Likkutei Amarim Tanya - Chapter 47 - Part 6

00:00 Fourth line from the beginning of the page, at the end of the line, “Therefore.” So what is the point of this chapter? The Alter Rebbe explains the statement of our Sages, “In every generation,” and adds the words, “Every single day, a person must see himself as though he left Egypt today.” In serving Hashem, a person needs to know that the Exodus from Egypt is not just something that happened once. Every single day, there is an Exodus from Egypt: the G-dly soul leaves the confinement of the body and the animal soul through Torah and mitzvos in general, and especially through the avodah of Shema. That is the main expression of the Exodus from Egypt, because in Shema a person accepts upon himself the yoke of Heaven. This acceptance of the yoke of Heaven happens explicitly when he says, “Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One.” He wants, accepts, and draws down upon himself Hashem’s oneness. So he becomes one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu in a revealed way as well. That is why the Alter Rebbe said that nothing stands in the way—particularly after the Giving of the Torah. The difference between before and after the Giving of the Torah is that before, this came through avodah. But now it is ours as an inheritance and a gift: Hakadosh Boruch Hu gave us His very essence and being. So nothing prevents a Jew from connecting with Hakadosh Boruch Hu except his will. As soon as he awakens that will, as soon as he wants to, he accepts and draws down upon himself Hashem’s oneness explicitly. Through this, he becomes one with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. That is what we have learned so far. Before we continue, just one point: we see here a novel point, if we can call it that, or an addition, that the Alter Rebbe emphasizes about accepting the yoke of Heaven, compared with the way this idea is usually explained. Here the Alter Rebbe emphasizes

02:16 that there has to be acceptance; there has to be an acceptance of the yoke of Heaven. That is the whole advantage the Alter Rebbe explains here in the avodah of Shema. Why do we say that the Exodus from Egypt takes place primarily through the avodah of Shema? Because Shema is when a person accepts upon himself the yoke of Heaven. He says, “Hashem is our G-d,” and accepts upon himself Hashem’s kingship. This is something many people get wrong without noticing. Whenever they hear the term “kabbolas ol,” accepting the yoke, it sounds like something you don’t like doing, don’t want to do, and have no desire to do. But what can you do? The supervisor, the mashpia, or sometimes some other person felt like telling you to do it, so you have to. “Take kabbolas ol upon yourself.” To bochurim, it can sometimes sound like something heavy, something unpleasant, something that isn’t good. “Kabbolas ol—you don’t understand—kabbolas ol, kabbolas ol.” And bochurim generally don’t like kabbolas ol. It is hard; it is not, not, not appealing, as they say. But the truth is that this is a mistake about the very word. In the phrase “accepting the yoke of Heaven,” the word itself is the emphasis. That is what the Alter Rebbe emphasizes here in the chapter: accepting the yoke. It does not say “placing the yoke” or “putting on the yoke.” It specifically says “accepting the yoke.” In other words, it has to be done by accepting it. He accepts it. The yoke has to be accepted. It isn’t enough to put it on an animal, to place the yoke on it. Whether the animal wants it or not, whether it cries out or whatever, they put the yoke on it from above, place it on the animal, and lead it away. Here, the emphasis in serving

04:14 Hashem is on accepting the yoke of Heaven. And that is the whole point the Alter Rebbe emphasizes here: the advantage of Shema is not that the yoke is put on you by force, through coercion. On the contrary, the distinctive point of Shema is accepting the yoke of Heaven: the person accepts it upon himself. He wants, accepts, and draws it down. The person himself has to accept it; he has to want the yoke. Even if we take the example of an animal, as is explained in several places, it does not mean that the animal does not want the yoke. An animal is accustomed to the yoke from the time it is born, and then the animal accepts the yoke too. In other words, the yoke is part of its life—so much so that, on the contrary, when the animal has no yoke, it starts running wild, because it wants it; it needs it. It does something for the animal. It needs the yoke. The yoke helps it know how to behave, and when it lacks the yoke, it runs wild and becomes completely confused, because this has already become its nature. This is what the Rebbe Rashab means when he writes that the avodah of a servant, a simple servant, is “like an ox to the yoke and like a donkey to its load.” Avodah that is like an ox to the yoke and a donkey to its load does not mean that he doesn’t want it, that he shouts, “I don’t want to,” and they take him by force and put the load on him. That is not what “like an ox to the yoke” means. “Like an ox to the yoke and like a donkey to its load” means that he accepts it. That is, he accepts it in a way that makes him receptive to it. He wants the yoke because he knows that this yoke is for his own good. In any case, when we speak here—and we will get to what the Alter Rebbe explains here concerning

06:03 Shema—why is Shema more an expression of the Exodus from Egypt than all of Torah and mitzvos? Because in Torah and mitzvos generally, accepting the yoke—that he accepts the yoke—is not emphasized as much as it is in Shema, when a person says, “Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One.” Especially if he reflects on what he is saying: he says “our G-d,” accepting upon himself the yoke of Heaven. And it is precisely this acceptance that makes him receptive, so that he immediately becomes one, without any delay. As the Alter Rebbe writes here, he is then included in G-dliness and becomes one with G-dliness. That is the spiritual effect of the Exodus from Egypt. Now we will continue inside the chapter. As we said earlier, in the marked lines, that is the last word. The Alter Rebbe says: “And therefore they instituted the passage about the Exodus from Egypt specifically at the time of Shema.” Based on what was explained in this chapter, the Alter Rebbe says, we can understand why the mitzvah of reciting the passage about the Exodus from Egypt—the mitzvah concerning the Exodus from Egypt—is fulfilled at the time of Shema. We spoke here about this mitzvah, about the obligation: there is an obligation to mention the Exodus from Egypt every day. When does the Shulchan Aruch say we fulfill it? When we say, in the passage of Shema, the verse “I am Hashem your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” That fulfills the mitzvah of remembering the Exodus from Egypt. That is when we fulfill the remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt. It is written in the Shulchan Aruch, in the laws of Shema. The bochurim have just learned this here for the exam. Presumably they don’t yet know this halachah: when we say the passage of tzitzis. In fact, according to halachah, why do we say the passage of tzitzis at night? After all, the passage is primarily about tzitzis, and nighttime is not a time for the mitzvah of tzitzis. The Gemara has a dispute about whether the passage of tzitzis is said at night

07:56 Or perhaps we don’t say it. And why, in the end, do we say the passage of tzitzis at night? Because we need to mention the Exodus from Egypt at night too, so we say the passage of tzitzis, where the Exodus from Egypt is mentioned. In any case, what do we see? The Sages placed the two mitzvos together and joined them: the mitzvah of remembering the Exodus from Egypt and the mitzvah of reciting Shema. Incidentally, we learn this from a verse in the weekly parsha, Parshas Re’eh: “So that you remember the day you left the land of Egypt all the days of your life.” That is the verse from which we learn that the Exodus from Egypt must be mentioned by day and by night. So the Alter Rebbe asks: What is the connection? They are two separate mitzvos. Remembering the Exodus from Egypt is a mitzvah in its own right, not part of the mitzvah of reciting Shema. There is no apparent connection. The mitzvah of reciting Shema is “Hear, O Israel”; the mitzvah of remembering the Exodus from Egypt is “So that you remember.” They are two verses and two mitzvos. Why were they joined together, so that one mitzvah is fulfilled as part of the other, particularly at night? The whole reason the passage of tzitzis was included is to mention the Exodus from Egypt. They could have done that separately, saying a verse about the Exodus without saying the entire passage. So we see that there is some deeper reason they wanted to connect the passage about the Exodus from Egypt with the recitation of Shema, as stated in the Gemara and the halachic authorities. The Gemara asks: Seemingly, there was no need to include this through the passage of tzitzis. Why, then, was the entire passage ultimately included, joining the Exodus from Egypt to the recitation of Shema? Because they are truly one and the same. In light of what we have explained throughout

09:41 the chapter, we understand why they were joined: in essence, they are really about the same point. The central point of reciting Shema is the central point of the Exodus from Egypt. What is the central point of reciting Shema? A person gives himself over to G-dliness and accepts the yoke of Heaven upon himself—“our G-d”—leaving the confines of the body and the animal soul and giving himself over to G-dliness. That is the very essence of the Exodus from Egypt: leaving, as we said earlier, the confines of the body in order to unite with Hakadosh Boruch Hu. “And likewise, at the end of the passage about the Exodus from Egypt, it concludes, ‘I am Hashem your G-d,’” meaning the same thing explained above. This also helps us understand another point. In the passage about the Exodus from Egypt, the last verse of the recitation of Shema says, “I am Hashem your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your G-d,” and then continues, “I am Hashem your G-d.” Once again, we end the recitation of Shema with the words “I am Hashem your G-d.” Why add “I am Hashem your G-d” again? It seems redundant. You have already said, “I am Hashem your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your G-d.” What does the repetition add? That, too, is answered by what we explained earlier: this is the central point of the Exodus from Egypt. What is that point? “Our G-d”—that a person becomes connected to G-dliness, as in “the G-d of Avraham.” When a Jew says Shema and accepts the yoke of Heaven upon himself, He becomes “our G-d”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu becomes our life and vitality. That is why we conclude once again, “I am Hashem your G-d”—to emphasize that this is the entire point of the Exodus from Egypt. It is the same point as in the recitation of Shema: “Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One.” And this is also as explained above. That is what we said earlier.

11:30 In chapter 46, the Alter Rebbe said—he wrote there—that this is the point of a mitzvah, of “Who has sanctified us,” of raising us up to sanctify our G-d. The Alter Rebbe also brought this verse: “And you shall be holy to your G-d; I am Hashem your G-d.” That is a verse in the recitation of Shema too. The point of “I am Hashem your G-d” is that a Jew becomes one with G-dliness. That is the main point of reciting Shema, and it is the same point as the Exodus from Egypt. That is why the two mitzvos are joined together. All of this—the point of chapter 47—is an explanation of what we discussed earlier, “As water reflects a face to a face.” The entire purpose of this section of chapter 47 is to give us a taste of that idea. When a person reflects that each and every day Hakadosh Boruch Hu, the great and awesome King, Himself descends to the place of refuse—the body, the earth, the body’s physicality; what the Rebbe wrote about [unclear]—and Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives us, as a gift and an inheritance, [unclear], “and You gave us, Hashem our G-d, with love.” He gives us Himself and gives us the possibility, through reciting Shema, of uniting with Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. Naturally, reflecting on this will awaken in a person “And you shall love Hashem your G-d with all your might”—love “as water reflects a face to a face,” in the strongest possible way. That is the connection between the daily avodah of reciting Shema and the idea of “as water reflects a face to a face” that the Rebbe mentioned in the previous chapter. This brings us to everything we have learned here in chapter 47, the matter of the Exodus from Egypt every day. As is well known, the Rebbe has quite a number of maamarim on this subject. Usually, the maamarim for 11 Nissan were—much of the 11 Nissan maamar dealt with this subject. The maamar “As in the days of your departure from the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders.”

13:28 The maamar “In every generation”—there are quite a number of the Rebbe’s maamarim in which he discusses this same subject. The Exodus from Egypt in every generation also comes up in sichos, in many sichos. There are letters about it as well. This was one of the subjects the Rebbe had a very special enthusiasm for, particularly around Pesach—leading up to Pesach, during Pesach itself, and on the last day of Pesach—especially in connection with Moshiach, which was central for the Rebbe. The whole emphasis on Moshiach is learned from the verses “As in the days of your departure from the land of Egypt, I will show him wonders” and “all the days of your life—to include the days of Moshiach”: even in the days of Moshiach, the Exodus from Egypt will be mentioned. The Rebbe spoke about this many times. But when we look at what is written here in Tanya, we notice something interesting in the Rebbe’s teachings. The way the Exodus from Egypt is explained in the Rebbe’s teachings is different from the explanation here in Tanya. What does the Rebbe introduce? What does he add? Here in Tanya, the Alter Rebbe also explains the Exodus from Egypt. So what does “Egypt” mean here? It means the confines of the body and the animal soul—the confines of [unclear], of the body, the animal soul, and physicality. We need to leave those confines, rise above them, and draw close to G-dliness through reciting Shema. This is the refinement of our character traits, everything discussed in this chapter. When the Rebbe speaks about the Exodus from Egypt, though, he emphasizes an entirely different kind of Egypt. He speaks about the confines of the G-dly soul. Even if a person has left the confines of the animal soul, fulfills all the mitzvos, says Shema, and serves Hashem, he can still be in Egypt—an Egypt within holiness. That is one of the points

15:23 The Rebbe made a great stir about this. It was not the Rebbe’s innovation; it is already written in earlier maamarim. But with the Rebbe, you could see that this was a central focus: it is not enough for a person to leave the constraints of the animal soul. One must also leave the constraints of the G-dly soul. We learned this here in the class, and a number of students also brought the maamar “Avinu Yaakov,” on Parshas Chukas, which speaks along these lines. “Our deeds and our work” must go not only against the nature of the animal soul, but also against the nature of the G-dly soul. Perhaps the explanation there approaches it from a different angle. The Rebbe gives a somewhat different explanation, but as the subject is explained in the Pesach maamarim, the avodah must involve leaving the constraints and limitations of the G-dly soul. What does that mean? The Rebbe would generally give several examples. One was the love of G-d “with all your might.” “With all your heart” and “with all your soul” are not enough; there must be love “with all your might.” That love is an Exodus from Egypt for the G-dly soul as well, because the G-dly soul naturally has love “with all your heart” and “with all your soul.” “With all your might” means going beyond even the G-dly soul. It is a love of self-sacrifice, a love that takes you beyond your limits, even the limits of the G-dly soul. In certain maamarim, the Rebbe explains how this translates into practice: going beyond the measures and limits set out in the Shulchan Aruch. Observing Torah and mitzvos not only according to halachah, but beyond the letter of the law. In Torah study, it means studying beyond one’s usual practice—one hundred and one times. More generally, it means learning Torah without fixed limits of time, going beyond the boundaries of one’s schedule. The same applies to the avodah of davening: to daven more than

17:21 one is obligated to according to the Shulchan Aruch—with greater length, greater depth, and greater reverence. Likewise with tzedakah: giving more than a tenth, more than a fifth. These are various ways the Rebbe would explain in detail how the Exodus from Egypt, even for the G-dly soul, is expressed. There is a maamar of the Rebbe, the edited maamar beginning “As in the days of your Exodus from the land of Egypt, I will show you wonders,” from the last day of Pesach. There the Rebbe explains something interesting: the difference between two verses connected with the Exodus from Egypt. One verse says, “So that you remember the day you left the land of Egypt all the days of your life.” The second says, “As in the days of your Exodus from the land of Egypt, I will show you wonders.” In “so that you remember the day you left the land of Egypt,” it says “day,” in the singular. In “as in the days of your Exodus from the land of Egypt,” it says “days,” in the plural. The Rebbe explains that these are two aspects of the avodah of leaving Egypt. The departure from the constraints of kelipah took one day in the literal sense. Physically, when it happened, the actual departure from Egypt took one day. It was a departure from the forty-nine gates of impurity, from the depths of impurity to holiness. The transition away from evil itself happened in one day. Afterward, they continued to leave, day after day. In fact, the Exodus continued for many days, until they reached Mount Sinai. But that was no longer a literal departure from Egypt. It was progress from one day to the next, from one level to the next. The same two aspects exist in avodah. “The day the Jewish people left the land of Egypt” refers to leaving the constraints of the body and the animal soul—“day” in the singular. That was one day. And certainly, this is the movement of leaving the constraints of the body. That is what the Rebbe is speaking about here in Tanya, chapter 47. “As in the days of the Jewish people’s Exodus,” in the plural, refers to the avodah of going beyond even the constraints of holiness,

19:15 and its limitations. It means going from strength to strength within holiness itself, leaving even the constraints and limitations of the G-dly soul. There the Rebbe explains a point that helps us understand why the Tanya speaks mainly about leaving the animal soul, while the Rebbe placed particular emphasis on going beyond the G-dly soul. The Rebbe explains there that, in avodah, to reach the revelation of Moshiach, we must focus especially on going beyond the constraints and limitations of the G-dly soul. Dealing with the animal soul is not enough. Here in Tanya, however, the Alter Rebbe is speaking about the avodah of beinonim. The avodah of beinonim in serving Hashem is the whole subject of Tanya—the book of beinonim. So the main emphasis for beinonim is leaving the constraints and limitations of the body and the animal soul. After all, even a beinoni has an animal soul, has character traits, has desires, and so on. What is demanded of a beinoni in serving Hashem is to leave the constraints and limitations of the animal soul. But in Tanya, the Alter Rebbe does not demand that one go beyond the constraints and limitations of the G-dly soul. That is not the subject of Tanya. Tanya is a book of avodah, of “for the matter is very near to you”—avodah in an orderly, step-by-step progression. The whole approach of Tanya is avodah guided by understanding. That is why Tanya does not mention “with all your might,” or even that point as it applies to practical avodah. Tanya does not mention avodah in the mode of yechidah. All these ideas that are mentioned in many maamarim—by the Rebbe Rashab and others—about going beyond understanding: such modes of avodah are not mentioned in Tanya in the passages we are discussing, because the whole approach of Tanya is avodah in an orderly progression. That is also why, regarding the Exodus from Egypt, the main emphasis is on leaving the constraints of the animal soul, not those of the G-dly soul. But the Rebbe is speaking to us separately

21:02 about Moshiach. To reach the Geulah of Moshiach, avodah with the animal soul is not enough. There must also be a sweeping departure, a breaking through the measures and limits of the G-dly soul as well, because through this we become a vessel for [unclear] the revelation of Moshiach. That is why we saw a special emphasis on this with the Rebbe. There is a story the Frierdiker Rebbe tells about one of the chassidim. I do not remember whether he was a chossid of the Alter Rebbe or of the Tzemach Tzedek. He was one of the early chassidim. The Frierdiker Rebbe even gives his name; I think he was called Rabbi Tzadik[?], Tzadik Remlech[?], something like that. He was one of the great early chassidim. He relates that this chossid was very devoted to avodah. Every day, his avodah of davening would take many hours. He would daven almost the whole day, until sunset—davening for hours and hours, contemplating Chassidus as he davened. So he relates that someone once asked him why he davened for so long, what he was doing all those hours. He replied that he had heard from the Alter Rebbe—if I am not mistaken, he says he heard it from the Alter Rebbe—that the Alter Rebbe said the avodah of davening is to recount the Exodus from Egypt. The avodah of davening is to recount the Exodus from Egypt. The Exodus means leaving the constraints and limitations of the body and the animal soul—everything we learned here. What does it mean to “recount” the Exodus from Egypt? The Hebrew word means to tell a story, and it also has the sense of sapphire. We must make our Exodus from Egypt shine like a sapphire. Radiance and refinement mean clarity and purification. We decide that it has to shine. That is what the Exodus from Egypt is. So, naturally, it takes a long time. The avodah of davening is to recount the Exodus from Egypt. In the text of the Haggadah it says,

23:12 we are commanded to recount it: “Whoever recounts the Exodus from Egypt at greater length is praiseworthy.” “Recounts at greater length”—we have to do it abundantly. So naturally, that is why his avodah of davening took so long. That is a story the Rebbe tells about one of the chassidim. It is also connected with an insight the Rebbe brings in Hayom Yom: the difference between the Exodus from Egypt as understood in Chassidus and as understood in the revealed teachings of Torah. He writes that the Exodus in the revealed teachings of Torah—the literal Exodus—was a flight, a breaking away. The plagues were needed to break Egypt, and they had to flee from evil. By contrast, the Exodus as understood in Chassidus is not about breaking away or fleeing. Rather, it is about bringing clarity and refinement—avodah within the world. Back then, they had to flee Egypt, to flee the world. Chassidus demands an Exodus that takes place within the world itself: not fleeing the body and the animal soul, but, on the contrary, as explained in the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov on “You shall surely help him,” engaging with the body and the animal soul and refining and purifying them so that they become vessels for G-dliness.