Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 44 - Part 1

00:02 We’re up to chapter 44 in our Tanya classes. First, before we start learning, let’s introduce where we are and what the Alter Rebbe is doing here in chapter 44. What is he explaining in these chapters, and what does he come to explain in chapter 44? We all know that Tanya is based on the verse, “For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” The Alter Rebbe writes on the title page of Tanya that the entire purpose of the book is to explain this: “For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it”—to explain thoroughly how it is very close. The Alter Rebbe wants to explain to us in Tanya how it is very close. How can we say that serving Hashem is very close for every Jew? Seemingly, it isn’t so close. For some people it’s less so; for some it’s harder. How can we say to every single Jew, regarding all of Torah and mitzvos, that serving Hashem is close—very close? And in this very connection, the verse says three things: “In your mouth and in your heart, to do it.” The main difficulty is with “in your heart.” As for “in your mouth,” meaning speaking words of Torah, and “to do it,” meaning performing mitzvos—since these involve speech and action, something practical, we can say that a Jew is capable of fulfilling them. That isn’t so easy either, but we can find some explanation for why it is close. With practical action, whether you feel it or you don’t feel it, you have to do it. But the verse says—and the main difficulty concerns—“in your heart.” The verse

02:37 says, “For the matter is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart.” It isn’t only the act of performing a mitzvah that is close, but also “in your heart.” That means feeling, the heart: performing mitzvos with feeling, with heartfelt love of Hashem, awe of Hashem, and vitality. That too is very close. So in chapter 17, the Alter Rebbe asks: Seemingly, this contradicts what we see. You look at what actually happens, right? You look at things in practice, at the world, at reality, at what we can see. We see that it isn’t like that; it isn’t easy for a Jew to awaken his heart to love and awe of Hashem. So this is the main difficulty the Alter Rebbe is concerned with in Tanya. Really, the question applies to the entire verse, but the main difficulty is “in your heart.” And the Alter Rebbe answered this in chapter 17. That was the beginning of the explanation. I’ll come to that point. The Alter Rebbe answered that what the verse asks of a person is “in your heart, to do it.” There is “in your heart.” When it comes to “in your heart,” to heartfelt feeling, there are many levels of feeling. Generally speaking, heartfelt feeling means love and awe. And there are many levels of love and awe. What we ask for—what the Torah asks of every Jew when it says “for it is close to you”—is “in your heart, to do it”: the feeling that matters for action. A person isn’t being asked for love and awe on lofty levels. He is being asked for love and awe that lead to action, that bring him to perform mitzvos in practice. And the love and awe that bring a person to perform a mitzvah in practice are close to every single person. Why are they close to every single person? The Alter Rebbe gave two explanations for this. As is well known, the Alter Rebbe writes on the title page of Tanya that it comes “to explain thoroughly how it is very close, by a long and short way.” As is well known, the chassidim explain—

04:48 and the Rebbe also brings this in Likkutei Sichos, volume 34, on Parshas Nitzavim—that when the Alter Rebbe writes “a long and short way” in Tanya, he means two ways. There is a long way and there is a short way. In other words, there are two ways a Jew can attain “in your heart”—love and awe in observing Torah and mitzvos. There is a long way and a short way. The Alter Rebbe explains the long way in chapter 17, in that very chapter. What does the Alter Rebbe explain? What is the long way? It is the way that involves contemplation. A person has an intellect, and his mind is under his control. He can use his mind for whatever he wants. You can think nonsense, or you can think Torah. So a person has a mind, and his mind is under his control. He has a head. If he takes that head and uses it to contemplate the greatness of Hashem, he will come to love Hashem, because the intellect can influence the heart and awaken feelings. That was the Alter Rebbe’s first explanation, and it is called the long way. Why is it called the long way? Because it is a path that works through contemplation, learning, effort, and sustained involvement, which takes a long time. One needs to contemplate the greatness of Hashem at length to awaken love of Hashem. After that, in chapter 18, the Alter Rebbe writes that there is another way, the short way to awaken love of Hashem. What is the short way? The Alter Rebbe explains that every Jew has love of Hashem in the very nature of his soul, inherited from our forefathers. A Jew has a natural love of Hashem. We received it as an inheritance from Avraham Avinu: a Jew neither wants nor is able to be separate from G-dliness. We inherited this from our forefathers.

06:51 They were a vehicle for G-dliness, and because they were a vehicle for G-dliness, they passed it on. That is, they passed it on, gave it to all their descendants until the end of the generations. Even the least observant Jew has an innate love, a natural love for G-dliness, to the point of mesirus nefesh: a Jew is prepared even to give his life for Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And because of this innate love, he also has awe; he does not want to withdraw from, to be separated from, G-dliness. So that is the short way: we need to awaken this love. In other words, we already have this love. Every Jew has it, but it is hidden, and the task is to reveal it, to bring it out of concealment into the open. This is called the short way. Why is it called the short way? Because we already have it in our soul. With the first love, the love that comes through contemplation, we say: I don’t have that love; I need to bring it into being. I need to learn, contemplate, and delve deeply until love is awakened. So that is a long way. With this love, we say: We already have it. We don’t need to create a new love. It is already there in the soul. What, then, do we need to do? Bring it out of concealment into the open. This is what the Rambam writes in that well-known teaching: Every Jew truly wants to do the will of the Creator; we just need to reveal it. The idea that “his inclination has overpowered him,” and so on, which the Rebbe brings many times in his sichos—that is expressed in the language of the revealed dimension of Torah. According to Chassidus, it goes much deeper. It is the hidden love that every Jew has. This is, after all, the foundation of all of Tanya, and from there the Alter Rebbe goes on to these later chapters. After the Alter Rebbe explained at length why—what it is, why, why not, why?—why, when we say “in your heart,” the main thing is the action. The main thing is

08:43 Not the feeling in the heart. The main thing is that the feeling in the heart should lead to action, because action is the main thing. The Alter Rebbe explained this in chapters 36 through 30... chapters 36, 37, and 38. In all those chapters, the Alter Rebbe explained the whole concept of a dwelling place for Hashem in the lower realms: that action is the main thing. That is why what is primarily demanded of a beinoni is thought, speech, and action. Because the purpose of a dwelling place in the lower realms is achieved primarily through actually performing mitzvos. Then, in chapter 38, the Alter Rebbe brought this teaching of our Sages: a mitzvah without intention is like a body without a soul. Even though we say that action is the main thing, particularly for the purpose of a dwelling place in the lower realms, which is achieved through actual thought, speech, and action, there must also be intention and feeling. Hakadosh Boruch Hu also wants a person to have feeling in his heart, because there has to be vitality. There has to be revelation. That, too, is part of the honor. So the Alter Rebbe explains this in chapters 38, 39, and 40. Accordingly, there must also be love and fear, and that is the meaning of “in your heart.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants us not only to perform mitzvos, but to perform them with enthusiasm, vitality, joy, love, and fear. On this the Alter Rebbe also brings the teaching: Torah and mitzvos without fear and love do not ascend on high. If you have no love and fear, the Torah and mitzvos do not rise upward. Even though action is the main thing and that is where the essence is found, it is not revealed; it remains in the lower realms and does not ascend. For it to rise to a higher, more spiritual level, love and fear are needed. They are the wings that raise all the Torah and mitzvos and connect them with spirituality. That was up to

10:29 chapter 40. Then, beginning with chapter 41—the last three chapters, 41, 42, and 43—the Alter Rebbe began to discuss the particulars of love and fear. Now, starting in chapter 41, the Alter Rebbe begins to explain how to actually attain them: what avodah and contemplation are needed to awaken love and to awaken fear. So from chapter 41 onward, the Alter Rebbe goes into various kinds, levels, and ways of awakening love and fear. In chapters 41 and 42, as is well known, the Alter Rebbe speaks primarily about attaining fear. In chapter 41, the Alter Rebbe speaks about attaining the natural, hidden fear. How do we reveal it? Chapter 41—all the bachurim know it. They know it by heart, remember it, and so on. The Rebbe spoke many times about how everyone should know chapter 41: its opening lines about fear of Heaven. “And behold, Hashem stands over him”—that whole passage, where the Alter Rebbe explains how to awaken the natural, hidden fear that we inherit from our forefathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov. Later in chapter 41, the Alter Rebbe speaks about attaining the natural love. How do we awaken love? He discusses that there. Then, in chapter 42, the Alter Rebbe goes into more detail about fear. He returns to explaining, once again, how to attain fear. He discusses several more points about how every Jew has the ability, at every moment, to immediately awaken fear of Heaven, because fear of Heaven is the main thing; it is the foundation of avodah. Then, in chapter 43, the Alter Rebbe spoke about two general levels of fear and two general levels of love. That is what we just learned in the previous chapter, chapter 43. The point of chapter 43, the previous chapter, is relevant to understanding what

12:34 is happening now in chapter 44. In chapter 43, the Alter Rebbe said that love and fear, in general, are two wings, two ways of drawing close to G-dliness. But more specifically, each has two levels. In fear, there is yirah ila’ah, higher fear, and yirah tata’ah, lower fear; and similarly, in love there are ahavas olam and ahavah rabbah. Ahavas olam and ahavah rabbah. So we had reached the subject of fear. He already discussed it in the previous chapter, explaining what yirah tata’ah is and what yirah ila’ah is. Yirah tata’ah comes from contemplating G-dliness, how it comes from Hakadosh Boruch Hu and how He relates to the world. Yirah ila’ah is how a person—sorry, yirah tata’ah is contemplating Hakadosh Boruch Hu as He is invested in the world: “Behold, Hashem stands over him.” How Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives life to the worlds, and so on. This awakens yirah tata’ah. Yirah ila’ah comes from contemplating how everything is utterly nullified before Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “Who is wise? One who sees what is coming into being.” All created beings are brought into existence from nothing at every moment, so everything is utterly nullified. That awakens yirah ila’ah in him—complete self-nullification. So those are yirah ila’ah and yirah tata’ah. Then the Alter Rebbe began to say, and we come to love, that love also has two levels: ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam. What, in general, is the difference between ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam? This will be relevant now for understanding what the Alter Rebbe comes to explain in chapter 44. So let’s briefly explain the point the Alter Rebbe made in chapter 43: the difference between ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam. The meaning of ahavah rabbah—the difference between ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam—is that ahavas olam is, as its name suggests, a love connected to the world. It is a love that a person draws from the world. It is love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, but love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu that a person reaches through the world. What does that mean? By

14:31 contemplating the worlds and considering that all the worlds contain various things people love and enjoy—the pleasures of this world, and not only this world, both physical pleasures and spiritual pleasures. Then he contemplates how G-dly pleasure, love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu, is higher than all those pleasures, to the point that, compared with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, all the pleasures of this world have no value or importance at all. “Whom have I in heaven? And besides You I desire nothing on earth.” All the pleasures of this world have no value compared with G-dly pleasure. That awakens love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu in a person. This is called ahavas olam, because this love is drawn from matters of the world. He contemplates worldly matters and, through the world, comes to an awareness of G-dliness, an awareness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is why it is called ahavas olam. That is one explanation. Another reason it is called ahavas olam is that this love is limited by the boundaries of the world. Since it is a love that a person arrives at through his intellect, through contemplation of the world, it is subject to the world’s limits. It is a limited love, a love that cannot take a person beyond the boundaries of the world. It is limited and constrained by the parameters of the world and of the person. That is the meaning of ahavas olam. Then there is a greater love, called ahavah rabbah. Ahavah rabbah, the Alter Rebbe says, comes as a gift from above. Ahavah rabbah does not come through contemplation of worldly matters. Ahavah rabbah comes from G-dliness itself, from G-dliness as it is in its own right, beyond the world. When a person senses it—not as a result of contemplation, but when G-dliness as it exists beyond any connection to the world shines within him—a love is awakened in him that is completely beyond any connection to the world.

16:32 Unbounded love, and this is called ahavah rabbah, great love. First of all, why doesn’t it come from the world? Because it comes from G-dliness, as a gift from above, so it doesn’t have the limitations of the world either. It is unbounded love. Since it comes from above, from G-dliness, this love has none of the world’s limitations. It is an unbounded love for G-dliness. So these are two levels: ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam, worldly love. Ahavas olam can be reached through one’s own efforts. Ahavah rabbah, by contrast, the Alter Rebbe says, comes as a gift. After a person has done all he can on his own, working on himself to attain yirah tata’ah, the lower level of awe, and to observe Torah and mitzvos through that awe; after he has reached the fullest level of awe he can attain through his own efforts—then ahavah rabbah is revealed to him from above. This love, a love without limitations, an unbounded love for G-dliness, is revealed to him. This connects with a saying of the Alter Rebbe that the Rebbe repeated many times. Sometimes the Rebbe would even cry while repeating it. The Alter Rebbe said: “Master of the Universe, I don’t want Gan Eden above. I want only You.” He wanted the Divine Essence, and the Rebbe connects this, too, with the level of ahavah rabbah. In any event, that is the point of chapter 43. Now, in chapter 44, the Alter Rebbe will explain a kind of love that is relevant to every single person. After all, the whole point of Tanya is that the Alter Rebbe is not speaking about lofty levels. Tanya is the book of the beinonim, and its whole point, as we said, is to explain, “For this thing is very close to you.” The Alter Rebbe wants

18:25 to explain how it is close to every Jew to be a beinoni, to serve Hashem and to love Hashem. The Alter Rebbe is not speaking only about tzaddikim, so he wants to explain how every Jew can relate to loving Hashem. Here in chapter 44, we will see the Alter Rebbe explain that there is a kind of love of Hashem that has both advantages: the advantage of ahavah rabbah and the advantage of ahavas olam. There is one kind of love that includes both. It has both ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam, yet it is accessible to everyone. In other words, there is a love for Hakadosh Boruch Hu that every one of us can attain, and this love has the full advantages of both ahavas olam and ahavah rabbah. That is the point of this chapter, and we will see it in detail as we continue. Now let’s begin learning the text itself. “Now, all the levels of love”—each level of ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam—the Alter Rebbe says here, each of the two levels we discussed in the previous chapter, “is divided into countless categories and levels.” Broadly speaking, we said there are two levels: ahavah rabbah and ahavas olam. More specifically, each of these has many levels. Not just many levels, the Alter Rebbe says, but countless levels. There is no end or limit to the levels of either ahavah rabbah or ahavas olam. Each person according to his own measure: it is revealed in every Jew according to his own capacity and measure. As the holy Zohar says

20:29 about the verse, “Her husband is known in the gates.” The Zohar comments on the verse, “Her husband is known in the gates.” Everyone knows the verse; it is from Eishes Chayil. Now, we know that Eishes Chayil is a metaphor for Hakadosh Boruch Hu and Knesses Yisroel, the collective soul of the Jewish people. “Her husband” is Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and Eishes Chayil refers to Knesses Yisroel. That is why we say it on Shabbos, because Shabbos is connected with Hakadosh Boruch Hu and Knesses Yisroel. So there, speaking of Eishes Chayil, the verse says, “Her husband is known in the gates.” What does “her husband is known in the gates” mean in the plain sense? That everyone knows this woman’s husband? The verse speaks about Eishes Chayil and says that her husband is known in the gates. If we explain it spiritually, who is her husband? Hakadosh Boruch Hu. So it says that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is known in the gates. The Zohar asks: How can you say such a thing? “Her husband,” Hakadosh Boruch Hu—“no thought can grasp Him.” No one knows who Hakadosh Boruch Hu is. Can anyone comprehend Him? Does anyone know Him? Hakadosh Boruch Hu is beyond comprehension. So what does “her husband is known in the gates” mean? For this, the Alter Rebbe brings the Zohar, going straight to its explanation. The Zohar says: “Her husband is known in the gates”—“this is Hakadosh Boruch Hu, Who is known and joined to each person according to what he estimates in his heart,” and so on. It refers to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, Who is “known”—the word implies daas, knowledge—and “joined,” implying attachment. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is known and one becomes attached to Him, each person according to what he estimates in his heart. That is how the Zohar explains it. Granted, Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself is beyond the grasp of any thought. And yet, even though no thought can grasp

22:39 Him, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is nevertheless revealed to each person according to what he estimates in his heart. In other words, each person does have some grasp, some understanding of G-dliness, according to his capacity. And that itself is part of the greatness of Hakadosh Boruch Hu: on the one hand, He is infinite and unlimited, beyond all measure, limitation and comprehension. Yet there is knowledge and there is attachment. Hakadosh Boruch Hu is known, and one becomes attached to Him, each person according to what he estimates in his heart. “Gates”: the Zohar interprets that word. What does it mean? Not “gate” as in an entrance, but in the sense of estimation. There is a gate—an entrance—and there is estimation, an approximation. You estimate. That is the meaning of “estimates in his heart.” The point is that no one can truly grasp G-dliness. An actual grasp of G-dliness is impossible, but one can make an estimate and arrive at some degree of understanding. So each person, according to his own measure and limits, has some understanding and grasp. Consequently, he also has a different kind of love, corresponding to his understanding and grasp. Now the Alter Rebbe uses two expressions here: “known” and “joined.” The verse says “known,” implying daas. The Alter Rebbe adds “joined,” implying attachment. What is the significance of attachment? Because here the Alter Rebbe is speaking about love. He is not discussing knowledge of G-dliness for its own sake. In this chapter, the Alter Rebbe wants to speak about loving Hakadosh Boruch Hu and to tell us that there are many levels of that love. Love of

24:46 Hakadosh Boruch Hu involves attachment. That is why the Alter Rebbe uses the expression “joined”: “known and joined”—attachment. Since we are speaking about love, and love involves attachment, he says “joined.” But love follows daas. As the Alter Rebbe has explained several times in Tanya, the degree of love corresponds to the degree of daas. Daas gives rise to love, and that is why the verse says “known,” an expression of knowledge. The verse speaks about daas, but of course love will follow accordingly. This is true even of ahavah rabbah, which we say comes as a gift from above, and not only of ahavas olam. Ahavas olam certainly requires contemplation, as we said earlier. But even ahavah rabbah, which comes as a gift, requires daas. Without daas, even ahavah rabbah will not be awakened. The love may be far greater than what one’s daas can comprehend, but daas must nevertheless be present. So the verse says “known,” an expression of knowledge. And the Alter Rebbe adds that through being “known,” one also becomes “joined.” The attachment corresponds to the daas. Since each person has a different level of daas, a different understanding of G-dliness, each also has a different love for G-dliness. That gives rise to many levels of love—many levels of ahavah rabbah and many levels of ahavas olam.