Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 42 - Part 13

00:00 On page 120, page 68b, near the bottom—we know where, a few lines from the bottom. Ah, “And as Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai said to his students.” The Alter Rebbe says that every person, whoever they may be, needs to set aside time every day to contemplate the matter he is discussing. To contemplate how Hakadosh Boruch Hu is present everywhere and fills the world—all the worlds, including this actual physical world. And how Hakadosh Boruch Hu looks, watches, observes, checks, and examines everything a person does, thinks, and feels, and even counts his steps. When a person contemplates this every day, it establishes fear of Hashem in his heart for the entire day. What does it mean that it establishes it for the entire day? That throughout the day, merely recalling it is enough; he doesn’t need to contemplate it at length all day. Because he sets aside a fixed time each day and devotes it to contemplation, afterward, throughout the day—even when he’s walking down the street, somewhere else, or engaged in business—merely recalling it enables him, at every moment and every hour, to turn away from evil and do good in actual practice, in thought, speech, and action. Yes. “As Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai said to his students,” as mentioned above. Here the Alter Rebbe connects this with what Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai said to his students. What happened with Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai? We learned about it at the beginning of chapter 41. The Alter Rebbe cited how, before he passed away, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai said several things to his students. Yes, the well-known story: he cried and said, “I do not know by which path they will lead me.” Yes, and the whole

02:16 story, all the weeping. Among the things he told them was, “May your fear of Heaven be as great as your fear of flesh and blood.” May you have fear of Heaven; may your fear of Heaven be like your fear of another person. And he told them, “Know that when a person commits a sin, he says, ‘May no person see me.’” What does that mean? When someone commits a sin, he doesn’t want another person to catch him. He hides under a blanket and thinks no one sees him: “May no person see me.” But Hakadosh Boruch Hu sees you. So he said, “May your fear of Heaven be as great as your fear of flesh and blood,” at least. The Alter Rebbe cited this earlier in chapter 41. In what connection did we learn it? The Alter Rebbe spoke there about a person who cannot arouse an actual feeling of fear of Heaven in his heart. He discussed several levels in the beginning of one’s service. Every person needs to think about matters that arouse fear of Heaven. And even if he has not succeeded in attaining fear, the Alter Rebbe said, the very fact that he thinks about it accomplishes something. There is faith, at least. There are two mitzvos: the mitzvah of faith and the mitzvah of fear. So even if he accepts the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven upon himself but does not attain a feeling of fear, that too counts as a mitzvah—the mitzvah of faith. And faith is also a Torah mitzvah, one of the 613 mitzvos. Then the Alter Rebbe went further. Not only does he fulfill the mitzvah of faith through this; there is also an element of fear in it. Because at least at the moment when he thinks about what Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai said—“May your fear of Heaven be as great as your fear of flesh and blood”—in those moments

04:03 when he contemplates it, it affects him then, so that he will not do wrong before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And therefore, the Alter Rebbe says there, this too counts as an element of fear of Heaven. It counts as fear as well. So here the Alter Rebbe returns to the conclusion of the matter. This is what we’re saying here: throughout the day, at every moment and every hour, even when he is not contemplating it at length but only recalling the idea, this enables him to turn away from evil and do good in actual practice. This is what Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was explaining to his students when he said, “May your fear of Heaven be as great as your fear of flesh and blood.” The main thing is that, in practice, he takes care to turn away from evil. We explained that he contemplates the fact that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is watching him. Even if this affects him only for that moment, it counts as fear of Heaven. That is the fear of Heaven we are discussing. We’ll soon see more of the explanation, but that is the general idea. The next point comes from the verse. “And this is what the verse says.” Now the Alter Rebbe concludes the explanation he began at the start of chapter 42. “And this is what the verse says: ‘Only to fear Hashem your G-d and to walk in all His ways’”—a fear that leads to fulfilling the mitzvos, turning away from evil and doing good. Now the Alter Rebbe returns to the beginning of chapter 42. Here he concludes the explanation. At the beginning of chapter 42, the Alter Rebbe began with what our Sages say in the Gemara about the verse “And now, Israel, what does Hashem your G-d…” He cited the verse, “And now, Israel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you, but to fear Hashem your G-d?” Yes. So the Gemara asks: Is fear such a small thing? The Gemara answers: For whom

05:57 is it a small thing? The Alter Rebbe’s main question was about the Gemara: What does it mean, “For whom is it a small thing?” After all, the verse says “of you.” But we also need to explain the verse itself. What kind of fear is the verse speaking about, if the Gemara asks, “For whom is it a small thing?” So now, after this lengthy explanation and all the groundwork the Alter Rebbe has laid, he comes to explain the verse. He says that the verse, “And now, Israel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you, but to fear…” is not speaking about fear on lofty levels. It is speaking about fear of Heaven that bears on turning away from evil and doing good in practice. What is the proof? The verse says, “And now, Israel, what does Hashem your G-d ask of you, but to fear Hashem your G-d, to walk in all His ways.” That is how the verse continues. In other words, the Alter Rebbe connects “to fear Hashem your G-d” with “to walk in all His ways.” These are not two separate things—“to fear Hashem your G-d,” and separately, “to walk in all His ways.” They are one thing. What kind of “fear Hashem your G-d” is Hakadosh Boruch Hu asking for here? He is asking for the fear that leads one to walk in all His ways—fear that leads to actual action. As we discussed in the previous class, there is a higher fear, in which a person contemplates the greatness and exaltedness of the Creator, and this gives rise to a sense of shame. That already involves feelings and spiritual levels, and not everyone can arouse within themselves a feeling of shame before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. Here we are talking about fear that leads to action. Whether he feels ashamed or not, the point is what he actually does. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is here, so one needs to behave properly. Not because of his feeling of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s greatness, not because of a feeling of exaltedness, awe, and shame, but because of the very fact that a person accustoms himself to

07:51 He should reflect that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is standing before him. Then, naturally, you don’t just do whatever you want. This world has a Master; there is an eye that sees and an ear that hears. So you have to take care to turn away from evil and do good. Since the verse here calls for a kind of fear that leads to actually observing the mitzvos, this is the fear that can be called a “small matter.” It is the lower fear mentioned above. This fear, the fear that leads to action and causes a person to actually conduct himself as Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants, is that lower fear. It is the lower fear the Alter Rebbe explained in the previous chapter, the beginning, the essence, and the foundation of avodah. Regarding Moshe, the Gemara says that because we are speaking here about this level of fear—fear that affects one’s actions, so that one actually behaves according to the Divine will because Hakadosh Boruch Hu is here; fear that leads to action in practice—of this kind of fear it says that, regarding Moshe, it is a small matter. So the Alter Rebbe explains: “Regarding Moshe”—meaning, regarding the faculty of daas in every Jewish soul—“it is a small matter,” as explained above. When it says “regarding Moshe,” what does that mean? Not regarding Moshe Rabbeinu. With Moshe Rabbeinu, of course, that goes without saying. It means the Moshe within each person. Every Jew has an aspect of Moshe in his soul. And what is that aspect? It is daas, the power to connect that comes from the faculty of daas. A Jew, in essence, has this daas in his soul, and through the power of Moshe Rabbeinu he is also capable of higher fear: yirah ila’ah, fear of sin, a fear born of complete self-nullification. He can reach that too. So, relative to this faculty, to speak of lower fear—of having fear that affects one’s actions, turning away from evil and doing good—is a small matter. If we did not have the faculty of daas that we received from Moshe Rabbeinu, then the question would indeed be a strong one: How can you call it a small matter? But every person has Moshe Rabbeinu within him, meaning the daas in his soul. Through the power of daas, a Jew can connect to G-dliness and sense Hakadosh Boruch Hu in the loftiest way as well. The difference is that other levels require greater effort. They require a refined soul, a great deal of work and refinement. So those are not a small matter. Lower fear, on the other hand—relative to the faculty of daas, the soul’s capacity for connection, the Moshe Rabbeinu we have within us—means having fear of Heaven that affects one’s conduct, turning away from evil and doing good. That is a small matter. It is something within everyone’s reach, whoever he may be. “For daas connects the hidden understanding of the heart to actual revelation in thought, as is known.” Why is it a small matter in relation to daas? Earlier in the Tanya, on the previous page, he described the function of the faculty of daas. One of the things daas does is connect “the hidden understanding of the heart.” The hidden understanding of the heart is the feeling the soul has. The heart’s understanding is the fear, the essential fear of Heaven within the soul that comes from G-dliness. You see, that is connected with chochmah, with yirah ila’ah, with much higher levels. Daas takes the hidden understanding of the heart, takes the soul’s connection to G-dliness, and brings it into actual thought. In other words, it takes something that might otherwise remain within the soul in an abstract way and brings it into thought, so that it affects the person and reaches the level of action: turning away from evil and doing good. That is why, in relation to the faculty of daas, it is a small matter. In other words, what is the role of daas? The significant point—

09:57 He said this earlier too. You see, he is now repeating it briefly to complete the explanation of the wording here. Why is this called a small matter? The function of daas is to be a bridge. Daas is not a middah in its own right. That is why daas is so often discussed. Its function is to be a puente, a bridge—a bridge. That is what daas is about. Daas is not an end in itself. Its function is like… That is why it says daas has a root and a standing higher than all the sefiros: because it is a bridge. It can serve as a puente, build a bridge between two extremes, between chessed and gevurah, between middos, between all kinds of things. That shows that it is above them; that is why it can connect them. Because daas is higher than both extremes, it can connect extremes. That is the job of a bridge. A bridge—that is what a bridge does. A puente has the ability to connect two opposing things, and that is what daas does here too: it is the bridge, the puente. Between what? Between what is hidden in the heart and thought and action. It takes the fear found deep within every Jew’s soul, within the innermost part of his neshamah—about which it says, “Search for it as for hidden treasures.” It is there, deep within every Jew’s neshamah. He has this sense of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. The power of daas connects what is hidden in the heart and brings it into action, so that it finds expression in thought, speech, and deed, in turning away from evil and doing good. That is the role of daas. Of this it says that for a person with the faculty of daas, it is a small matter. Since, through daas, he can also reach higher levels, the fear we are talking about here is not a demand for an exalted fear—

12:10 fear of G-d’s greatness. What is called for here is only fear that affects one’s actions. In other words, because Hashem stands over him, the person will actually feel fear and turn away from evil and do good. That is within the reach of each and every person, and it is considered a small matter. So, broadly speaking, it would seem… Up to this point, this is the new point that has been explained: the Alter Rebbe answers the question at the beginning of the previous chapter. Why is fear of Heaven a small matter? But as for the fact that the Alter Rebbe brings in Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai here, it seems, at first glance, that he is just repeating what he said earlier. He says “as explained above.” That would mean he is simply repeating what he said in the previous chapter. Yes, it is the same subject. But if you look inside the Tanya and don’t take the easy way out—if you study Tanya properly, check the passages, and see what it says at the beginning of the previous chapter and what it says here—there is a major difference between the way the Alter Rebbe cited Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai earlier and the way he cites him here. A very significant difference. What is the difference? It is simple. Earlier, when the Alter Rebbe brought Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, he was discussing levels. There, the Alter Rebbe was speaking about the very lowest levels. At the beginning of the previous chapter, the Alter Rebbe wanted to say that fear of Heaven is within everyone’s reach. So he tried to explain the minimum level of fear of Heaven—what the minimum is. He began chapter 41—we need to remember well what we explained—and then said that a person must reflect on this before davening, before putting on tefillin, before studying Torah. After that, the Alter Rebbe says: even if it was not aroused in his heart, even if it was only in his mind, that too

13:58 Awe of Hashem’s exaltedness. What is required here is only awe in practice. In other words, because “Hashem stands over him,” a person will actually have awe and will “turn away from evil and do good.” This is something that applies to every single person, and it is considered a small matter. So, in general, it would seem... Up to this point, then, this is the insight they explained: the Alter Rebbe answers the question he raised at the beginning of the chapter above. Why is fear of Heaven a small matter? But as for the Alter Rebbe bringing in Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai here, it would seem that the Alter Rebbe is merely repeating what he said earlier. He says, “as above.” In other words, the Alter Rebbe is just repeating what he said earlier in the chapter. Yes, it’s the same point. But if you look inside the Tanya, and don’t take the easy way out—if you learn Tanya properly and check the passages, looking at what it says at the beginning of the chapter above and what it says here—you’ll see a major difference between what the Alter Rebbe quoted earlier from Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai and what he quotes here. A very major difference. And what is the difference? It’s simple. Earlier, when the Alter Rebbe brought Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai, he was speaking about levels. There, the Alter Rebbe was speaking about the very lowest levels. At the beginning of the chapter above, the Alter Rebbe wanted to say that fear of Heaven applies to every single person. So he tried to explain the minimum required for fear of Heaven—what the minimum is. He began chapter 41—we need to remember well what we explained—and then said that a person needs to contemplate this before davening, before putting on tefillin, before learning Torah. After that, the Alter Rebbe says: Even if it did not awaken in his heart, even if it was only in his mind, that too...

15:56 Yes, good. And then the Alter Rebbe says—he is constantly trying to explain what the absolute minimum is, and that minimum is what Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai said. What is the minimum of fear of Heaven? That it has an effect at the moment of action. You think about how Hakadosh Boruch Hu is here, how “Hashem stands over him,” and that keeps you from committing a transgression, just as you would not do something wrong when someone else is in the room. And when you impress upon yourself that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is here, it helps you. That, too, is considered fear of Heaven. But here the Alter Rebbe is discussing another point. Here, the Alter Rebbe is speaking after a person has contemplated during the time of prayer. In other words, he is speaking about someone who, at the beginning of the day, contemplated during the time of prayer, so that fear becomes established in his heart. It is not like what we said there. There, the Alter Rebbe was speaking without that time of prayer. A person has learned chapter 41, knows what the Tanya says—“Hashem stands over him”—and throughout the day he remembers it again and again: “Hashem stands over him.” That affects him so that he behaves as he should. He will not commit transgressions; in practice, he will turn away from evil and do good, because he knows that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is present. That is what he discussed in chapter 41. Here in chapter 42, the Alter Rebbe is speaking—rather, here the Alter Rebbe is saying that a person needs to set aside time every day, during the time of prayer. Then, throughout the day, at every moment and every hour, he turns away from evil and does good in practice, in the manner described by Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai. In other words, the Alter Rebbe is already discussing a higher level here. Here the effect is certainly much more inward. After a person, at the beginning of the day, has sat and contemplated at length the idea of

17:47 everything we have discussed here—that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is present in the world, and so on, that “Hashem stands over him”—and has contemplated it at length, then during the day he merely goes over it briefly. Certainly, the impression left by that contemplation is much more inward, and this can perhaps be considered a level of lower fear. So that is the difference between what he is discussing here and what he discussed earlier. Earlier, he spoke of merely recalling that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is here, without lengthy contemplation at the beginning of the day. Here the Alter Rebbe is speaking after a person has contemplated it at length at the beginning of the day, which has a much more inward effect. And that is what the Gemara means when it says, “Is fear a small matter?” In other words, what the Alter Rebbe said earlier, at the beginning of chapter 41, is not necessarily what the Gemara meant when it said that, for him, fear is a small matter, because that person had not contemplated anything at length. Here, by contrast, he has contemplated it at length at the beginning of the day, and has thereby brought about daas—an awareness and feeling of G-dliness. What is the qualification? That it helped him only with the aid of explanation and assistance. So this is, of course, a much higher level than the one discussed in chapter 41. Regarding what the Alter Rebbe says here—that daas connects the intellect to the emotions of the heart, and connects the higher part of the soul to the lower part, to actual deed—there is a story about the Rebbe Rashab. In 5663, the Rebbe Rashab had a medical issue and needed to consult various doctors. There is a well-known story that the Rebbe Rashab also met at that time with the famous physician Dr. Freud, who was one of the prominent doctors in psychology. He is famous throughout the world as well, one of the leading figures in psychology. So there was someone close to Dr.

19:34 Freud, and the Rebbe Rashab met with him and discussed various things. Among them, as the Rebbe related—the Rebbe also told this story at a farbrengen, where he recounted it in detail—the doctor asked the Rebbe Rashab, “What is Chassidus?” The Rebbe Rashab answered that Chassidus means connecting the mind with the heart: that the understanding in the mind should affect the feelings in the heart, and that the heart, too, should give something to the mind—a connection between heart and mind. So the doctor said to him, “But the mind and the heart are two continents.” How do you say it—continents? So far apart, eh? Continents, eh? That is English. No, it is a Litvak thing. Two continents separated by a vast ocean. So how can you get across? In other words, how can the mind and heart connect? Mind and heart are two worlds, far apart from one another. The Rebbe Rashab said to him, “[unclear].” The whole purpose of Chabad Chassidus is to build a bridge—a bridge that goes from one continent to the other. In other words, from the mind to the heart, or at least to run telegraph wires between them. Back then there was no internet, nor were there other such things. There was something called the telegraph, a telegram: there was a way to send messages by telegraph. That was the newest form of communication at the time. It was before the telephone, before everything—the telegraph. So there needs to be a bridge, or at least telegraph wires, connecting the two continents. That was the Rebbe Rashab’s answer. And the Rebbe explains that this is the concept of daas. When

21:42 we speak in Chassidus about daas, we mean this connection that enables one to influence the other. Within this itself there are several levels. There is a bridge, there are telegraph wires—in other words, the different kinds of influence we discussed: from the mind to the heart, so that the understanding in the mind actually reaches the heart, until it finds expression in my thought, speech, and action. And tonight is the yahrzeit of the Rebbe’s brother, Reb Yisroel Aryeh Leib. There is a connection to what the Rebbe is discussing here, the concept of daas. There is a well-known story that I heard from [unclear]. He told it—he knew Reb Yisroel Aryeh Leib from Leningrad. At the time when the Frierdiker Rebbe lived in Leningrad, Reb Yisroel Aryeh Leib lived there too. He was there in Leningrad, and he would come to the Rebbe Rashab’s home and daven with the chassidim. He would come whenever the Rebbe—the Frierdiker Rebbe, excuse me—would deliver Chassidus. Reb Yisroel Aryeh Leib would be there too. There is even a sicha from that period in which the Frierdiker Rebbe speaks to Reb Yisroel Aryeh Leib together with the Rebbe. They were two brothers, together. The Rebbe was already engaged then. But there is a sicha in which the Frierdiker Rebbe says to Reb Yisroel Aryeh Leib and the Rebbe, “I feel sorry for you that you did not see my father, the Rebbe Rashab. You would have been completely different.” In any case, they were both there at that time, the two brothers—the Rebbe and Reb Yisroel Aryeh Leib. The Rebbe was more reserved. The Rebbe hardly spoke much; he would sit and learn day and night. But Reb Aryeh Leib, Reb Yisroel Aryeh Leib, was

23:37 He was more open, more inclined to talk with the chassidim. He liked to chat and meet people. He had an extraordinarily deep feel for Chassidus, so you could discuss all kinds of subjects with him. One of his friends was Reb Nachum Goldschmidt. He used to tell many stories about him. They had been friends since Nikolayev; they came from the same city and both moved here. Nachum Goldschmidt—the author of Biurei HaRaNaG on Tanya. They had a very close connection and spoke often. In any case, relevant to what we’re discussing, he related that once, when he was with the Rebbe Rashab, there was an extremely difficult maamar that almost nobody understood—a maamar about worlds. Afterward, everyone came away not really knowing or understanding it. And Reb Shlomo Chaim took that to heart; he couldn’t just let it go. He took it at face value and tried to grasp the maamar. A week later, the Rebbe delivered a maamar of avodah. The chassidim were happy because everyone understood it; it was an easy maamar. But after the maamar, Reb Shlomo Chaim said, “After a maamar like that, we need to farbreng.” Well, it was Friday night. The maamarim were delivered on Friday night, before Kabbalas Shabbos. In Lubavitch, the practice was for the Rebbe to deliver the maamar at candle-lighting time. So after the maamar, Reb Shlomo Chaim sat down, they made Kiddush, and they began to farbreng. They farbrenged all night, and he kept at it all night. As he told it, the central point of the farbrengen was Reb Shlomo Chaim’s refrain: “Intellectual understanding, intellectual understanding—but you need daas.” There can be insight after insight, but there has to be daas. The whole point of Chassidus is to bring intellectual understanding into daas—to develop daas, a bond, a felt connection to the subjects one

25:32 studies, so that they have an effect inwardly. That was the basic point he repeated dozens and dozens of times that night: “Intellectual understanding, intellectual understanding—but you need daas.” That’s the connection to what we learned here.