Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 47 - Part 5

00:00 Speaker 1 The Exodus from Egypt. So here you can really see the point that “in every generation, a person is obligated to see himself as though he had left Egypt.” The Rebbe explains how this can happen for every Jew, every single day. The Pesach Haggadah, all of that. The Rebbe explained that through the recitation of Shema, a Jew’s divine soul leaves Egypt, [unclear], and connects with Hakadosh Boruch Hu by accepting the yoke of Heaven and saying, “Hashem is our G-d.” He then becomes one with G-dliness. Avraham, who was called “the one,” attained this through work and effort. But we received it as an inheritance and a gift: Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us the Torah and placed His very essence within it. So when a Jew studies Torah and fulfills mitzvos, he becomes one with His essence. Now the Alter Rebbe says, to complete what we have just explained: On Shavuos, or on Shabbos, we say—it is not a verse, but part of the prayer text—“And You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love,” and so on. This wording is said on Yom Tov: “And You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love, appointed times for rejoicing, festivals and seasons for gladness.” So we use the words “And You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love.” Yes, or on Shabbos we say “with love.” What exactly is the wording? Eh? Rabbi Avraham, only on Shabbos do we say that, right. In any case, the Alter Rebbe writes: “And You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love,” and so on; “For in the light of Your countenance You gave us, Hashem our G-d,” and so on. He brings two phrases from the prayer text. “And You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love” is said in the prayers for the three pilgrimage festivals. And “For in the light of Your countenance You gave us, Hashem our G-d”—where do we say that every day in the prayers?

02:05 Speaker 2 Shemoneh Esrei.

02:06 Speaker 1 Where in Shemoneh Esrei?

02:07 Speaker 2 In Sim Shalom.

02:09 Speaker 1 Good. Yes, Sim Shalom. “For in the light of Your countenance You gave us.” But what does the Alter Rebbe learn from these two phrases, from these two prayers? The Alter Rebbe explains a new, deep, wonderful interpretation of the prayer text. At face value, what are you saying? “And You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love.” The simple meaning is that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us something with love. He gave us. What did He give us? He gave us appointed times for rejoicing, festivals and seasons, Shabbos and rest, and all these good things. But the Alter Rebbe interprets it in light of what he said earlier. The meaning is “And You gave us Hashem our G-d.” That is “And You gave us Hashem our G-d.” It means that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us—He gave us Hashem our G-d. He gave us Himself. “And You gave us”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us something. What did He give us? He gave us Hashem our G-d. He gave us Himself. As Rabbi said earlier, He Himself, in absolute unity, gives us Himself through Shabbos and Yom Tov, when we recall the fulfillment of the mitzvah. So it is not just that you have Shabbos, a mitzvah, or a prayer; within the mitzvah, you have Him. “And You gave us Hashem our G-d”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave Himself, His very self, through Shabbos and Yom Tov, through the mitzvah. And likewise when we say, “For in the light of Your countenance You gave us, Hashem our G-d,” the Alter Rebbe means the same thing here. The simple reading is, “For in the light of Your countenance You gave us, Hashem our G-d.” It refers to what follows: “a Torah of life and loving-kindness.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us a Torah of life and loving-kindness, and He gave them to us in the light of His countenance. But according to the explanation we are giving now, the meaning changes here too. In Sim Shalom, “For in the light of Your countenance”—from the radiance of Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s countenance,

04:01 Speaker 1 what did He give us? “You gave us.” What did He give us? Hashem our G-d. He gave us Hashem our G-d. He gave us Himself. In that sense—my friend, I don’t want to—Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us Hashem our G-d. The question is why the Alter Rebbe brings these two phrases here. That is question one. Question two: Why does he bring them in an order that does not follow the order of the prayers? First he brings a phrase said only on the three pilgrimage festivals, and afterward he brings one said three times every day. It should have been the other way around. First he should have brought “For in the light of Your countenance,” which we say every day in Sim Shalom, and then the wording from the festival prayer. And a third question: Why does the Alter Rebbe include the word “with love”? After all, “with love” is said only on Shabbos, not on all three pilgrimage festivals. Besides, it seems unnecessary. To teach that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives Himself, he only needed to quote “And You gave us Hashem our G-d.” From those words we learn that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave Himself. Why add “with love” at all? With the second phrase too, it seems he need not have brought the words “For in the light of Your countenance.” He could simply have quoted “You gave us Hashem our G-d.” So the answers to all three questions are connected. The point is that the Alter Rebbe is continuing from the previous chapter. He is speaking here about “as water reflects a face to a face.” The Alter Rebbe is not just explaining phrases from the prayers. He is explaining them as part of a continuing discussion. Everything we are discussing in this chapter continues from the previous chapter: how a Jew contemplates and, through contemplation, reaches the point of “as water reflects a face to a face”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu descends from the place

05:47 Speaker 1 of His glory to the place from which He takes us out, and connects with us in an everlasting bond. That bond is with Hakadosh Boruch Hu through Torah and mitzvos. That is the whole point. So this awakens in a Jew the response of “as water reflects a face to a face.” From this we understand why the Alter Rebbe adds “with love,” and also “For in the light of Your countenance,” because that is what this whole discussion is about. “And You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love.” That means He does not merely give Himself; He gives Himself with love. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives us Himself—Hashem our G-d. Hakadosh Boruch Hu placed His very essence in Torah and mitzvos out of His love for the Jewish people, so this relates to “as water reflects a face to a face.” And that is why the second phrase says, “For in the light of Your countenance You gave us, Hashem our G-d.” You did not simply give us; You gave us in the light of Your countenance, which is also an expression of love. So “as water reflects a face to a face” is emphasized here. And within this itself there are two details. What are they? One is what we received as an inheritance, and the other is what we received as a gift. As we explained in earlier classes, what is the difference between these two things? There is an inheritance and there is a gift. From our forefather we inherited the idea of “our G-d.” We inherited that from Avraham Avinu: a Jew has the ability, when he hears “Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our G-d,” to make Him “our G-d,” our strength and our life, as He was the G-d of Avraham. That we received as an inheritance. [unclear]. We received it from Avraham Avinu, and this is the idea of “service of the heart”—prayer. After that comes the second idea, the gift, which Rabbi said is what Hakadosh Boruch Hu

07:35 Speaker 1 He gave us an additional gift, something even Avraham Avinu did not attain: Torah and mitzvos. With Torah and mitzvos, even if there is no inner avodah on the part of the G-dly soul, and you simply observe Torah and mitzvos in actual practice, through that, too, you connect with His very Essence. Right? That is the novelty of a gift. We discussed this in the previous classes. So corresponding to these two details, look, he brings these two verses here. The first verse says, “And You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love.” What does “And You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love” mean? Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us, as we explained earlier, “And You gave us Hashem our G-d.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us Himself—Hashem our G-d. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us Himself. That is the idea of Shema Yisroel, “Hashem our G-d”: when a Jew says Shema Yisroel, he becomes one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is what we received as an inheritance. The second verse speaks about Torah and mitzvos. In other words, the first verse, “And You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love,” speaks about the whole matter of accepting the yoke of Heaven. The second verse speaks about Torah and mitzvos: “For by the light of Your countenance You gave us, Hashem our G-d, the Torah of life and the love of kindness.” Now we will come to “the Torah of life and the love of kindness,” which is the matter of Torah and mitzvos. And about this we say that You gave us—not only that Torah and mitzvos, “the Torah of life and the love of kindness,” contain the matter of Torah and mitzvos; they contain the matter of “Hashem our G-d.” That is only here. So that is why the verses are in this order. The Alter Rebbe first brings the opening wording, “And You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love,” which includes the idea of giving: Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave Himself, “Hashem our G-d,” the idea expressed throughout Shema Yisroel. And afterward comes the second verse, “For by the light of Your countenance You gave us, Hashem our G-d,” where we come to “the Torah of life”

09:30 Speaker 1 “and the love of kindness”—the matter of “Hashem our G-d” that we received as a gift in connection with Torah and mitzvos. Yes, all of it is still in the context of Yom Tov, but seemingly the first verse, too, speaks about days, festivals and appointed times. So why suddenly explain that the first point is about accepting the yoke of Heaven? I didn’t quite understand that, but as I understand the explanation, that is the distinction between the two verses. The first verse is a general verse about “Hashem our G-d.” The second explicitly emphasizes “the Torah of life and the love of kindness,” which is Torah and mitzvos. So what do we see? That in Tanya, too, every detail is precise: the Rebbe brings specifically two verses, and specifically in this order, following the order established earlier, the order of the chapter. And if—and this—The Alter Rebbe now continues and says, “And therefore, nothing prevents our soul from cleaving to His unity and His light, blessed be He, except the will.” The Alter Rebbe now says something very, very fundamental, something relevant to the whole Tanya and to all of our avodas Hashem. The Alter Rebbe says something extraordinarily powerful here. We just have to hear what is written. The Alter Rebbe says that from what we have just learned—the innovation of Tanya, that Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave Himself through Torah and mitzvos, as a gift and an inheritance—something remarkable follows. What does the Alter Rebbe say? “And therefore, nothing prevents our soul from cleaving to His unity and His light, blessed be He, except the will.” Nothing prevents a person from connecting to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is the soul cleaving to His unity, to the Master of the universe. A person can connect and be one with the Master of the universe at every moment. Nothing prevents it—except the will. The only thing that stands in the way of a Jew connecting to G-dliness is the will. What does that mean? If you want to, you connect.

11:35 Speaker 1 If you don’t want to, that’s a problem. Only the will: “For if a person does not wish at all, G-d forbid, to cleave to Him,” and so on. If a person does not want to cleave to G-dliness, then... He does not even finish the sentence. He doesn’t write what happens. It is obvious. If a person doesn’t want to cleave, there is no one to talk to. On the part of G-dliness, there is no obstacle at all. Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave Himself. “I have written down and given My soul.” So to speak, Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave Himself through Torah and mitzvos, as an inheritance and as a gift, in every way. He is here. You only need to want it. The moment you want it, He is there. But if a person does not want to, then... “But as soon as he wishes to, and accepts and draws down upon himself His G-dliness, blessed be He.” The moment the desire for G-dliness awakens in him, he accepts the yoke of Heaven, with love of Hashem. We are speaking here about a simple desire. He accepts the yoke of Heaven “and draws down upon himself His G-dliness, blessed be He.” He draws G-dliness down upon himself. “And he says, ‘Hashem our G-d, Hashem is one.’” His soul is then automatically included in His unity, blessed be He, at that very moment. He doesn’t have to do anything else. It isn’t that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is on some level somewhere, and after I have accepted this and wanted it, Hakadosh Boruch Hu now has to want it too. Hakadosh Boruch Hu has already wanted it. He has wanted it for a long time. He is here. He is waiting for me. He is here, ready and available. I only need to show the desire on my part. The moment I want it, accept it and draw it down upon myself, it happens automatically, at that very moment. From the side of G-dliness, it is already there. It only has to come from the person’s side. Yes, and spirit... a person’s... in His unity, blessed be He. “For spirit draws spirit and brings forth spirit.” The spirit

13:31 Speaker 1 of a person’s own being is what draws down the spirit from above. “And this is the aspect of the Exodus from Egypt.” That is the point of the Exodus from Egypt here. And there is a wonderful explanation here from Reb Levi Yitzchak. These explanations are available today in booklets. Reb Levi Yitzchak gives a wonderful explanation here, examining the words of Tanya and showing how every word in Tanya is utterly precise. Reb Levi Yitzchak asks why the Alter Rebbe uses three words: “wishes, accepts and draws down.” What are these three words doing here? “But as soon as he wishes to, and accepts and draws down upon himself His G-dliness, blessed be He, and says, ‘Hashem our G-d, Hashem is one.’” What is the meaning of these three expressions—wishes, accepts and draws down? Reb Levi Yitzchak explains. Usually Reb Levi Yitzchak explains things according to Kabbalah, but this particular explanation can also be understood through the subject itself, through the Baal Shem Tov, through Likkutei Torah and through the Siddur. He explains that the three words “wishes, accepts and draws down” correspond to the three names in the verse quoted here: “Hashem our G-d, Hashem.” There are three names here. “As soon as he wishes, accepts and draws down... ‘Hashem our G-d, Hashem is one.’” So there are three names here: “Hashem our G-d, Hashem.” Corresponding to these three names, the Alter Rebbe says “wishes, accepts and draws down.” What is the connection? What does “wishes” mean? The explanation is very interesting. What is the difference between the first Havayah, “our G-d,” and the second Havayah? He says that, as explained in the Siddur, the first Havayah and the second Havayah are not the same level of Havayah. They are two levels. The first Havayah is called in the terminology of the Siddur “Havayah above.” “Havayah above” means Havayah on a higher plane. It is a higher Havayah, further above. It is the Havayah of Keser, higher still. It is the supernal Havayah. “Havayah below” is

15:27 Speaker 1 Havayah—which, in essence, is Havayah below. It is a lower Havayah. It is the Havayah of—yes. So there is a Havayah that is the higher Havayah. Then comes Elokeinu, which is the tzimtzum, Elokim—Elokim signifies contraction. That makes it descend inwardly, so it can pass into the recipient. Then there is Havayah, the Havayah below, which is drawn down after the tzimtzum. This is explained in the Siddur in several ways. As explained in the maamarim, the first Havayah is before the tzimtzum, the second Havayah is the kav, and the tzimtzum itself is Elokeinu. Sometimes the Siddur explains it in terms of higher levels: the Havayah associated with Kesser. Yes, Elokeinu is the tzimtzum of Kesser. Then the second Havayah is Atzilus. There are several ways the concept is explained in the Siddur. What about these three points? So what happens? We reach Havayah above, the Havayah in Kesser. Kesser is will; Kesser is sovev. Yes, yes, sovev kol almin. With sovev kol almin, we can bring out the idea of will, and that is why sovev is associated with will. So Kesser means will: by arousing the will, he draws down the aspect of Havayah above, which is will. But to reach Elokeinu—Elokeinu is an inward influence within vessels, something that enters the recipient’s vessel. So here it says “receives.” Receiving requires more than wanting it; he also has to be a vessel, a vessel for receiving. “Receives” relates to Elokeinu. That is why Elokeinu is also an inward aspect. And corresponding to the second aspect, Havayah below, it says “he draws down.” Havayah below is a light that comes by being drawn down, yes. On the one hand, it is Havayah. Yes, it is light, it is... it is drawn down from above to below. So for that, we say “he draws down”; it is drawn down from above to below. These, then, are the three expressions: regarding Havayah above, he only “wants.” That is will. When it comes to Havayah below, it is

17:33 Speaker 1 actually a light that can be drawn down and revealed from above to below. And regarding Elokeinu, there has to be work on the part of the recipient. He also has to take it upon himself to be a vessel and receive this. So the wording of Tanya here is precise: these three words correspond to the three aspects.