaken this within themselves, and pray and ask that Hakadosh Boruch Hu help us see the Rebbe revealed with our physical eyes. That there should be no [unclear] of the Rebbe. May we merit to see the faithful shepherd revealed, to see the Rebbe revealed with our physical eyes, and may everything the Rebbe said already come to pass, so that we see it tangibly with our physical eyes. May it be Hashem’s will that our righteous Moshiach come speedily.